It's a waste to be buried with Bae Seong-woo and Ryu Jun-yeol on 'The 8 Show'

The actors' controversies are louder than their works. The production press conference served as a venue for clarification on everything from Ryu Jun-yeol's suspicions of a transit romance, Bae Seong-woo's return after drunk driving, and Lee Yeol-eum and director Han Jae-rim's dating rumors. However, it is too good a work to be buried in controversy.

On the 10th, a production presentation for the Netflix series 'The 8 Show' was held at the Ambassador Pullman Hotel in Jangchung-dong, Seoul. Actors Ryu Jun-yeol, Chun Woo-hee, Park Jung-min, Lee Yeol-eum, Park Hae-joon, Joo-young Lee, Jeong-hee Moon, Seong-woo Bae, and director Jae-rim Han attended the event.

'The 8 Show' is a work that depicts the story of eight people who are trapped in a secret space divided into eight floors and participate in a sweet but dangerous show where they 'earn money as time accumulates'. It is an adaptation of the webtoons ‘Money Game’ and ‘Pygame’ by author Bae Jin-soo, which recorded 300 million cumulative global views.

Director Han Jae-rim, who directed the first series after his debut, said, "Eight people who have fallen into the abyss of life receive offers from unknown people at the moment when they are about to give up on life. Just by buying the time they gave up and attending, they are given prize money as the time increases. “It’s a tragicomedy of cooperation and antagonism while wondering how to accumulate more time since you earn prize money for the amount of time you spend.”

He continued, “I really enjoyed the webtoon called ‘Money Game.’ Normal survival is structured so that the main character wins the situation and gives pleasure, but ‘Money Game’ is a black comedy, so the more the main character tries to solve the problem, the more he falls into the abyss. “It was so fun to see the true character revealed,” he said. “But I wanted to change the structure of how I made money while the other person disappeared, and when I saw the ‘Pygame’ series by the same author, I thought, what would it be like to combine the two? “We have merged,” he said.

Director Han Jae-rim was embroiled in dating rumors with Lee Yeol-eum, who is 21 years younger than him, last year. At the time, Lee Yeol-eum's agency declined to comment, saying, "We understand that he is close to the director, but it is difficult to confirm because it is the actor's private life."

On this day, director Han Jae-rim said, "Actress Lee Yeol-eum had extraordinary enthusiasm for this work. She also asked me like a chewing gum on the monitor, telling me not to give OK unless it was really OK. I think the staff who saw that felt that way," and added, "The dating rumor is not true. “He explained.

Ryu Jun-yeol played the role of a third-floor person who received an invitation to 'The 8 Show' when he was about to give up everything after being scammed and in huge debt. Regarding the reason for his appearance, Ryu Jun-yeol mentioned director Han Jae-rim, who he also worked with in 'The King', and said, "I enjoyed watching director Han Jae-rim's works, so when he gave me the offer, I said I would do it without hesitation."

He added, "The direction and the story fit me well. I should say we communicated well. I worked happily while working."

Ryu Jun-yeol introduced the third-tier character as, "He is an average person who chose the middle layer. He is a quiet person who pursues safety and makes ordinary, mediocre choices among various characters." He then explained the part he focused on, saying, "As the narrator of the story, I tried to convey the characters' choices and situations objectively and mix subjective thoughts to hit the keyword of empathy."

Ryu Jun-yeol's 'transit love rumor' arose during his recent public relationship with Han So-hee and their breakup. In addition, while working as a public relations ambassador for Greenpeace, he showed his pride as a golf enthusiast by serving as a caddy, which drew criticism as 'greenwashing' (an act of promoting an eco-friendly image through advertisements while producing products that actually have a negative impact on the environment).

Regarding issues related to his personal life, Ryu Jun-yeol said, "At that time, posts were posted on social media against my will. Rather than answering them one by one, I thought it was best to remain silent and deal with the resulting criticism." “I have read the critical stories related to this and it has been an opportunity for me to reflect on myself,” he said.

He added, "As it is a production presentation, I think continuing to talk about personal things would be detrimental to the work and my fellow actors. I will do so when I can do a personal interview or talk."

Cheon Woo-hee takes on the role of the 8th floor, a person with a free-spirited personality who doesn't know where things will go. Cheon Woo-hee said, "I thought the structure of the story was interesting. It feels like a microcosm of human society. The story is told with absolute time and relative money that are common to everyone," and added, "I was also just curious about the character on the 8th floor. So far." “Unlike the character I approached, I was intrigued by what kind of life this character wanted to lead,” he said, explaining his reason for appearing.

Regarding the 8th floor character, Cheon Woo-hee said, "He is a type that does not belong to any place. Should I say he is free-spirited or is he going beyond the limit? He is a person who wants money, but his interest is the main focus, so he participated," he said. "There are no easy characters, but the 8th floor is the most “I thought he was a character close to his nature and instincts, and I thought I could express this character well by acting in the purest way possible,” he said.

Chun Woo-hee, who shed her existing image and took on the challenge of playing a sexy character, said, "I thought I could finally show my sexiness. I think sexy sensuality is a very great charm and talent for an actor. The roles I've played so far have been covered in a lot of dirt and grime. “It was my first time wearing light clothes, but I was a person who liked spending more than my appetite, so it wasn’t easy for me to look sexy while losing weight.” I confessed it.

Park Jung-min was in charge of the 7th floor, the self-proclaimed brains of the show. Park Jung-min explained the character, saying, "I am the person who tries to think the most rationally among the eight people. I explore the essence of the show. As the show progresses, the essence of the show and the individual's values collide and become unstable." “I don’t know why the directors covered me with dirt and blood,” he joked.

He added, “I showed something cool (something funny) during a talent show, but other than that, I tried to stay focused.”

Park Hae-joon transforms into a tough 6th-floor character whose actions speak louder than words, and who solves everything that happens on the show with his fists and force. Park Hae-joon explained, “I thought he was a person who maintains the show in a reasonable way. He is a person who quickly finds simple ways without saying anything.”

I also increased my physique for the character. Park Hae-joon said, "I tried to bulk up, but I ate comfortably. I exercised more than usual," and added, "I gained about 11 kg. I felt like I had to scare people overwhelmingly by looking at them."

Lee Joo-young, who plays the second floor, is a righteous character who cannot tolerate injustice in a show full of primal desires. Lee Joo-young said, "I was a fan of the original work. I liked it so much that I watched not only the webtoon but also YouTube content. Just participating was incredible and felt like a dream."

Moon Jeong-hee plays the character of the 5th floor, who has angelic tendencies but experiences chaos in the increasingly harsh show. Moon Jeong-hee said, “I started with a sense of pressure, but as we encountered and talked together, my expectations that it would become an attractive work grew.”

The first floor, the only physically challenged participant, is played by Bae Seong-woo. Bae Seong-woo said, "I enjoyed the webtoon. I also liked the director's new adaptation. I thought it was a genre work in a new way. I thought it contained many meanings and symbols, so I was grateful to participate."

Regarding the character, he said, "He is the only one who is physically uncomfortable. He feels like he is inconvenienced by doing things with other people, so he is a character who silently finds his own thing to do in order to continue the show." He added, "Being physically uncomfortable makes me feel a lot of things." He said.

On this day, Bae Seong-woo took the time to publicly apologize as he was making his first official appearance since the 'drunk driving controversy'. He said, "I think I should first apologize. I really wanted to say that I am sorry for the disappointment I caused to those who showed interest and encouragement. I was very careful and fearful of the inevitable inconvenience to the people I worked with due to my personal problems. “I was sorry,” he said. “It was a work created with the sweat and effort of the director and actors, but I took this opportunity to apologize with the hope that I would become as less negative as possible. “He bowed his head.

Director Han Jae-rim said, "Bae Seong-woo was very sorry and had a hard time. I have seen enough of those feelings, so I hope the apology is well conveyed to the reporters."

Bae Seong-woo was caught by the police for drunk driving in November 2020. His blood alcohol content was over 0.08%, which is the level for license revocation. Accordingly, he left the SBS drama 'Fly, Gae Cheon-yong' that was airing at the time and took a year of self-reflection. Afterwards, Bae Seong-woo received a summary order to pay a fine of 7 million won from the Seoul Central District Court.

Bae Seong-woo returned to the screen in September of last year with the movie '1947 Boston', but this was filmed before he was caught for drunk driving. ‘The 8 Show’ is the first to film and release a video after the controversy.

‘The 8 Show’ will be released on the 15th.

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr