A spoonful of rom-com therapy: Sold Out Again Today meets viewers.
On the 15th in the afternoon at the SBS headquarters in Mok-dong, Yangcheon District, Seoul, the press conference for SBS's new Wed-Thu drama Sold Out Again Today was held. Actors Ahn Hyo Seop, Chae Won-bin and Kim Beom attended the event along with director Ahn Jong-yeon to talk about the series.
Sold Out Again Today is a seasonal romance that delivers the thrills of "present-life sellout" people as perfectionist farmer Matthew Lee (aka Mechuri) and sellout-obsessed home shopping host Dam Ye-jin become entwined day and night, and it raises expectations about what kind of story will be written when people who always do their best and live day to day meet.
On the day, director Ahn Jong-yeon said of Sold Out Again Today, "I think it would be good to think of it as a therapy drama. Comfort is its main weapon, and its strengths are natural script and acting. I hope people can watch it comfortably when resting and that viewers will see men and women go through a process of healing."
Ahn Hyo Seop added, "The director said it was comfortable, but Matthew Lee is really busy. He does farming, research and development, and business. He's a three-job farmer who runs nonstop. There is a storyline where meeting Dam Ye-jin becomes a rest for each other. The character itself may look busy and passionate, but as the episodes go by, it's a drama that says you don't have to work hard every day, so I hope people enjoy it."
Chae Won-bin said of her character, "Ye-jin is a person who runs forward like a racehorse. In the process she eats away at herself and lives only for work. It's a work that is as charming, cute and comforting as seeing a village made up of very small miniatures," and Kim Beom said, "The Se Eric I play was adopted as the son of the chairman of a French cosmetics brand. He was adopted into a rich family but suddenly had nothing of his own or any goals. When life has no meaning day to day, he meets the character Dam Ye-jin and gains goals and a sense of what is precious."
This work draws attention as rom-com king Ahn Hyo Seop's first follow-up project after 'Kedeheon.' Ahn Hyo Seop said, "People call me the rom-com king but I don't believe it. I don't know. I followed the script, and I'm grateful people call me that," and added, "We had to balance romance and comedy. The director and I went cut by cut asking, 'Was it too much? Was it too plain? Were we trying too hard to be funny?' There were those detailed tasks, and I think we made it by matching our rhythm each time."
Regarding the first project release since 'K-Pop Demon Hunters,' he said, "Actually, before filming 'Ommajin' I recorded all of 'Kedeheon.' When I received the script I read up to episode three; I had been doing serious, emotionally draining work and was struggling with the direction of my life, and this was a work I saw and received a lot of healing from."
He continued, "The daily lives of Matthew Lee and Dam Ye-jin really resonated. So rather than saying I prepared hard, I tried to accept the rural environment where we filmed and experienced a farmer's life," and he revealed, "I learned how to operate a power tiller, and because I had to carry a senior on it I practiced hard. To me it felt like a car, like a 911 or a Huracán. If I prepared anything, it would be my mindset and safe power tiller driving."
Wouldn't there be pressure since it's a follow-up to 'Kedeheon'? Ahn Hyo Seop said, "I'm grateful people love the trajectory I've taken. I'm really focused only on Ommajin. If that trajectory helps, I'm thankful."
Since 'Lovers of the Red Sky,' then 'Dr. Romantic' and 'Business Proposal' have all been hits every time he met SBS, Ahn Hyo Seop even has the nickname 'SBS's son.' On this point Ahn Hyo Seop said, "The title is embarrassing but I'm very thankful to have worked on several projects. If I read a script and like it, it's usually SBS. Today feels like coming home," and he added, "No matter how much pressure I feel, it doesn't change anything. I'm focused on the present."
Regarding meeting global viewers, he said, "I said in a previous interview that our work might have a universal message. The title Ommajin means to live diligently, but paradoxically the work wants to say you don't have to. It's a message that after living a harsh, busy life you're met with someone who becomes a rest. I think there are hardworking people everywhere in the world. I want to say today it's okay to live a little roughly."
When asked whether she felt pressure from receiving acting praise for 'Ichinja,' Chae Won-bin said, "Maybe when I have more years of experience I will, but I haven't had the bandwidth to think that far yet. Rather than praise, Ye-jin and I are similar yet different, and unlike genre works there was a lot to express externally."
She added, "I discussed those parts with the director, and it took longer than other works to put on Ye-jin's clothes. Hyoseop oppa helped, and I had many conversations with the director while preparing for the work, so I worried about whether I could properly express the work and Ye-jin as I felt them."
Through this work actor Kim Beom challenges the romantic comedy genre for the first time in his 20-year career. He said, "I didn't say it because saying '20 years' makes me sound old.." but added, "I unintentionally did a rom-com for the first time. Maybe I was waiting to meet Sold Out Again Today. It was a genre I wasn't confident in."
Kim Beom said, "Fantasy and genre works have delicate settings created within the script, but I think rom-com is a very delicate genre so I was not confident and may have avoided it," and he added, "When I read the script for this work, so many things were woven in, and I thought I could make it colorful with what I have."
For Ommajin, Kim Beom also showed a visual transformation. He explained, "The hair color is a shade I had been saving for this genre; mocha gold is a color symbolizing the wealthy. We tested a long time to create this color. I wanted a color on screen that Asian or Korean people don't typically have, so I mixed several dyes."
Asked what differences he made compared with 'Boys Over Flowers' about 10 years ago, Kim Beom laughed, "I thought about it too, but I didn't have decision-making power over features like the double-collar or patterned tie. A wonderfully talented stylist prepared those and they were ahead of the trend."
Kim Beom said, "This time I had decision-making power, so my team and I prepared obsessively when getting ready for the work. We tried to wear clothes and colors that would convey the ease and gestures of the wealthy. We did test shoots. I think what's shown on the outside is important, so we prepared a lot."
In addition, Sold Out Again Today is the follow-up released four months after last December's finale of Dynamite Kiss. Asked whether there was pressure following a successful predecessor, director Ahn said, "Dynamite Kiss is a work I really enjoyed watching too. Regardless of whether the previous work did well, presenting a new work is a nerve-wracking task. So I hope people view ours kindly and that SBS continues to produce rom-coms in its Wed-Thu drama slots."
Meanwhile, SBS's Sold Out Again Today will premiere on the 22nd.
[Photo] Reporter Choi Gyu-han
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