Korean stars Song Kang of “Sweet Home” and Han So-hee, who rose to fame through last year’s hit Korean drama “The World of the Married,” are teaming up for the new Netflix series “Nevertheless,” which will premiere on June 20.
“Nevertheless” is based on a Korean webtoon of the same name and tells the story of Yu Na-bi (Han So-hee) who does not believe in love but wants to date and Park Jae-eon (Song Kang) who enjoys flirting with women but does not want to date exclusively.
“Our show ‘Nevertheless’ is something we all come across when we are in a relationship. The questions we ask ourselves: What am I doing? That is the very essence of our series,” said director Kim Ga-ram during a press conference with the two stars in Seoul on June 18.
Song Kang said the script attracted him to do “Nevertheless,” saying, “Though it is a romance of college students, I felt like it is truly a different kind of romance. It had that sweetness of romance that we typically expect of young love but also there were other things that I felt like differentiated this story and made it stand out.”
On chemistry with Han So-hee, he said, “The chemistry this time can be described as great friendship. We were able to create a relationship and also relate to each other because we are of the same age.”
‘Nevertheless’ is Han So-hee’s next project after “The World of the Married” and she said she is a fan of webtoon.
“I felt like this series focused on some types of emotions that anyone goes through when you find yourself in love. I also felt like this was a different type of romance and as an actress, I felt like this is a great opportunity for me. I want to do something like this, play a role like this as an actress of my age,” she said.
Han So-hee said people told her that playing Yu Na-bi is completely different from her previous role. In “The World of the Married,” she played the role of Da-kyung, who engages in an affair with a married man played by Park Hae-joon.
“Approaching this role of Na-bi, because I share so much in common with the character, I felt like it was closer to home. And I felt like it was not so much of a transformation. I tried to make it as realistic as possible in my acting performance,” she said.
Song Kang revealed that to prepare for his role as Park Jae-eon in “Nevertheless,” he lost 5 kilos.
“He looks like a nice guy but he has a very icy cold (character) and I wanted to make sure that I convey this through him. And I thought I wanted to look sharper so I went on a diet.,” he said.
While the two stars wanted their portrayal of their characters in sync with the characters in the webtoon, director Kim said she told them “they don’t have to think too much about looking in sync with the characters.”
When asked how they felt when they learned that they were going to work together in “Nevertheless,” Song Kang said, “From the appearance, she looked very much like Na-bi. And her facial expressions also kind of look like Na-bi so I was taken by surprise. And So-hee has this ambiance, she is very frank, she has this frank personality. So I was very happy to hear that she was going to act with me.”
“I thought that he was someone that was similar to the original webtoon character. Kang has a very bubbly character. His charms are quite different from the character of Jae-eon. That sort of contrast makes him even more charming,” Han So-hee described Song Kang.
Song Kang described Han So-hee as someone who is “flexible. Whatever I throw at her in terms of acting, she would really respond to it well.
“Every time Kang arrived on the set, I could feel the energy he brought to the set brightened everybody up,” she said.