Netflix Korea recently held a press conference for the upcoming film Space Sweepers, a Netflix Original space blockbuster. Actors Song Joonki, Kim Tae Ri, Jin Sun Kyu, Yoo Hai Jin, and director Jo Sung Hee were the attendees of the virtual press conference last Feb. 3, 2021.
Space Sweepers is an upcoming Netflix Original about a crew of Korean space refugees in a far future that make their way to reach their goals in life. As earth remains to be inhabitable, they collect space debris to earn a living, but stumble upon a strange and extremely dangerous creature on their way.
The actors and the director share their thoughts on the production of South Korea’s first ever Space Blockbuster, and what viewers should expect in the film premiering this Friday.
Song Joonki who plays Tae Ho says that he first heard of the idea of Space Sweepers 10 years ago, when he first worked with director Jo Sung Hee. The story had evolved so much from the original idea they first told him about, which just shows how passionate the director is with the production of this film.
Joonki also adds that he didn’t even have to read the whole script to say yes to the role.
Kim Tae Ri was convinced to take on the role as Captain Jang because of the passion shown by the director. Her character in the film is a captain who once had a dream, she decides to build a team so that it’d be easier for her to reach that dream. Although she doesn’t admit it, the rest of the cast and the director believe that Tae Ri’s personality fits the character of Captain Jang.
Jin Sun Kyu, on the other hand, read through the whole script and discussed how to go about unwritten parts of the script that completes the final story we’ll get to see this Feb. 5, Friday. Sun Kyu shares his experiences on set, such as how his character’s scenes are the hardest to finish, as many scenes were filmed in a real ship’s engine room docked in the seas of Korea. Though filming this was quite difficult, it is still one of the best experiences he was able to share with the cast and crew.
Yoo Hai Jin expressed his amusement towards how the director himself drew the character out for him to portray. Hai Jin in this film plays a robot that isn’t the ordinary, that also happens to be a not-so-number-savvy account manager, and also a skilled spearman. His character named Bubs is also someone with a dream and joins the team to get to fulfill that.
After being asked about the hardest thing for the actors and crew while filming this production, Hai Jin says that motion acting was a big challenge for him, especially since his scenes needed multiple takes just to get it right on screen.
Song Joonki and the rest of the actors also mentioned how big of a struggle it was to act with a green screen, since the imagination should be in sync with the details given by the director. Kim Tae Ri is glad that the director is eloquent enough to give good details in guiding them how to act their roles.
Another struggle the actors and Director Jo have at the moment is the burden of being South Korea’s first space blockbuster. That being the dub for their upcoming movie makes them feel as if “a flag is placed on their chests” for the rest of the world to see, so the pressure is real, as they have no plans of disappointing the audiences. Song Joonki says that it’s quite similar to being an athlete representing their country.
Space Sweepers will be very Korean, and Director Jo and the cast say that more films like this should be expected from South Korea in the future. Asked about how he feels towards working with these actors, he says he is very grateful. “Every director would want to work with these actors,” he adds.
Space Sweepers premieres in 191 countries and territories around the world on Netflix this Friday, Feb. 5, 2021.