Song Hye Kyo has made a glorious comeback via the Netflix K-drama The Glory, which ranked No. 3 on the international streamer’s weekly viewership chart for non-English TV shows released last Wednesday. Following its Dec. 30 debut, it is also the most-watched content in Netflix Philippines, as of writing.
The R-19 thriller tells the story of a woman named Dong Eun (Song) who experienced extreme bullying and abuse as a student and is deadset on exacting revenge on her bullies years later.
The show, which was written by Kim Eun Sook (Descendants of the Sun, Goblin, Mr. Sunshine) and directed by Ahn Gil Ho (Happiness, Record of Youth, Memories of the Alhambra) comes in two parts with the second half scheduled for release in March.
The Glory also stars Lee Do Hyun of Sweet Home fame as the male lead character Yeo Jeong, a seemingly innocent and naive man, who is well-off and comes from a respectable background, but as it turns out, has a “dark side.”
In the press notes, writer Kim elaborated on the role of Yeo Jeong in the life and vengeance schemes of Dong Eun: “It could be love, or it could be a partnership between a crazy woman and man. Every time I work on a script, I wish for my character to be the only one standing in this world. With that same thought, I crafted the relationship between Dong Eun and Yeo Jeong to become something I’ve never done before.”
According to Kim, Lee’s chemistry with Song, who also has a solid resume of successful romance dramas, is “so beautiful” that the veteran screenwriter almost went for a more romantic route in terms of telling the relationship between her actors’ characters. The director had to remind her that this wasn’t one of her signature romantic-comedies, but a revenge genre piece.
“When Yeo Jeong and Dong Eun meet, I thought they were the most challenging for me, because they are in solidarity, they’re somewhere in the middle between love and solidarity,” Kim further said during a virtual presscon attended by Asia-Pacific press, including The STAR, ahead of the series’ global premiere.
“But when I tried to think of it in my head, it would all be lovey-dovey and beautiful and bubbly and romantic. So, when I had the first draft, director Ahn said, this is supposed to be a genre show, right? This is not a rom-com right? So I thought, yes, that’s exactly where I should be headed.
“So, it was really challenging because when I have Song Hye Kyo and Lee Do Hyun together, they’re so beautiful. So, I tried myself to come back to the genre show instead of going off to a rom-com. And director An really helped me find my direction.”
During the mediacon, Lee also spoke about what drew him to his character.
“I first got the script for the first four episodes, and I read it all in one sitting. And I got very curious about who this guy Yeo Jeong really is because he is not an explicit kind of character... and what does he have in store.
“He is not like a clear-cut character, he is somewhere in the middle, but he has his own character. So, I wanted to make sure that I pull through this character.”
Lee pointed out that Yeo Jeong is the kind of person who just “goes with the flow” but changes upon meeting Dong Eun. “Through her, his inner wounds become healed but there is also the process of him trying to poke at his wounds and trying to resolve them.”
“I had many conversations with director Ahn on how to portray Yeo Jeong, since his emotions for Dong Eun had to be just right --- not too explicit, but not too bland. Also, I followed director Ahn’s advice to view Dong Eun with curiosity, thinking ‘what kind of person is she?’ Many of my scenes were shot with this in mind, and even the scenes without any lines were made smoother.”
Speaking of lines, from the press notes, Lee mentioned that his most favorite was “Your life will be in ruins once your revenge is over.”
“I think this is the first and last time that he earnestly cares for and gives advice to Dong Eun. He wants to help the person he loves get her revenge because she has an ultimate goal in sight, but he’s still worried about her. He goes back and forth those two conflicting thoughts,” he explained.
And when asked what he thought was his character’s interpretation or definition of “glory,” Lee said, “Most viewers will probably think that Yeo Jeong’s glory is gaining Dong Eun’s love, but I think there are two different versions of glory to Yeo Jeong.
“We always say glory to mean something good, but in The Glory, people do bad things to overcome their wounds and have revenge. That could be glory for them. But it does have me questioning whether things I do for my own good always have to be positive and glorious.”