(interview③ continued) The Judge Returns PD said in response to reactions that characters in the work evoke certain real people, "There was absolutely no imitation of or targeting of a specific person."
Recently at the MBC building in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul, a press conference was held for PD Lee Jae-jin, who directed the MBC Friday-Saturday drama The Judge Returns.
The Judge Returns, based on a web novel of the same name, is a justice-restoration time‑loop drama about corrupt judge Lee Han-young (played by Jisung), who lived as a slave to a giant law firm and returns to 10 years earlier to punish great evil through new choices.
When asked why The Judge Returns, despite using the common time‑loop trope, has won viewers' affection, PD Lee Jae-jin said, "Last year felt like a time when most people thought a lot about justice. It was a period with many worries and thoughts about righteousness, and I think people found it gratifying when things they had thought about in their hearts suddenly popped. The story landed because people felt that thrill and accepted it." He added, "The original was created more than 10 years ago, so I was careful about overinterpreting it, but timing-wise many aspects overlapped with reality for viewers, so in some ways I think we were lucky."
Asked what he paid attention to when adapting the web novel that had also been made into a webtoon, he said, "What I envied when looking at the webtoon was that the characters' drawings alone show what kind of personality or feeling they have, whether they are villains or good people. With only actors, you can't always explain what a character is, so we had to find ways to make characters easy for people to understand. So we focused on the web novel and discussed with the writer so the characters could be quickly recognized and understood. Even in later editing, we approached things so viewers could easily accept the characters, such as adding more flashbacks or inserting subtitles."
He continued, "Also, because we had to compress the long story of the original, the writer worried most about which characters to keep and which to cut. We tried to consider the direction the writer wanted to go as much as possible. Deciding which characters to save and which direction to take was the writer's job, and my concern was how to make the surviving characters attractive, how to emphasize and refine them."
When asked about the original author's reaction after watching the drama, PD Lee Jae-jin said, "I'm not close with the original authors, so I haven't received direct feedback from them. But what felt nice was that the original's page views rose after the drama aired. I thought, 'We didn't cause trouble for the original author.' I also thought, 'If we did well, they'll be happy too; that's a relief,' and 'If we meet someday, we can greet each other warmly.'"
The changes in the character Kang Shin-jin, played by Park Hee-soon, also stood out in the drama. PD Lee Jae-jin said, "Kang Shin-jin is a one‑dimensional villain and an enemy before the time loop in the original, but since he must be Lee Han-young's foil and opponent, I thought even as a villain he had to have charm. Casting the stylish middle‑aged actor Park Hee-soon was about thinking how to make him cool. We created more backstory than in the original so this character would not be a simple villain but a villain with conviction. I think everyone believes they are right at times. People can be lenient with themselves and strict with others, so we set him up that way. I felt that conviction gives someone dignity, so I wanted to create the hardships this person endured to rise up, and so I made his past backstory."
He said, "Talking with the writer, honestly what I didn't understand at first was why Kang Shin-jin had no choice but to be deceived. From that perspective, wouldn't Lee Han-young have felt like his child or successor? Seeing someone like himself and someone who matches him, I thought a meticulous, power‑hungry person would be likely to let them close. I decided to create parts that seem similar to Lee Han-young yet different. Through that, even as a villain he could appear human, and in a way think, 'If I do well, it seems right for me; if I'm successful, it must be because I did it right; I could do anything.' I wanted to represent those kinds of people."
In particular, with Son Byung-ho's role as former president Park Gwang-to, some viewers reacted that the character reminded them of real people. Asked whether that was intentional, PD Lee Jae-jin said, "If someone comes to mind, I think people see only what they want to see. Honestly, what we are most wary of is political interpretation. But everyone thought of different people. Sometimes I get curious and read comments. Then people ask, 'Isn't this about someone?' but they don't all converge on one side. So I was grateful, thinking, 'Various camps are having similar yet different dreams.'"
He emphasized, "I hope it is not interpreted too politically," while adding, "We do have regrets about those above us and complaints that they could have done better. People project those feelings onto things. But there was absolutely no imitation of or targeting of specific people." He continued frankly, "There are parts where everyone thinks, 'Isn't this common‑sense justice?' and they are upset when things go wrong. The incidents or rulings that make people say, 'This is unreasonable,' are the things our drama tries to fix. We approached it from a desire for justice, so I hope people do not view it politically. We did not pick any one person as a direct motif. Actors might unknowingly adopt someone as a model when acting, but we did not discuss that. They may have had someone in mind while performing, but I don't think that was the case."
Meanwhile, the final episode of The Judge Returns will air tonight (14th) at 9:40 p.m.
[photo] MBC
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