OCN originals set to bring the thrills: The cable network’s hits ‘Voice’ and ‘Save Me’ will debut new seasons soon
Published: 06 Feb. 2019, 18:36
Over the past few years, OCN has been successful in grabbing attention with their hit series “Save Me” (2017), “Voice” (2017-18) and “Son: The Guest” (2018), all of which involve extraordinary incidents or characters with supernatural powers.
To satisfy fans of these series, OCN is producing a third season of “Voice,” an investigative series featuring a detective who uses her hearing skills to chase criminals, and a second season for “Save Me,” where several young people embark to save a girl who is trapped in a pseudo-religious cult.
Another anticipated series is “Possessed,” starring actors Song Sae-byeok and Go Joon-hee, The thriller, which will premiere on March 6, tells the story of a detective (Song) and a psychic (Go) who possess other people’s bodies in order to chase after evil souls.
The first OCN project this year is “Trap,” starring actors Lee Seo-jin, Sung Dong-il, Lim Hwa-young and Yoon Kyeong-ho. Mystery begins to unfold after renowned news anchor Kang U-hyeon (Lee) and his family fall into a “trap” during a family trip.
The series is also OCN’s first “dramatic cinema” project, in which the different formats of a movie and a drama are combined. Crews who work in film and drama teamed up to create a series that offers viewers a cinematic experience.
At a press conference ahead of the series’ premiere held Jan. 31 at Le Meridien Seoul in southern Seoul, Park Shin-woo, the series’ director, explained the project’s meaning.
“At first, I directed the series, thinking that it would be a ‘cinematic drama,’” he said. “We were actually going to make a movie with ‘Trap’ but instead we made it into a seven-episode series. I think that’s what differentiates this series from any other series.”
Park is actually the film director behind such films as “About a Bad Boy” (2005) and “White Night” (2009).
While the project seems like a creative idea, some worry the series may turn out to be slow-paced due to its plot, which was originally written to be a movie. However, Park thinks the opposite.
“‘Trap’ is better fit as a drama. A movie version [of ‘Trap’] was only a two-hour, plot-centered story, so I was worried about how to express the characters well. But after OCN proposed the project, I could focus more on the development of characters. [This was a good chance for me to] think about the differences between a movie and a drama.”
According to actor Sung, who plays the detective who helps U-hyeon solve his mystery, the characters from the drama were very well-shaped even before the filming took place.
“The reason I took the role was because my character was well-written,” he said. “My character [as a detective] is a result of a good script. I did not have to worry about [how to play out my role] because it was perfect the way it was.”
Sung is a veteran actor who debuted in 1991 and has appeared in many different movies and dramas, from the comedy action film “The Accidental Detective” series to the investigative film “Proof of Innocence.” But ultimately, he believes a good film is based on good characters.
Unlike Sung, this is the first time Lee is appearing in a thriller series made for television. After Lee debuted in 1999, he appeared in many romantic dramas, and his latest project was the comedy flick “Intimate Strangers” (2018).
“I took the role because I liked the idea of a dramatic cinema project and because I was interested in the genre itself,” he said. “It’s my first time appearing in a thriller series, and it involves a lot of blood, knives and guns.”
He continued, “I concentrated on my character while working on the second half of the series. It’s going to show a different side of the character than the beginning because there’s a huge plot twist after the first half.”
Actor Lim, who has not played big roles in many dramas, will be playing a professional profiler alongside Sung in the series. According to Lee, the series is a well-prepared, action-packed drama.
“I did a lot to prepare for this series - I learned jiujitsu and even got a driving license while filming the series.”
According to actor Yoon, who plays Master Yoon, a mysterious owner of a cafe in the mountains, “watching the series will be exactly like watching a movie. Master Yoon is a person who will mark the beginning of all conflict. If you concentrate on the series as if you are watching a movie till the end, the series will already be at the verge of its end.”
BY YEO YE-RIM [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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