Song Kang promises 'even more exciting storyline' in Netflix's 'Sweet Home' season two

Television

Published: 30 Nov. 2023, 17:17 Updated: 30 Nov. 2023, 18:24

Song Kang promises 'even more exciting storyline' in Netflix's 'Sweet Home' season two

From left, actors Kim Mu-yeol, Song Kang, Go Min-si, Lee Si-young, director Lee Eung-bok, actors Lee Jin-uk, Jinyoung and Yu Oh-seong pose for a photo during the press conference for the second season of Netflix series ″Sweet Home″ at SFactory in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

If watching the characters trapped inside Green Home fight for their lives in Netflix's “Sweet Home” made viewers sit on the edge of their seats, the second season, which becomes available on Netflix on Dec. 1, may be just as intense, as the characters decide to leave the Green Home and fight against the zombie-like monsters without the cover of a roof over their heads.

“My character Hyun-soo feels guilty about the monster apocalypse and goes on a journey to an island on the Han River in season two,” actor Song Kang, one of the leads of “Sweet Home,” said during a press conference for the series at SFactory in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, on Thursday. “I can promise a more mature character and an even more exciting storyline than the first season.”

“Sweet Home” season one was about a group of people who get trapped inside an apartment called Green Home just as an apocalypse where people turn into zombie-like monsters hits Seoul. The series had topped Netflix rankings upon release in 2020, becoming the first Korean series to enter Netflix’s top 10 in the United States. “Sweet Home” was viewed by 22 million paid subscribers worldwide in the first month of release and has garnered positive reviews from critics.

The second season will see the residents of Green Home escaping from the building and going on separate journeys with varying goals, said Lee Eung-bok, the director of the series.

Actor Song Kang speaks during the press conference for the second season of Netflix series ″Sweet Home″ at SFactory in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, on Thursday.

“When we were filming the first season, we didn’t know that we would be doing second and third seasons,” Lee said. “In developing the story for the following seasons, we talked a lot to the creators of the original webtoon, and focused on resolving some of the plot holes that weren’t addressed in the webtoon. The first season is about the characters suffering while trapped inside Green Home, and the second season expands from that to tell the story of them outside of that location.”

The decision to take the setting of the series out from Green Home was because if the greater outside world wasn’t shown, it would be hard to convince the viewers of the apocalypse, Lee said.

“We needed the expansion to bring in new characters and to expand the worldview and the growth of the existing characters,” Lee said. “We also tried to fix some of the lacking elements from the first season. For example, there was a lot of criticism that the score for the first season wasn’t very fitting to the storyline, so we addressed that also.”

The cast endured extensive physical training and hard filming schedules, which Song and fellow cast member Go Min-si looked back upon with both exasperation and fondness.

Song Kang plays Hyun-soo, the protagonist of the Netflix series ″Sweet Home″ who must fight his way out of the monster-ridden Green Home amid an apocalypse. [NETFLIX]

“I tried so hard to get into the character of Hyun-soo to the point that I wouldn’t make jokes on set, for fear of losing focus,” Song said. “There is also a scene where I appear fully nude, and I wanted my back muscles to be able to show the angry state my character is in. I worked out extra hard to be able to portray that.”

“My character Eun-yoo becomes sharper and colder in season two, and instead of donning ballet shoes, she starts wearing military boots,” Go said. “Three months before the shooting began, I enrolled in an action school and I've been receiving hard training. I don't think I have ever trained so hard as I did for ‘Sweet Home.’”

Another central character, Pyeon Sang-wook, played by actor Lee Jin-uk, becomes possessed in season two, and Lee sought out help from his fellow cast and the director to play him accordingly.

“Sang-wook gets possessed by someone who thinks that the monsters are better than the surviving humans,” Lee said. “I enlisted the help of Kim Sung-cheol, who had played the character in the first season, and listened to recorded versions of Kim reading out the script to get a better feel of how Sang-wook and Kim’s characters are different.”

The popularity of the first season of “Sweet Home” was what could make all this happen, the cast and director stressed, and they thanked fans for the support that made the second and third seasons possible.

“Being able to top the rankings on Netflix and having so many people support us have allowed us to create a second and third season,” Song said. “The encouragement and cheers have made us work harder to show the viewers a better series and better performances. I hope the second season will satisfy the fans of ‘Sweet Home.’”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]