"PROBONO" offers warm hope and consolation through the stories of marginalized groups.
On the afternoon of the 2nd, tvN's new Saturday-Sunday drama PROBONO held an online production press conference streamed live. Director Kim Seong-yun and actors Jung Kyung-ho, So Joo-yeon, Lee Yoo-young, Yoon Na-mu, Seo Hye-won and Kang Hyung-seok attended the press conference and spoke.
PROBONO is a human courtroom drama about a social-climbing, materialistic judge who inadvertently becomes a public interest lawyer and ends up trapped in the back corner of a giant law firm on a zero-revenue public interest team, leading to chaotic adventures.
When director Kim Seong-yun was asked about the differences from other lawyer-centered dramas, he said, "'PROBONO' has a Latin origin. It means 'for the public good.' That phrase has now come to mean lawyers giving free legal consultations annually. These days it is also often used to mean professionals donating their talents for free. In our drama, law firms are required to handle about 20 to 30 hours of public interest litigation each year, so we gathered all of that into a dedicated team and called that team PROBONO," he began.
He continued, "The differentiation from other legal dramas is that the public interest cases provide services for marginalized people who cannot afford legal services. Episodes 1 and 2 feature a stray dog as the protagonist; episodes 3 and 4 feature a child with disabilities as the protagonist; and episodes 5 and 6 feature a foreign worker daughter-in-law as the protagonist. From protagonists with such painful stories, those stories expand and raise issues in Korean society. In particular, the Kang Da-wit character is an issue maker. It's a very small incident, but we expand it into an episode that shakes the entire country. That process is thrilling, so I hope people watch closely," he noted.
Directing his first courtroom drama, he said, "Every time I approach a drama I think it's very hard, but I thought courtroom dramas might be easier—can't you just film inside the courtroom? But this drama is especially difficult because it's episodic. Moreover, because the protagonists are public interest case figures, unfamiliar people appear. There are many different judges, lawyers and new cases, so building the characters took a lot of energy. Casting was difficult, but fortunately actors suited to the roles came forward, which was great," he confessed.
On what he emphasized in directing, Kim Seong-yun said, "Socially marginalized groups appear as protagonists. I focused on casting fresh, unfamiliar characters. Even so, because they are episode protagonists, they needed that level of acting ability and capacity to embody the character. From styling to their painful stories and the synergy with the PROBONO team that deals with them, through that we expand the incidents and lead to victories through Kang Da-wit's actions. The points where the PROBONO team helps are not only character-play fun but also stories our society needs to hear. The drama doesn't give definitive answers but makes viewers think. People might think the law ends with a ruling, but isn't there legal sentiment behind it? The drama can touch those aspects. If you watch those backstories, you'll feel that those people are human and that the story is ultimately about people," he said.
In the work, Jung Kyung-ho plays the people's judge turned public interest lawyer Kang Da-wit. Jung Kyung-ho said, "Kang Da-wit has many sides different from my personal side. I thought if I did things I normally don't do, I might look like Kang Da-wit. The points were set through meetings with the writer and director before filming to shape the character. We worked on tone and voice," and added, "I've unintentionally played many professions before. I played a doctor, a lecturer and a detective, but because our writer is a judge, unlike other works where a teacher guided me, this time the writer took care of things one by one, so it was actually easier," he explained.
When asked about differences from his previous work MBC's Oh My Ghost Clients, he said, "Similarities between my previous work and PROBONO include tackling difficult social issues and unfolding stories in a cheerful way so they aren't too heartbreaking. In fact, both Oh My Ghost Clients and our current work are pieces the writer has prepared for a long time, but Kang Da-wit and No Mu-jin are very different in personality. If they were similar, it would have been difficult to act, but fortunately they are very different and the process of taking the story and unfolding it is different, the workplace is different, so it was easier to play," he said, adding, "I feel that being a lawyer is a tougher job than being a labor attorney. That seems to be the difference," he admitted, drawing laughter.
So Joo-yeon plays Park Ki-ppeum, a lawyer belonging to the PROBONO public interest litigation team. So Joo-yeon said, "When the director had the first meeting and asked what I'm interested in these days, I said animal rights, and it turned out episodes 1 and 2 are about stray dogs. I was very happy I could act in that story," and added, "While working on the piece I thought a lot about Ki-ppeum's name. Modern society has traits of anxiety far from joy. I hope many people watch the drama and experience joy, satisfaction and happiness," she said.
Lee Yoo-young plays Oh Jeong-in, a senior lawyer at top law firm O&Partners. She described Oh Jeong-in's character: "She may seem rigid on the surface, but when she likes something she excessively shows affection. The director said during a company dinner that he edited that out. I'll have to check on the broadcast myself," and added, "She has a subtle charm. She seems unshakable and solid, but when she acts a lot with Kang Da-wit, there are moments of strangely wavering subtle expressions. I don't know if it turned out well. I worked hard on the script, so please check on the broadcast," she explained.
Director Kim Seong-yun said, "Ms. Yoo-young doesn't seem to know her own charm well. She has a mysterious gaze that makes it hard to know what she's thinking, which fits Oh Jeong-in's character well. Oh Jeong-in plays an important hidden role in this drama that can't be revealed yet, but watching how that mysterious charm interacts with Da-wit and how it changes will be a fun point," he urged.
Yoon Na-mu, who plays eighth-year public interest lawyer Jang Young-sil, said, "The handsome lawyers here—when people think of lawyers they might imagine grand courtroom speeches for clients, but Jang Young-sil, for certain reasons, may make grand arguments but also spends time fixing office items, gathering information, growing mushrooms and doing various tasks. She supports many cute and righteous actions. She will be very different from what people imagine and will surprise them," and added, "Personally I'm not very fluent verbally, and while playing this character I feel I've become slower and more tongue-tied. That has made it harder to start speaking," she confessed, drawing more laughter.
Seo Hye-won, who plays the troublemaker public interest lawyer Yoo Nan-hee, said, "I'm actually the real youngest on the team. Me and the lead are the actual youngest line on the team. But I don't think people will find me at all like a youngest. Yoo Nan-hee doesn't worry about age and treats everyone equally, so I didn't think of her as the youngest. I just acted person to person," and added, "On the poster Yoo Nan-hee is described as a runaway locomotive. She speaks a bit more fiercely and refuses injustice more than my usual manner, so she talks stronger. When she appears as a high school student, she briefly shows a cute side that is not very Yoo Nan-hee-like. After that, she is not at all like the youngest and instead plays a fierce role," she hinted.
Kang Hyung-seok, who plays livelihood-focused public interest lawyer Hwang Jun-woo, said, "Rather than specific situations or episodes, when you look at Jun-woo's actions, overall there is a feeling that despite excessive enthusiasm the results are not that good. I work hard but the team members find it a bit difficult. He unintentionally causes harm. But he wants to work hard and do well. He's a young lawyer who wants to be like the admirable Kang Da-wit, so I think viewers will find that aspect entertaining," he said, sharing his character's appeal.
When asked about PROBONO's watch points, Kang Hyung-seok said, "If you watch our drama you'll see a variety of characters and episodes and many incidents—big and small—that we might have overlooked in daily life. Watching how the PROBONO team tackles, responds to and confronts these issues will be very enjoyable viewing. Everyone worked hard on this drama with very good intentions and filmed diligently, so I hope that feeling reaches viewers and they feel what we felt; that would make us very happy," he said.
Seo Hye-won said, "It's a feast of precious lines. They resonated with me so much that I was comforted and moved every day during filming and went home touched. My favorite line is, 'What will you do if there are no good people?' and the reply is, 'Then I will be a good person.' Even if dark days lie ahead, I think this work carries hope and warmth you can take with you—that good people and good things will surely come," she said.
Yoon Na-mu said, "I think our drama was filmed stitch by stitch so that anyone living with their feet on the ground can empathize. The director and staff worked very hard, and I think it will resonate deeply with viewers. We also gained much empathy and resonance during filming. I hope viewers receive the full measure of what we felt," she said.
Lee Yoo-young said, "While working on this drama, every time I went to the set and returned home I thought acting was so fun. I think that's because it's rare to feel like you and the other actors are creating each scene together. I felt that this time. The director constantly shaped the characters without losing them, and the process of worrying and developing was fun. It felt like the casting was done with care for both leads and supporting actors; not a single minor character was missing. I felt no gaps in the scenes. I expect that density is PROBONO's distinguishing feature. I'm also tackling a new kind of character, so I ask many people's support," she urged.
In particular, So Joo-yeon said, "While filming PROBONO I thought yesterday that there is a spirit of 'nevertheless.' It's the opposite of 'Will one person really change anything?'—it's the story 'Even one person moving changes the world,'" and she broke into tears. She added, "I received much comfort while filming PROBONO. The director felt like a team member. I'm grateful the director took care of each character and made them interesting," she said earnestly. Jung Kyung-ho said, "I hope people end this year well by watching our drama. I also hope people start the new year with hope because of our drama. We're finishing strongly under the director's lead and I hope we become a small but significant source of hope for everyone," he said.
Finally, director Kim Seong-yun said, "What motivated me to do this drama was that the script is so fun. Not only do the characters breathe, but the writer's warm gaze and hope toward society come through. It's the first time I've cried while filming a drama; I teared up at a judge's ruling. I thought this might be the kind of story people want to hear. The script shows what the power of story is, and the hope is told through Park Ki-ppeum, played by So Joo-yeon. So Joo-yeon has the sincerity only Ki-ppeum possesses. Because Ki-ppeum exists, even when the materialistic judge Kang Da-wit does things, the story retains its center of gravity and can be viewed pleasantly. The script was very well written," he said, noting the watch points.
He added, "And the actors who perform that amount to about 70 percent of the drama. There are many lines and some courtroom takes run about 10 minutes. We discussed with the lighting team and hung lights from the ceiling to film almost in one take. The actors are exhausted. Still, the actors who can handle all the movement and emotional acting seem to be the drama's biggest asset. If you watch that closely, I think the months we struggled since last summer will end this year meaningfully and valuably, which makes me happy," he said.
Meanwhile, PROBONO will premiere on the 6th at 9:10 p.m.
[Photo] tvN
[OSEN]