Director Kim Joo-hwan "Hair loss and neck disc due to body overwork... 'Drunk Driving' Kim Sae-ron, even if the inconvenience is minimized, it is a good thing"

Director Kim Joo-hwan, who directed the Netflix series 'Hounds', mentioned Sae-ron Kim, who caused controversy due to the 'Drunk Driving' controversy.

On the morning of the 13th, director Kim Joo-hwan told various stories about 'Hounds' at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.

'Hounds' is a story about two young men caught up in the world of loan sharks, where money comes before people's lives, risking their lives against a huge evil force. It is based on the Naver webtoon of the same name.

According to Flix Patrol, an OTT ranking aggregation site, "Hounds" ranked second on the same day. 'Hounds', which ranked 6th the previous day, rose 4 places. 'Hounds' took first place in 10 countries including Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, Vietnam, Thailand and Morocco.

Director Kim Joo-hwan, who directed the films 'Youth Police', 'Lion', and 'Puppy', took the megaphone. The story of two young men who jumped into the world of illegal loans with bare fists led them to direct the first series. After 'Lion', I got to work with Woo Do-hwan for the second time.

Kim Sae-ron, who caused controversy for drunk driving, also appeared in 'Hounds'. In May of last year, while filming 'Hounds', Kim Sae-ron was driving drunk at Hak-dong Intersection in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and crashed several times into roadside trees and transformers. The court sentenced Kim Sae-ron to a fine of 20 million won. Kim Sae-ron's length was not edited.

Director Kim Joo-hwan said, "Actually, writing 8 dramas wasn't easy. Even with the original, it wasn't easy. To say the least, I suffered from hair loss while writing 8 dramas. So, I shaved the side of my head. If you raise it, it looks ugly. I went around like that for several months. I got irritable bowel syndrome and couldn't eat coffee or meat. I was worried about where the bathroom was on set."

He said, "My tailbone also started to hurt. Around mid-May, I was preparing the next installment when I got a call saying, 'Look at the article.' A lot of thoughts about how to take responsibility for the situation flew like bullets, and I couldn't organize it. If you've seen the work, (actor Kim Sae-ron's length) is up to episode 7 and 8, "he said.

He continued, "To minimize inconvenience, I stopped production for a month and rewrote it from start to finish. I had to write 80 pages within a month. The main actors were also under great pressure because they had their next work. They had many diseases in their bodies and minds. I was dizzy, and sometimes I wrote while throwing up. Even after it was over, it didn't get better. I went to the hospital and they said I had a herniated disc in my neck."

Director Kim Joo-hwan said, "I worked hard on my body. However, since I am an actor with a lot of screenplay, I edited it closely beforehand. There will be actors who feel unfair after being edited. My heart hurts too. I can't say I did anything wrong, but I'm trying to create a chance to be together in the next work because I made it thanks to the actors."

Also, "I've refined it a lot. I've done a lot of editing. I've already filmed over 150 times. It was like taking three 'Youth Police' and two movies in a row. It was such a difficult situation in the second half, but , I took it off like this and took it off like that. The editor was also a person who only did movies, but shouldn't we overcome it together and take responsibility until the end. The post-production team and Netflix put a lot of effort into reducing inconvenience somehow."

Director Kim Joo-hwan said, "The additional filming part was the hospital scene. There was a part that I couldn't take about one cut because I didn't have time in front of me. And it was a situation where I had no choice but to record in the second half. I finished working with actress Kim Sae-ron that way." He said, "After that, we couldn't talk much. It may be that we couldn't talk because it was an emotional scene."

What was Kim Sae-ron like when director Kim Joo-hwan met for the first time? He said, “When I first met Kim Sae-ron, actor Kim Sae-ron had a side of Cha Hyun-joo. Cha Hyun-joo was a lonely child and had a defensive side. I thought that actor Kim Sae-ron was perfect for the role of Cha Hyun-joo. I had to organize the changed location as well. I had to throw away all the actions that I had painstakingly prepared. Everyone was having a hard time, and I liked what we felt while filming. Even if there were poor points, we were overcoming them all."

After 'Hounds' was released, Kim Sae-ron clicked 'Like' on SNS and expressed her affection for the work, drawing attention. Regarding this, director Kim Joo-hwan said, "I'm not in touch. This is not something I can choose. It's individual freedom. I don't know how it affects me. It seems difficult to even think about it. , There must be unfathomable feelings. That's why I think it's difficult to say."

Director Kim Joo-hwan described Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi as 'Woo Do-hwan and Jwa Sang-yi'. He said, "The atmosphere to finish well was formed, but it was a bit difficult. I was already shaken a lot. I'm a style that I can't even hide. The kids (Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-sang) took care of my broken brother. So there were many times when I was crying." revealed

Not only that, but director Kim Joo-hwan said, "In fact, I like freshly written writing the best. I kept writing, and I wrote 3rd high. I fell in love with it more when 4th high came out. I don't know if it's because I feel like the youngest child, but it's fate." It was fun to drag the two (Woo Do-hwan, Lee Sang-i) in the 7th and 8th episodes. The seniors who lead the bromance in front of you leave, and the two of you lead in earnest, but while watching the ad-libs coming out of the scene, 'focus on these guys' I felt that I was doing it," he said.

Director Kim Joo-hwan said, “The main characters went through hard times in the work, and I felt the energy that we were going through hard times and overcoming them. At the same time, the quality had to be maintained. Of course, there was a bit of greed in the camera work. The conclusion is that the current version is good, "he laughed.

'Hounds' was released in 190 countries around the world through Netflix on the 9th.

Reporter Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia kkk39@tenasia.co.kr