Kim Young-kwang, Lee Sung-kyung, revenge-driven romance in 'Say It's Love'

Kim Young-kwang and Lee Sung-kyung, who were usually close friends, avoided each other on set. This is because Lee Sung-kyung has revenge on Kim Young-kwang in Disney+'s 'Say It's Love'. But the two eventually fall in love. The director and actors emphasized that the work focuses on healing and comfort rather than revenge.

On the 21st, a production presentation for Disney+'s 'Say It's Love' was held at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square in Cheonggyecheon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Director Lee Gwang-young and actors Kim Young-kwang, Lee Sung-kyung, Seong Jun, Ahn Hee-yeon, and Kim Ye-won attended.

‘Say It’s Love’ is an emotional romance between a woman, Woo-joo, who is eagerly seeking revenge, and a man, Dong-jin, who became the target of revenge, a man and a woman who should never have met.

Director Lee Kwang-young emphasized, “We did not try to focus on revenge.” He continued, "In everyday life, I don't have a feeling like, 'I want to kill you, but I can't.' I thought the universe had that kind of feeling as well. I can't stand the love around me, so I take revenge, but in the end, I live like the person who lives next door. My thoughts are as well. “There are concerns and pain, but it is still a story about living each day. I tried to show the characters living each day that not only you, but we also live like this,” he said.

Director Lee Gwang-young said, “Isn’t love a universal language? I think many people will like it.” Regarding the actors' acting, Director Lee explained, "In order to express the most everyday tone, we did not adjust it in advance. The actors already came to the character. They each used the tone they thought of."

Kim Young-kwang played the role of Han Dong-jin, who felt loneliness was natural and was accustomed to enduring and enduring it. Kim Young-kwang introduced the character as "Dong-jin is a lonely man who lives his life by embracing and enduring the pain on his own, unable to resolve it for a long time."

Regarding working with Lee Sung-kyung, Kim Young-kwang said, "While playing Dong-jin, I avoided (Lee Sung-kyung) on set. I felt like I shouldn't break the atmosphere of Dong-jin. We are so close, so when we meet, we end up laughing and joking around. The director said, 'The corners of his mouth are up. ?' “That’s right,” he said with a laugh. He then boasted of his chemistry with the actors, saying, “I’ve known (Lee Sung-kyung) for a long time, and the others were the same age, so I felt comfortable.”

Lee Sung-kyung plays Sim Woo-joo, who witnessed her father's affair as a child and lost her happiness overnight as a result. Lee Sung-kyung said, "Although the revenge gene is not strong, he is a person who tries to protect what is precious to him. He has lived with the wound of losing something precious for a long time." He added, "People may think that it will be an exciting and dramatic revenge story, but perhaps the revenge gene is “Please see it as a story about a person who doesn’t have anything, who rushes in to protect something precious, only to encounter unexpected emotions,” he explained.

Lee Seong-kyung, who has always been close to Kim Young-kwang, said, "Isn't it difficult to get immersed in the role if you just act like a close friend? We each tried to maintain our own character on set." Lee Sung-kyung also said, “I was touched when I heard Kim Young-kwang say, ‘Sung-kyung makes difficult times brighter.’”

Lee Sung-kyung said, "I was worried, worried, and struggling while filming. I felt after it was finished that it was a tone and character that didn't require much effort to express." He also predicted, "Woo Joo's eyes are hostile in the beginning. Dong Jin is also helpless and bothered. You can feel the change through his facial expressions."

Regarding how he maintained his emotions, Kim Young-kwang said, "I blocked out a lot of everyday conversations. I thought Dong-jin didn't talk to people much, so I usually did the same. Then, I felt a little lonely."

Lee Sung-kyung also said, "I talked to my brother about not being able to sleep well after I started working on this project. I wondered what I should do for several months. In the beginning, I focused a lot on set and set the tone. It was the first time I was focused on set without laughing. After a while, I started laughing. “I have more time to joke around,” he said. He also said, “The director asked me how I could do that, and I said that even when people are tired and tired, they don’t show it by smiling on the outside.”

Seongjun played the role of Yunjun, Sim Woo-ju's friend who is infinitely bright and kind, but secretly has pain and wounds. Seongjun explained, “They say family is different from other people, but Yoonjun feels a responsibility to Sim Woo-joo that goes beyond family. He thinks Woo-joo is someone who must be protected like a legal guardian.”

Regarding his chemistry with Lee Sung-kyung, Sung-jun said, “We got along comfortably as if we were meeting friends from high school.” Lee Sung-kyung said, "I was so comfortable that I didn't know if it was Yoon-jun or Seong-jun. Isn't Woo-joo the only friend who can reveal his true feelings? He played Jun-i so well that I didn't know if he was real or acting. In fact, they are the same age and have been models ever since. “It was convenient to know,” he added. Seongjun said, “Because the character is a serious character and has many heavy scenes, I wanted to evoke (Lee Sungkyung)’s emotions.”

Ahn Hee-yeon appears as Kang Min-young, an ex-girlfriend who suddenly announced a breakup to her long-time lover Han Dong-jin with a wedding invitation, but regrets it and tries to regain her past love.

Ahn Hee-yeon confessed, "The character of Min-young was a challenge for me, because it was a character that had a big gap between me and myself. Even when I woke up in the morning, I felt good, and then I had to go to Min-young's character thinking, 'Today is Min-young!'" He continued, “There were a lot of things I was grateful to the actors for, but I couldn’t show it. From my perspective, I was grateful that Kim Young-kwang ran away, and I ran away with him.” He added, “I felt a lot of emotion from Dong-jin’s back. I was grateful for having that kind of back.”

Kim Ye-won appears as Sim Hye-seong, Shim Woo-joo's older sister, who falls in love easily and gets hurt, but does not give in and is always honest about her feelings. Kim Ye-won introduced the character as "a person who is bright about life and love. A person who chases love until the end because she does not want to let go of love."

Kim Ye-won, who had many filming scenes with Lee Sung-kyung and Sung-jun, said, "In all my acting so far, this is almost the first time I felt like they were real people. It was a new experience. I became Woo-joo and Jun-i to that extent. Seong-kyung has tireless energy, so everyone on set “He kept me from getting tired. Juni is very playful. At the same time, he secretly observes the other actor’s condition well,” he said. He continued, "Until now, other than in the comedy genre, I was so nervous that I almost never made a sound due to laughter, but (because of Sungjun) I couldn't control my laughter and ended up bursting out together, so I ended up making a laugh. 'No!' And then he stopped. That’s how comfortable Jun was.”

‘Say It’s Love’ will be released on the 22nd.

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