SEOUL, South Korea - Korean stars Kim Nam-gil, Lee Da-hee, Cha Eun-woo and Sung Jun are set to conquer audiences worldwide with their new action-packed fantasy drama.
“Island,” Amazon Prime Video’s original Korean series, will start streaming globally on Dec. 30.
The series, set in Korea’s Jeju Island, centers on fighting evil and saving the world.
In an interview in Seoul with Manila Bulletin and other media outlets from Southeast Asia on Dec. 21, the four stars discussed “Island’ and their roles.
Kim Nam-gil (“The Fiery Priest,” “Live Up to Your Name”) plays the role of Van, an immortal demon hunter who is half human and half monster. He has spent years killing demons and awaits a stop to this.
Lee Da-hee (“The Beauty Inside,” “Queen of Mystery 2”) is Mi-ho, heiress of a family corporation who is sent to Jeju Island after being involved in a controversy. In the island, she works as a school teacher, who becomes the target of demons.
Cha Eun-woo (“True Beauty,” “Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung”), a member of K-pop boy band ASTRO, is Yohan, a priest and exorcist who is known for his skills. He goes to Jeju Island for a mission.
Sung Jun (“Gu Family Book,” “Ms. Perfect”) is Gungtan, a demon hunter who also became half human and half monster but is different from Van.
During the interview, Kim Nam-gil delved into what viewers should expect and look forward to in “Island.”
“I think the most important message that we want to deliver through the series is the causality , especially when it comes to what you have done in a former life,” he said.
He added, “It's not so much about whether you believe in the presence of a former life but about how all things are related and there's a law of causality in there. Of course there's definitely gonna be the VFX , the amazing action and acting. That's all going to be very entertaining. But I think because of the causality and what happens as a result of what you did in a former life is an interesting element to look forward to.”
“Island” is full of action scenes including battles between the cast and demons.
According to Sung Jun, “I think because it is indeed action packed, it's easy, it's very easy to get hurt. So we always go into the sequences very nervously. So all of the action sequences are quite memorable for me but especially when it comes one to one, or character to character action because we always get in these huge and intense fights. They were all very memorable but I think as an actor, in particular, because we had to perform as if we were looking at the actual lust demon, for example, as a result of the computer graphic. It was quite an interesting experience to work against the green stand-ins instead of the CG .”
For Cha Eun-woo, one memorable scene is meeting Van (Kim Nam-gil) and having their first fight in the series.
“I also remember the scenes where we had to fight against the lust demons and whatnot and because there were so many fighting scenes, I remember all of them, but one of the memorable scenes was my first meeting with the character Van and our first fight and also because we all come from different, you know, thinking about different ways to portray the scenes,” he said.
The actor and K-pop idol added, “I was excited to see what we had each prepared and also test out what we had thought in our minds, but I think mostly I remember the scenes where the characters are fighting against other characters and also another thing that I'm quite looking forward to personally as well is the very last battle, the final round, so to speak because it's such a huge fight in terms of scale. We all are looking forward to how it comes out in the final cut.”
A fantasy series like “Island” involves a lot of CGs so the stars use a lot of imagination and creativity to film scenes.
“So one of the scenes that I remember was the car chasing scene where we had, I had to imagine that a lust demon was actually stuck to the car and I was running away from the demon, but obviously because there is no demon, I had to imagine it and we were all the car was being rattled and shaken and I had to scream on my own,” said Lee Da-hee.
She added, “And you know, make sure that I was chasing or being chased on my own and then Sung Jun also mentioned the green suits, but they were these really tight green suits that the stand-in actors were wearing and because of the lust demon had to be so tall, you would actually stick a long stick or pull to the suit and then have a ball at the top of the suit so that I would be looking at the ball when I was acting against a lust demon, so to speak. So sometimes I would feel rather silly about that all of a sudden.”
Lee Da-hee said “Island” is her first venture into a project with lots of CG actions.
“Because I had to use a lot of my imagination and because it was my first experience with a computer graphic action series, there were many things that were new and also very fun. As for the most memorable action scene, when my character Mi-ho meets Van for the first time, the action sequence begins from the airport. So this is something that the director was also saying where in the first episode, if the audience really sticks to watching our show up until the airport scene, from then it's all action packed from then on. So it's going to be very interesting.”
Beyond the fascinating CGs, Kim Nam-gil said there is “emotional complexity” in the action scenes.
“We talked about the CG action scenes and it is indeed interesting as actors to bring in our imagination in the performance. But I think what differentiates our drama series and our CG action is the emotional complexity and the emotional background that is attached to it. So for example, why we have to fight, why we are fighting these lust demons, why we are being chased, why we have to run from them, why characters like Yohan and Sung Jun’s character, why all of us are in this battle together,” he explained.
According to him, “All of those emotional backgrounds, I think, it's definitely what differentiates our series and it could have an element of confusion because when it comes to the action sequences and the scenes, it's all designed by the director, right? And so there is a limit to how exact and how well the actors can understand that vision and the design that's within the director. Of course nowadays we have things like pre visuals where it makes it easier for us to understand what the director is visualizing. There's definitely the element of insecurity and anxiety on top of it being a very enjoyable experience. So because it's all coming from the director's design, so it's something that, as actors, we are very much looking forward to how the result really turns out.”
Fans are looking forward to seeing Cha Eun-woo, who is a K-pop star, play the role of a priest and an exorcist in the series. the first time he will be performing such a character.
He explained that his character is a K-pop and K-drama fan in “Island,” which allowed him to relate his career background.
“I think it is because of that very fact that I wanted to portray this particular character of a priest and it was one of the reasons why I wanted the character even more. One of the setups within the series is that Yohan is somebody who's personally a big fan of K-pop and K-dramas as well. So that was an interesting element that I could really channel my background into and Nam-gil was saying, ‘Oh, you are now a Korean culture ambassador,’” he said.
In “Island,” Lee Da-hee stars with the three actors. When asked who is her favorite among the three male characters, she said it was Van.
“I would have to say Van, not only because of the relations the two characters have in a former life, there is a story that starts from the former life to this life in the drama series. But also the character Van within the story is kind of a character where you don't really see his emotions on the inside, he's kind of a tough guy on the outside, but a softie on the inside kind of character. So he's somebody you can't really hate, right? And you know, emotionally you become very complexly attached, the Mi-ho character becomes complexly attached to Van. So I think he would have to be my character's favorite character,” she said.
Kim Nam-gil joked, “Van might be Mi-ho’s favorite character, but I'm sure all of the ladies fall for Eun-woo because especially he says ‘nuna’ all the time.”
In portraying a half human, half demon character, Kim Nam-gil said he did not want to turn off audiences.
“Because my character is half human, half demon, I wanted to make sure first of all that when he shows his demon side, it shouldn't be a huge turn off for the audiences. And then secondly, because, you know, we say he's half human, half demon, but in a regular setting, he's more human. So I didn't want him to be a character where the audience would look at him and wonder, wait, is he human or is he a demon? Because mainly, the foundation of the character is that he is human,” he said.
“Island” is a Prime Video Original series that will be available starting on Dec. 30.