(Continuing from Interview ①)
Director Lee Sang-yeob has opened up about why he cast actor Kim Jae-won in ‘Yumi’s Cells 3’.
During a wrap-up interview for the TVING original series ‘Yumi’s Cells 3’ on May 7 in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Director Lee shared the reasons behind casting Kim Jae-won as Soon-rok and the chemistry between the leads.
“I searched through many actors to find Soon-rok,” the director shared. “I had seen Kim Jae-won briefly in previous dramas and was drawn to him. When we met, his height and clear eyes really gave off Soon-rok vibes. Since visual accuracy to the original work is key for immersion, we spent a lot of time on glasses and suit fittings. As we filmed, I loved how Kim Jae-won’s unique youthful energy of someone in their 20s shone through.”
When asked if he gave any specific directions to Kim Jae-won, he explained, “Soon-rok is gentle, neat, and funny, but he needs to be mysterious. Inside, he shouldn’t be weird, but cute, with a certain maturity. Kim Jae-won naturally embodied that. He tried so hard to hide his nervousness, which felt exactly like Soon-rok. I suggested he practice expressions by looking at the webtoon and a mirror, and he really nailed the Soon-rok vibe. He’s a great actor.” He added, “I’d seen him handle various characters well in previous works, which sparked my interest. I think we caught him at the perfect time to be a lead. There are always casting concerns, not just for him, but while star casting is great, it’s hard to get everything right. However, I had confidence in his potential, so I didn’t doubt him. Since the setup is a ‘hate-to-love’ relationship between an older woman and a younger man, the age gap wasn’t a major concern.”
Regarding why the age gap is larger than the three years in the original webtoon, he explained, “It starts with Yumi’s one-sided love. I wanted to create a psychological barrier to make it more interesting. I felt that having a point where she wonders, ‘Is it okay for me to like him?’ would add to the fun of the push-and-pull romance. In Season 1, Yumi is part of the class of ’08. By Season 3, she’s older, and I wanted to depict her meeting Soon-rok in her mid-30s. While the gap is even wider in a documentary sense, I thought a 6-year difference between her and Soon-rok would be ideal.”
On the chemistry between Soon-rok and Yumi, Director Lee noted, “Woong (Ahn Bo-hyun) and Bobby (Park Jin-young) were closer in age, so they had a bickering vibe. But because of the age difference with Kim Jae-won, I could feel him being a bit more cautious. Surprisingly, that worked out well for Season 3. They became closer as they filmed, but that initial awkwardness actually helped a lot.”
Addressing viewer reactions that Woong and Bobby were “bad boys” compared to Soon-rok, he said, “To put it bluntly, Woong is like a friend-lover, Bobby is the kind of lover you’d find in a traditional melodrama, and Soon-rok is that rare ideal type. I wanted to portray them all understandably, but as a fan of the original, I directed it with the hope that Yumi would stop suffering over men and finally meet someone good. Personally, I feel bad for Woong; that’s just his character—the kind of pathetic guy that makes you go, ‘Oh, come on.’ Soon-rok is definitely the best. His unexpected charm, honesty, and straightforward nature are truly attractive. I was actually envious that Yumi found such a genuine, good man. Soon-rok really is the ‘final boss.’ Bobby is too perfect, but he’s a ‘sorry I couldn’t protect you’ type. I don’t think I glorified Bobby, but if it feels that way, it’s probably because of Jin-young’s face. To make characters three-dimensional, we showed more of Bobby’s situation, which might be why people feel that way. People aren’t just one-sided, and I wanted to show those different facets.”
He also shared behind-the-scenes stories of the romantic scenes. “The wedding with the cells in the final scene was the writer’s idea. I was cautious because having the cells revealed publicly could break the setting. Their size didn’t even fit perfectly—they should have been smaller—but we decided to give it a go. The bungeoppang (fish-shaped bread) kiss was also the writer’s idea. Since the bungeoppang episode was a big deal early on, I thought it was a great idea. The prop team and I practiced a lot. If you hold bungeoppang in your mouth for too long, it gets soggy, so we used soft ones for eating and hard ones for the kiss scene. We were careful not to cause any injuries. There were many romantic scenes, and I tried to differentiate the first kiss from the later ones. The chemistry was important; Go-eun led well, and Jae-won did great. Creating those stages of progression was very fun.”
He also explained why Choi Daniel was cast as Writer Kim Ju-ho, a character not in the original. “Since Soon-rok and Yumi start with a ‘hate-to-love’ dynamic and an age gap, they needed a catalyst to get together, and I felt Kim Ju-ho was the perfect character for that. The writer created him. At first, I thought he’d only appear briefly, but he ended up having a deep role in awakening the two leads. I looked for a skilled actor who could be annoying without appearing truly evil, and that’s when I found Choi Daniel. He agreed immediately and worked so hard on set.”
Regarding the fight scene between Soon-rok and Ju-ho, he recalled, “It was a difficult but emotionally important scene. The writer didn’t want it to be too serious, so I decided to direct it comically. Fighting comically isn’t easy, so I looked for many references. It was a very hot day, and Daniel suffered a lot. Since it wasn’t meant to be a ‘good’ fight, Kim Jae-won’s flailing—likely due to his long limbs—looked pitiful and cute without any real impact. It was a struggle, but we had a lot of fun filming it.”
