SBS drama series 'Revenant' takes fear to the limit

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SBS drama series 'Revenant' takes fear to the limit

Published: 23 Jun. 2023, 17:16 Updated: 25 Jun. 2023, 09:22

Actors Oh Jung-se, left, and Kim Tae-ri pose for a photo at the press conference for ″Revenant″ held at the SBS headquarters in Yangcheon District, western Seoul, on Friday. [YONHAP]

The new SBS drama series “Revenant” starring Kim Tae-ri and penned by star screenwriter Kim Eun-hee, which airs its first episode today, will focus on the Eastern occult, as opposed to Western exorcism and horror.

“Western exorcism will not be dealt with in ‘Revenant’ — our historical folklore and tales were the inspiration,” said director Lee Jung-rim during a press conference for “Revenant” at SBS headquarters in Yangcheon District, western Seoul, on Friday. “I think this will differentiate ‘Revenant’ from all the other horror genre dramas out there.”

Kim Tae-ri, who will play Gu San-yeong, a woman who gets possessed by a devil, said that she was drawn to the drama because of the incredibly detailed script and the high quality of the story. “Revenant” is written by Kim Eun-hee, who wrote a number of hit drams such as “Sign” (2011), “Phantom” (2012), “Signal” (2016) and “Kingdom” (2019-).

Main poster for ″Revenant″ [SBS]

“I remember the first time I heard of this drama through Kim Eun-hee,” said Kim Tae-ri during the press conference Friday. “I thought that the subject matter for ‘Revenant’ was something we haven’t seen before, and the idea of dealing with the theme of youth along with the occult was very interesting. The entire story seemed very well structured and full, too.”

While Kim Tae-ri faced some difficulties playing a person who is possessed by a devil, the actor welcomed the challenge. Kim is known for her acting chops, having made a feature film debut in 2016 with Park Chan-wook’s “The Handmaiden” — going through an audition process that had a 1,500:1 competition rate — and following that with appearances in hit dramas and films such as “Little Forest” (2018), “Mr. Sunshine” (2018) and “Twenty-Five Twenty-One” (2022).

Actor Kim Tae-ri as Gu San-yeong, a woman who gets possessed by a devil, in the new SBS drama ″Revenant″ [SBS]

“Having to act two characters with one face was very difficult,” said Kim. “At first, to act the devil that possesses my character while I couldn’t understand it either was almost impossible, and that was because my acting was leaning toward San-yeong’s point of view and not the devil’s. I tried to think a lot about what San-yeong must have desired deep within herself and why she ended up being possessed by a devil.”

Oh Jung-se, who plays the character Yeom Hae-sang, a professor of native studies who can see devils and spirits, said that reading the script for and filming “Revenant” was a process similar to walking through fog.

“It was a process of figuring out how to make these characters come alive, and it was like solving a mystery on its own,” said Oh during the press conference Friday. “My character is someone who lacks any wit or social skills, but I wanted to make him into a believable and appealing character.”

Regarding how scary “Revenant” could be with its age-15 rating, director Lee promised the “most out of the boundary of what we could do.”

“We did everything in our power to make the story, scenes and acting as scary as possible without challenging the rating,” said Lee. “We promise that this will be the drama to entertain viewers for the long summer nights.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]