Budiey
If you are looking for something new and exciting to binge watch this month then look no further as iQiyi debuts two brand new Korean shows. Titled Happiness and Let Me Be Your Knight, these two shows promise to bring viewers some comedy, love, mystery and suspense.
Happiness
For those who love a good mystery/thriller, Happiness is your cup of tea. It follows the lives of residents who live in an apartment in the city, where the higher floors are owned by the rich and the lower floors are for rental only. When the city is suddenly plagued with a new deadly virus, the apartment is sealed off in order to contain the spread. Filled with conflicts among residents of different class, follow this drama to see how they fight for survival as the fear, class discrimination and distrust spreads amongst them.
Directed by Ahn Gil-ho and staring Han Hyo-joo, Park Hyung-sik and Jo Woo-jin, the cast shared some insides to the show during a special press conference. Han, who plays a tactical unit officer who is trapped in the apartment building said that she had no difficulties at all in playing her role.
“I didn’t have to specially act to be in character as both our personalities are very similar. That’s how I naturally am in person as well,” said Han, when asked about her role as Sae-bom. This show is also Han’s comeback to the Korean movie scene after five years and is also her first experience being part of a modern suspense-thriller series genre.
To better portray her character, Han did some thorough research before filming and even trained her combat skills, which included sharpening her aim at a shooting range.
When asked how would they act if they found themselves caught in a similar situation to their characters, Han said she would have made the same choice as her character, which is to play on the offence. Meanwhile, Park confessed that he would most likely find a way to escape first.
In the show, Han and Park were seen donning high school uniforms in some scenes but thanks to their youthful looks, they did not look a day over 18. Park further went on to further compliment both himself and his co-star Han for being able to pull of the high school uniform look.
“My first impression of Han was I thought she is like a goddess on television but when I got to know her, she is really down-to-earth in real life and now she is like a sister to me,” he said and added that Han has exceptional focus. Despite the ‘tricky script’, as the cast puts it, Han was always able to immediately recall her lines when she forgets it.
Happiness is also Park’s first show after being discharged from the military earlier this year. In this show, he played a baseball player turned police officer and is glad that he is at his prime in terms of health and fitness. “I’ve been taking the effort to maintain my figure after being discharged and I’m glad I did because my role in this show requires me to have a good physique,” said Park.
During his first day of filming after a long while, Park revealed that he was a little rusty with the camera angles and even got teased by the director. But he quickly got over that and soon found himself immersed in his character.
Jo on the other hand plays a lieutenant colonel and found himself able to work well with Han and Park. When asked what he thought of Park, he commended Park’s ability to create a lively atmosphere on set. “I think Park actually returned from a vitamin factory rather than the military. He is like a happy vitamin pill who brings energy to everyone around him,” he said.
Starting November 6th, fans can look out for new episodes which will be released on the iQiyi International app or iQ.com at noon (MYT) every Saturday and Sunday.
Let Me Be Your Knight
For something a little lighter, filled with comedy and love, Let Me Be Your Knight follows the story of five band members and a fake doctor played by Jung In-sun (Yoon-joo). Jung, who is a tour guide, was asked to become a live-in doctor at the dorm by Lee Jun-young, who is an A-list idol who suffers from dreamwalking. She ended up pretending to be a doctor at Luna’s dormitory and lived with the five band members. Watch to see how Jung gets out of her tricky situation as she experiences sweet and intense moments with each of them.
Directed by Ahn Ji-sook, he was present at a special press conference with the main cast, which saw the cast unveiling some behind-the scenes. The cast included lead actress Jung, lead actor Lee, former Wanna One member Yoon Ji-sung, NU’EST member Kim Jong-hyun (JR), AB6IX member Kim Dong-hyun and Jang Dong-joo.
During the press conference, Jung revealed that she was delighted to be able to work with five good looking colleagues. Out of the five members, she felt the most chemistry with her co-lead Lee as they have more scenes together.
Meanwhile, it also reunited actors Yoon, Jong-hyun and Dong-hyun, who participated in a reality competition show titled PRODUCE 101 back in 2017. This brought back a lot of memories for them and were glad they could reconnect in this series. “I have not lived in a dormitory for a long time and I was actually able to recall a valuable time in my life during the filming process,” said Yoon who played a drummer.
Yoon added that he is about 80% similar to his character and that he could be himself during the filming. “I laugh as much as my character does but I do not always think out loud like how he does,” said Yoon.
This series was also a TV-series debut for Kim Jong-hyun, who has been in showbiz for the past nine years. “It is like starting out from scratch on set, but I am grateful for the support I received from NU’EST. They all have prior experiences in drama and musicals, and I’ve received some great advice from them,” he said and added that they always cheer each other on and encourage each other all the time.
Fellow cast member Kim Dong-hyun revealed that he was not used to acting like a spoiled brat at the beginning of the filming but he later enjoyed all the attention from other crew members. In real life, he often took care of other members in AB6IX but in this series he became the youngest one. He was also elected as “the most adorable one” by fellow cast members.
Starting November 7th, fans can look out for new episodes which will be released on the iQiyi International app or iQ.com at 22.05 (MYT) every Sunday.
