Following the success of the supernatural series “Moving,” actress Han Hyo-joo is headlining the new Disney+ drama “Blood Free,” which will be released on April 10.
Han Hyo-joo plays the role of Yun Jayu, the CEO of BF [Blood Free], a lab-grown or cultured meat company.
Her co-star is actor Ju Ji-hoon of “Kingdom,” who plays Woo Chaewoon, a former soldier and bodyguard.
Han Hyo-joo (left) and Ju Ji-hoon at the press conference for "Blood Free" (Disney+)
Han Hyo-joo (Disney+)
Ju Ji-hoon (Disney+)
Lee Hee-joon (Disney+)
Lee Moo-saeng (Disney+)
The cast and "Blood Free" director Park Chul-hwan (Disney+)
Woo Chaewoon is tracking down people responsible for a terrorist attack that left the president of South Korea disabled.
He discovers that BF has been amassing record profits since the attack. With Yun Jayu under the threat of attack from drug cartels, terrorists, hackers, and extremists, Woo Chaewoon poses as her personal bodyguard to infiltrate the organization.
At the press conference for “Blood Free,” Han Hyo-joo was asked how she felt about starring in another Disney+ series after “Moving.”
“‘Moving’ was met with so much love and I’m happy to be collaborating once again with Disney+. I hope ‘Blood Free’ will be as loved as ‘Moving,’” she said.
“Moving,” about international espionage, super-powered spies and deadly assassins, set a new record by becoming the most watched Korean original series on Disney+ globally and Hulu in the US based on hours streamed after seven days.
This is the first time that Ju Ji-hoon and Han Hyo-joo have worked together.
“Hyo-joo is a very solid actor. When I talk with her on the set or when I’m working with her, I feel like she’s just a solid person so I can rely on her while collaborating with her. She’s that kind of actor,” he said of Han Hyo-joo.
She replied, “I was the one who relied on him. Because as an actor, he has a great presence on the set.”
“Blood Free” also stars Lee Hee-joon (“Mouse”), Lee Moo-saeng (“The World of the Married”) and Park Ji-yeon (“Mr. Sunshine”).
Director Park Chul-hwan said working with the cast “is such an honor for me.”
“When I was preparing for this show, I didn’t know the final list of cast. When I heard that these people were joining…they are such big names. I was taken aback a little bit,” he said.
About “Blood Free,” the director said, “We have a perfect script and have veteran actors. What else could I ask for? So I was fearless when I was on the set because there was nothing that could go wrong.”
Ju Ji-hoon said the series “is set against a near future. It’s not too far. Pretty near future.”
“Blood Free” deals with the subject of lab-grown meat, a first in Korean dramas.
Park Chul-hwan said, “When we were actually shooting the series, AI [artificial intelligence] hadn’t been a big of a deal. When we see the rapid development of AI, all I was trying to focus on was to make it as realistic, really feel grounded as possible.”
About lab-grown meat as a subject for the drama, Han Hyo-joo said, “When I was reading the script for the first time, I thought this was so timely. This is a show that we need at this moment. Such an Intelligent script, such a smart subject material. It was a total page-turner for me.”
According to the Good Food Institute website, “Cultivated meat, also known as cultured meat, is genuine animal meat (including seafood and organ meats) that is produced by cultivating animal cells directly. This production method eliminates the need to raise and farm animals for food. Cultivated meat is made of the same cell types that can be arranged in the same or similar structure as animal tissues, thus replicating the sensory and nutritional profiles of conventional meat.”
“We worked so hard on ‘Blood Free,’” said Han Hyo-joo.
Ju Ji-hoon said, “We had so much fun creating the show and I bet that you will also enjoy watching the show.”
“Blood Free” will stream exclusively on Disney+ on April 10.