Why real-life couple Shin Min A & Kim Woo Bin aren’t a romantic pair in Our Blues
MANILA, Philippines — Real-life couple Shin Min A and Kim Woo Bin are starring for the first time in the same Korean drama Our Blues, but are paired with different actors in the brand-new series now streaming on Netflix.
It would have thrilled K-drama fans if the two got cast as onscreen lovers, but in the omnibus drama set in Jeju Island, Min A portrays a single mom with a troubled past. She gets romantically involved with Lee Byung Hun’s character as a local salesman.
Woo Bin, on the other hand, plays a ship captain who falls for a haenyeo — or as female divers are called in Jeju Island – played by Han Ji Min.
Why the veteran writer Noh Hee Kyung decided not to cast them as a romantic pair was the most-asked question during the media conference for the show on Thursday.
“I knew they wouldn’t join the project if they appeared as a couple. When I was casting them, I did tell them that they would not appear as a couple and they would each have a romantic relationship with someone else. And thankfully they were fine with that,” she explained.
When it was pointed out during the presscon how they were obviously drawing a line between work and personal life, writer Noh said, “Yeah, I wanted to cast them because they were great actors. I didn’t think much about anything else. They’re cool and professional.”
The two stars couldn’t have made this point any clearer as they were seated far apart from each other and showed a little discomfort when the question was raised.
However, they were more than eager to share their experiences working with their respective onscreen partners.
Our Blues is the third project that Min A has done with Lee Byung Hun, but this is the first time that their “characters like each other.”
They first appeared together in the 2001 melodrama Beautiful Days, where Min A played the younger sister of the Mr. Sunshine star.
“Actually in my debut piece, he was my male counterpart because most of my scenes were with him. And in A Bittersweet Life, our characters did not have the average relationship. This time, in Our Blues, I felt like I had met three different people, maybe because we had such different roles before,” shared Min A.
“But I did feel slightly more comfortable with him so I think that helped create the chemistry between (our characters) Dong-seok and Seon-a. (Is there) something that’s changed? He became more handsome (laughs),” said the actress, whose last series was the romantic-comedy Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.
In Our Blues, she essays a mother role for the very first time.
“Min Seon-a is a character who is still dwelling in her pain. This was my first role as a mother of a child. There was more pressure for me to depict Seon-a’s emotions, emotional changes and how she overcomes her pain, rather than the fact that she’s a mother.
“I thought it would be very difficult, but weirdly I had an understanding of her character. I felt her pain. Her pain and her will to overcome that pain were what I thought would be exciting for me to try to convey. I wanted to take on this challenge,” she said, adding that the relatability of her character’s emotions and personality was the biggest reason she said yes to the project.
Meanwhile, Our Blues is Woo Bin’s first drama in six years after recovering from his battle with cancer.
“To begin with, I’m nervous. It’s been quite some time so I am nervous,” he said when asked how he felt being back on the small screen. “I did appear on a scripted variety show and some commercials, but I’m so happy and thankful that I’m able to appear on a drama series and be able to meet you all.”
Speaking more about his preparation and approach to his role as a boat captain, he said, “I put emphasis on trying to put myself in Jeong-jun’s shoes — to understand how he grew up and the emotions he feels. So, I followed writer’s Noh’s script and followed the emotional journey of Jeong-jun. And when I was getting prepared for the role, I wanted to understand the environment that he lives in so I went over to Jeju earlier than I needed to, and met and talked with some boat captains.”
“Sometimes, I just followed around haenyeo divers to see how they commute and also learned how to trim fish. So, I put a lot of time into trying to understand him,” he added.
Woo Bin also described his chemistry with co-star Han Ji Min as very refreshing. “I don’t know why, but I would say it was very refreshing.”
And as someone who filmed a lot of scenes on sea, among the toughest challenges he had to deal with was getting seasick. “I would take pills to help the nausea in advance, but I still got seasick. If someone got sick, we would have to turn the boat around and film that scene again so I just focused on the horizon and concentrated on breathing. If I let my guard down for just a minute, the nausea would come up again,” he shared.
“So, I focused on looking at the ocean and took deep breaths. Once I got the hang of it, it was actually very calming and it felt like I was meditating. It made the nausea go away. Those are moments I couldn’t easily experience elsewhere, so those scenes were the most memorable for me.”
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