(Following interview ①) The casting process for the panels of "My Remaining Love" was revealed.
Recently OSEN met with PD Lee Eun-sol of "My Remaining Love" at the SBS building in Mok-dong, Yangcheon District, Seoul to talk about the program.
"My Remaining Love" is a program that depicts the romantic relationships of people in their 20s and 30s who have experienced terminal diagnoses or life-and-death illnesses. Those with treatment experiences they could not tell anyone about—ranging from brain tumors to blood cancers, acute myeloid leukemia, stomach cancer and osteosarcoma—gathered in one place.
Their love stories are discussed and cheered on by actor Lee Seyoung, singer Jung Yong-hwa, SEVENTEEN's Dokyeom, and Yena. How were the panels participating in the treatment youth dating show cast? PD Lee Eun-sol said, "The first criterion was that I wanted them to be peers. I wanted people who could look at dating realistically from their same-age perspective. The second was that I wanted them to be likable. We considered that given the nature of the program."
PD Lee Eun-sol, who said they considered casting Yena, who actually overcame childhood cancer, as well as the combination of Lee Seyoung, Jung Yong-hwa and Dokyeom, recalled, "I heard Yong-hwa is crazy about dating shows. He even has the nickname 'saminam' (a man crazy in love). When we met, he enjoyed the dating show, and he likes sincere dating shows. When we gave him the project plan, he said he liked it because it felt sincere."
She added, "Dokyeom is good at variety shows, and his MBTI is INFP. He has an emotional side, so we cast him. Also, Lee Seyoung started as a child actor, and just from her filmography and image to date you can feel she is a diligent and warm person, so I thought she would be empathetic. But unexpectedly she's a T. So she's sharp in relationships. That was attractive, so we cast her, and the four of them made a good combination."
With the panels' characters all different, are their reactions unfolding as the production team expected? PD Lee Eun-sol said, "There are many reactions I did not anticipate. At first Dokyeom was very reserved. But as time goes on he starts standing up, shouting and so on. Seeing that change will be fun, I think."
PD Lee Eun-sol said, "The production team said Yong-hwa is possessed. If someone said, 'He'll go there,' or 'He'll say this,' it often comes out exactly like that. I wondered if you reach a certain level when that happens. Lee Seyoung is feminine and like a princess, but on our show she is very frank. Yena is a broadcasting genius. We watch in amazement; her expressions and words show honesty well," adding, "We cast them, but they are really good, I think."
At SBS, dating programs combining fresh ideas have been born in succession, from "Fortune Tellers' Love" to "Match to Marry: With Parents," "My Remaining Love," and recently "Strange Love." Was there a background that allowed SBS to produce such a variety of projects?
On this, PD Lee Eun-sol said, "Actually, before 'Fortune Tellers' Love' there were no dating shows. Going back there was 'Couple,' and after that the thread was broken. We heard many concerns when starting dating programs, and I thought it would be difficult to make dating shows on terrestrial TV."
The PD added, "I thought it would be difficult because doing reality is hard and the production environment is different from OTT, but that seems to be a way to cope. We don't have the production budget like OTTs, and we don't have much time to devote to casting, so let's compete with ideas. So this isn't just a dating show. 'Fortune Tellers' Love' was a boom of K-shamanism, and this time I felt it was a human documentary. In the end, if terrestrial TV is to make dating programs, I think you have to compete with ideas."
Meanwhile, "My Remaining Love" faced criticism for dealing with the romantic stories of people who experienced terminal illness. Although public opinion became more favorable after the broadcast, many still expressed concern.
PD Lee Eun-sol said, "We fully expected those reactions. We thought the viewing entry barrier would be high. It was a concern, but despite that we felt a challenging desire to tell stories that hadn't been told. There are many attractive cast members, so we started with the mindset of giving it a try."
She continued, "There will be a barrier until people watch episode 1, but those who do watch episode 1 should be able to fall for their stories or love lines. In the mid to late episodes, let's make it so people can forget that these people were sick. I thought that would make it meaningful. I wanted to break that a bit," and explained, "Also, as appeared in previous episodes, there were cases where people were recommended to resign because they were sick. We made it hoping those things would be resolved." (Continued in interview ③)<
[Photo] OSEN DB, SBS, broadcast capture
[OSEN]