(Continued from interview ①) Singer and actor Kim Sejeong expressed her thoughts on working with senior actor Kang Tae-oh in Moon River and revealed her desire to win the Best Couple award.
MBC's Friday-Saturday drama Moon River (written by Jo Seung-hee, directed by Lee Dong-hyun, abbreviated as "Moon River") ended after airing episode 14 (final episode) on the 20th. Among them, Kim Sejeong gave a passionate performance as one of the title roles and the female lead, Bak Dali. I met her at a café in Gangnam, Seoul, and talked about the work and her recent activities.
Moon River is a soul-switching role-reversal (易地四肢) romance fantasy historical drama about Crown Prince Igang (played by Kang Tae-oh), who has lost his smile, and head maid Bak Dali (played by Kim Sejeong), who has lost her memory. The fantasy setup in which the soul of Crown Prince Igang, who lost his wife and his smile, and the soul of head maid Bak Dali, who lost her memory, are swapped unfolds a romance that transcends the status of prince and commoner against a modern and brisk historical drama backdrop.
On why she was drawn to her first historical drama, "Moon River," Kim Sejeong said emphatically, "50% was Kang Tae-oh." She emphasized, "Isn't it a role where the man and woman switch? While I was considering it, when I saw that the opposite actor was confirmed to be the senior, I thought it would be fine. That part was the biggest."
Perhaps because of that, Kim Sejeong and Kang Tae-oh were also nominated for the Best Couple award at the 2025 MBC Drama Awards to be held on the 30th. Regarding this, Kim Sejeong joked, "We are a 95-point couple. There are no 5 points (blemishes)." She added with a laugh, "But really, we were so happy together while working. I think whatever we receive is also an award we give to the people who worked with us, and there are so many people who made our couple look beautiful this time. Simply costume, makeup, art, the camera directors—all contributed to that couple. I felt grateful to those people, so I really hope we 'definitely' win. I heard there are many strong contenders, so I hope our team grabs the honor."
She continued, "I expected Kang Tae-oh to be a good actor from the start. But I thought he has a lot of different paces. I thought of Cha Yul-mu (the role of Injo in 'Joseon Rom-Com = Nokdujeon') and felt, 'So this kind of face exists on such a bright face.' I thought he would bring my character to life so well when he acted me. If I work with him, I felt I could entrust myself freely. I think he has a lot of charm. I also imitate him sometimes, but there are parts I can't do that he has to act. If he did less then my character might be less vivid, but true to form he gave 150%. Thanks to that, I felt responsibility and wanted to act to make the character even better."
Kim Sejeong said, "I usually have high tension, lots of energy, many ideas, and I'm one of the actors who talks a lot on set. He always accepts all of that. Even on tiring days he says it's all good. If I give 10 ideas he answers them all. He says he thinks that's the best. As a senior who leads so I wouldn't be worried no matter what challenge I take, I was really glad to work with him," and added, "I told him a lot while acting together. I said, 'Thank you for being Igang.' He was embarrassed and felt burdened, but even if I did it again later I would definitely choose Kang Tae-oh."
She especially said, "They say lovers grow to resemble each other. I always thought when actors who resemble each other do a romance, the visuals and the pictures pop, and because the two of us resemble each other our visual compatibility seemed likely to match well. I thought our temperaments would suit each other. Simply put. When actually matching acting, I also thought many parts would fit well. Because he himself has so many different paces, I thought when he came to this work there might still be paces he hadn't shown yet. I heard many things about him. He's a good person. I thought he leads the atmosphere on set. I also tend to lead energy, but since it takes both of us clapping to make it happen, I thought we'd create better synergy together."
(Continued in interview ③)<
[Photo] MBC, provided by Jellyfish Entertainment Co.
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