Director Park Jun-woo and Writer Lee Ji-hyun have shared their heartfelt thoughts after wrapping up the drama ‘Scarecrow’.
Meeting at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul on the 27th, the duo admitted, “We had no idea the show would do this well.” They revealed that while the project was first planned five years ago, it was actually quite difficult to secure a broadcast slot because the content was so dark.
The ENA Monday-Tuesday drama ‘Scarecrow’, which concluded on the 26th, tells the story of a detective investigating a serial killer who forms an unexpected partnership with someone they despise. The series is a collaboration between Director Park Jun-woo and Writer Lee Ji-hyun, who previously wrote ‘Taxi Driver’ Season 1.
The final episode hit a national rating of 8.1% and 8.3% in the Seoul metropolitan area, marking a new personal best for the show. Director Park explained, “Honestly, we didn’t expect it to be this successful. We started planning this five years ago, but many channels turned us down because the story was too heavy and dark. To make it more appealing for broadcasting, we added more thriller elements to the early parts of the series.”
Regarding the inspiration behind the project, Director Park shared, “After finishing ‘Taxi Driver’ Season 1 five years ago, I filmed a small documentary. That’s when I met Mr. Yoon Seong-yeo and Mr. Kim Yong-bok. The character Seong-man was inspired by Mr. Yoon, and Hye-jin was inspired by Mr. Kim’s daughter.” He added, “Mr. Kim believed his daughter had gone missing, but later found out she was a victim because of Lee Chun-jae. He casually asked if such a story could be made into a drama. At first, I thought it would be difficult, but I really wanted to create a drama that showed that era through a criminal case, so I spent six months persuading Writer Lee Ji-hyun.”
Writer Lee recalled, “When the director first proposed it after ‘Taxi Driver’ Season 1, I rejected him on the spot. I felt burdened by the fact that it was based on a true story, and I couldn’t figure out how to unfold the narrative, so I kept saying no for six months. Then, a couple of months later, he came back and gave me books to read, as if he had completely forgotten I’d rejected him. Now that the drama has ended successfully, I’m so grateful he didn’t give up on me and encouraged me to join the project.”
They also touched upon the slow pacing of the plot, which was inevitable for a story based on real events. Director Park said, “People at Studio Genie asked us to make it more of a ‘cider’ (satisfying) story, but the writer and I insisted we couldn’t do that because it’s a real-life story. There are many more victims than just these two. I decided to make this drama after hearing that there were 50 to 60 victims listed with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and many have already passed away.” He added that ENA and Studio Genie were understanding of this approach.
