Written by Kim Ji-eun (Lie After Lie, Enemies from the Past), and directed by Lee Seung-young (Tracer, Voice 2), Wonderful World is the newest MBC produced Korean drama starring Cha Eun-woo, Kim Nam-joo, Kim Kang-woo, and Lim Si-mi. Premiering March 1st in South Korea, the show follows former psychology professor and author Eun Soo-hyun (Kim Nam-joo) as she helps others to seek justice and truth after traumatic events when the justice system fails them.
During a press conference hosted by MBC, the cast and director Lee spoke briefly about the characters and show prior to the televised premiere.
As the lead, Kim Nam-joo’s performance is the backbone of the entire show as it’s the journey Soo-hyun goes on from having the perfect almost idyllic life of having a successful career, a loving and supportive husband in Soo-ho (Kim Kang-woo), and her son, six year old Geon-woo, to a waking nightmare when he’s killed in a hit and run and the driver is allowed to walk free after trial.
Unable to handle the immense grief of this traumatic loss, and the callous reaction of the killer, and overcome with grief and rage, So-hyun kills him and is sentenced to ten years in prison. After serving her sentence, she’s released and finds a new purpose in her life helping others to uncover the hidden truth behind their own life changing experiences.
“My character Eun Soo-hyun has a strong motherly love for her son, and her life turns upside down in just one day. She has that big scar inside of her and we tried to heal that scar in the show, and we have a very tightly knit storyline and narrative. So you can look out for the motherly bond, the scar and healing process of that scar.”
This sentiment of the show being ultimately about healing for the characters is echoed by director Lee who sees the darker elements of the narrative and visuals being a backdrop that allows the brightness within the characters to shine and goes in line with the drama’s title of, Wonderful World.
“The backdrop of our story is indeed a tragedy, but I think it’s like this…you know how when the sky is very dark and sometimes when the backdrop is very dark you will see the character shine through. I feel like when the backdrop of a story…the darker it is, the more beautiful the people you see within that backdrop become. So in that way when you you know watch the entire drama, rather than the tragedy of it all, I think that you will get a sense that it’s a beautiful story.”
Kim Nam-joo shared a bit about her six years away from the industry was important to her, and how being a mother influenced her decision to be in the drama.
“In the past six years I actually distanced myself from work honestly. I spent high quality time with my children as a mother and during that time rather than thinking about what I want to do next with my next work, and rather than thinking about the genre of my works I choose what I decide to work on depending on if I’m drawn to it or not.” “When I read a script and I feel like it speaks to me, and I feel like I can do this well”
She went on to say with a bit of humor that another contributing factor to her decision to be in a Wonderful World was that her children are older now and don’t need her as much as when she took her break following her last drama Misty in 2018.
When asked what audiences could expect from his character Kwan Sun-yool, Cha Eun-woo responded that Sun-yool, whom he described as being mysterious and born with a “silver spoon in his mouth”, “goes on an emotional rollercoaster ride” and encouraged audiences to pay attention to Sun-yeol’s emotional evolution because as time goes by the truth behind his emotional scars and his mysterious nature would be revealed. He also added that it would be fun for audiences “to look out for the different emotions that he goes through.”
In speaking about her impressions of the show and her character Han Yoo-ri, Lim Si-mi spoke about Yoo-ri being an example of how the projection of beauty and perfection can be a facade hiding an international struggle.
“Our show is really about the humanistic sides of people. So if you look at beauty as a person…she might look positive. She might look bubbly, but that’s just one facet of her. But if you look closely into her you can see that she has gone through a lot of different things.” She continued by saying that like everyone in life who goes through different experiences, Yoo-ri is a multi-faceted and three dimensional character.
For Soo-ho, director Lee described Kim Kang-woo as being perfect for the role because he saw he believed him capable of portraying the “pure love for his family” and having the perfect on-screen chemistry with Kim Nam-joo. On his own impression and interpretation of Soo-ho, Kim Kang-woo, who’s known for using animals as inspirations for his characters, there wasn’t a specific animal he referenced. Instead his performance came more from wanting Soo-ho to have a duality to him depending on where he was and whom he’s around.
He explained this by saying “at home he’s very peaceful, like a bunny or something. But later becomes an eagle, sort of”. These two descriptions fit Soo-ho perfectly to describe his soft and gentle nature with his wife and son, and the persona he puts on for his work as an investigative reporter.
In speaking about working with Kam Nam-joo the cast all had nothing but praise for her because of her work ethic and consideration on set for them and fans, as Chan Eun-woo shared in a story about an interaction they had during filming outdoors.
After admitting that he had some doubts with his decision in casting her because of his own expectations of her, director Lee also had nothing but positive things to say as he was impressed with her performance of Soo-hyun.
“She amazed me with her performance every single moment. So the depth that she went into in terms of analyzing her character and she pulled it off with such an effortless way. I was in production for seven months and I was just amazed every single day, and I truly mean that.
I said to her that I want to see her more in shows and in movies because the viewers…people have not seen all sides of Nam-joo. She has so many different talents inside of her and we want to see all of that.”
Episodes of Wonderful World will show every Friday and Saturday on MBC in South Korea, and will be streaming on Hulu in the US, and Disney+ internationally.
*All images are courtesy of MBC. The press conference was held in South Korea with interpretation services provided for international press observing virtually.
Carolyn Hinds
Freelance Critic, Journalist & Podcaster
African American Film Critics Association Member, Tomatometer-Approved Critic
Co-Host & Producer So Here’s What Happened! Podcast
Bylines at http://Authory.com/CarolynHinds
Twitter & Instagram: @CarrieCnh12
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