Director of ‘Park Ha-kyung’s Travels’ had Casting Lee Na-young in mind from the beginning

Director Lee Jong-pil of ‘Park Ha-kyung’s Travels’ revealed that he had cast Lee Na-young in mind from the beginning.

On the 25th, domestic OTT platform Wave held the '2023 Wave Content Lineup Briefing' at the Conrad Seoul Hotel. Contents such as the entertainment show 'Blood Game 2', the original drama 'Park Ha-kyung's Travels', and the original movies 'Deadman' and 'Brave Citizen' were introduced.

'Park Ha-kyung's Travels', which will be released on May 24th, is directed by Lee Jong-pil and Na-young Lee plays the main character, Park Ha-kyung. 'Park Ha-kyung's Travels' is a cheerful travel story depicting the unexpected moments and miraculous encounters of Korean language teacher Park Ha-kyung, who goes on a one-day trip on Saturday when she wants to disappear.

Director Lee Jong-pil said, “I really wanted to work with Lee Na-young. I previously took the 'Samjin Group English TOEIC Class', and there was a movie called 'Complete Conquest of the English Language', so I watched it and once again, I liked Lee Na-young's acting in that movie. I didn't see it as an audience member, but as a director, I thought it would be a good idea to do it someday. I approached it this way from the beginning, wondering what it would be like if Lee Na-young were the main character. “When I contacted him through my company asking him to appear on the show, he gladly contacted me and said he wanted to do it quickly,” he explained.

Director Lee said, "If I had to classify it, 'Park Ha-kyung's Travels' is a healing film. Actually, I'm unfamiliar with healing films. From the viewer's perspective, 'It's not really healing, so why is the actor making a face that looks like it's healing?' “It was like that. But Lee Na-young is natural and not forced.”

Director Lee said, "In the tea drinking scene, the line was nothing special, like 'It's delicious.' However, when going to an emotional breakdown, it goes slowly and then suddenly changes, showing a lot of acting that is different from natural. There are times when people sing, dance, and even cry. It's everyday, but it's natural. 'Who is Park Ha-kyung?' “I was curious before filming started, but while filming, I thought, ‘Lee Na-young is Park Ha-kyung.’”

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr