KBS 2TV new weekend drama Love On The Menu director Hong Seok-gu shared viewing tips himself ahead of the first broadcast so viewers can enjoy the work more interestingly.
Love On The Menu, written by Lee Kyung-hee and directed by Hong Seok-gu, which airs its first episode on the 25th at 7:55 p.m., is a family recipe drama about two men and women who gather the fragments of a broken family again and set the warmest table of life in the world.
In particular, expectations have been high even before the broadcast due to the meeting of writer Lee Kyung-hee, who wrote Please Love Me, I Am Sorry, I Love You and A Man Who Is Good Everywhere, and director Hong Seok-gu, who directed Queen's House, Beauty and Mr. Romantic and My Only One.
Director Hong Seok-gu began by saying the script impressed him because it did not stop at a simple romance but embraced family, wounds and the story of recovery, and added that he also greatly wanted to work with writer Lee Kyung-hee, who completes character emotional lines densely, expressing his expectations for the collaboration.
He also revealed directing points, saying he is doing his best so the characters' emotions can be conveyed persuasively. He explained that while major incidents or dramatic developments are important, the reasons why a character makes such choices and the mindset with which they look at others must come alive first so viewers can naturally immerse themselves. To that end, he communicates with actors on set for long periods and conducts multiple readings outside of shooting time to carefully refine the characters' emotional lines.
Director Hong Seok-gu, who cited "changes in relationships between characters" as a viewing point for Love On The Menu, hinted that it will be more enjoyable to follow how people who initially clash and miss each other come to understand one another through certain triggers and how love shakes and changes each person's life. He added that it has a differentiated appeal in that, based on the warm immersion of a weekend drama, it looks more closely at characters' emotions and deficiencies.
Director Hong said he feels that all the actors have a very high synchronization with their characters and expressed trust in the cast for quickly understanding the texture of each role and interpreting it in their own colors. He lavishly praised actor Ha Seok-jin for the stability and subtlety that lead the drama and actress Ahn Heeyeon for her ability to honestly express a character's emotional changes. He also mentioned the contributions of Park Yuna and Bae Jeong-nam for bringing each character's individuality and energy to life, and the performances of Kwon Hae-hyo and Yoon Yoo-seon for raising the work's density, raising expectations for the drama's completeness.
Director Hong said the actors show a warm atmosphere, saying the actors consider each other a lot and actively share opinions about scenes, and through that process good ideas emerge and scenes become richer. He continued that the biggest driving force on our set is that actors and staff all look toward the same place to make a scene better.
Finally, director Hong Seok-gu defined Love On The Menu as a drama that makes you live again. He said he wanted to convey sincere consolation through the work, noting that in life everyone is shaken, hurt and sometimes feels as if life has stopped because of love, but ultimately meeting someone, understanding, forgiving and loving again leads to moving forward little by little.
[photo] provided by KBS
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