When we watch dramas from the comfort of our own screens, we may be unaware of the grueling preparation that happened on set.

AsiaOne attended the virtual press conference for Disney+'s upcoming period K-drama Low Life yesterday (July 8), where cast members including Ryu Seung-ryong, Yang Se-jong and Lim Soo-jung were in attendance, as well as the show's director Kang Yun-sung.

Much of the filming was done with water involved, and Yun-sung boiled it down to three main components: "Firstly, we did filming on location itself. Secondly, detailed filming was done in water tanks sometimes. And thirdly, because we have artefacts buried underwater in the show, we did some shooting in specialised sets too."

Set in the 1970s and based off the 2015 webtoon by Yoon Tae-ho, Low Life follows Oh Gwan-seok (Seung-ryong) and his nephew Oh Hui-dong (Se-jong), who rush to salvage a recently discovered priceless treasure in an ancient, sunken ship before other treasure hunters arrive. Desperate to change their life of selling counterfeit goods, the two will do whatever it takes to win.

Elaborating more on the filming experience, Kim Eui-sung, who portrays conman Professor Kim, spoke about the sweltering heat on set.

As Professor Kim spends much of his time onboard ships, the 59-year-old recounted: "It was last summer and it was at the peak of the summer heat in the Sinan ocean, and we were always sailing. In the beginning, we had a very small paddle boat and it was really scary to get on board in the sea. And it was so hot, because there's no shade in the ocean, right?

"So we were looking forward to filming in the water tanks. And then, when we got to the water tank set, it was actually 39 degrees Celsius. There was no way it was even hotter in the set than on location."

For Se-jong, his role as Hui-dong required him to undergo training. The 32-year-old shared: "I was scared at first, and helmet diving lessons were given to me. I had a lot of training as I needed to have some skill. You have to press a button to go down into the water and I kind of enjoyed the feeling."

Other cast members also underwent different preparations for the drama. As a period piece depicting the 1970s, Low Life uses a diverse array of Korean dialects in its script with characters from various regions including Busan, Seoul and Mokpo.

Playing policeman Sim Hong-gi is Lee Dong-hwi, who learned the vernacular through a coach, as well as from actors on set including Im Hyung-joon and Jung Yun-ho, the latter whom he thanks as "the best teacher".

New actress Kim Min who plays Seon-ja, a coffeeshop waitress from Mokpo, told reporters: "I looked through a lot of different documents and materials from the past so that I could soak in that [time period]. Then, I also found people who were from those regions and got them to record themselves speaking in their own dialects and I'd hear them on repeat, day and night. I'd also ask my co-stars questions on set to perfect my dialect."

Yun-sung also remarked that he already had the characters' personalities written but found himself changing them according to the cast's portrayal of their characters.

"Some of the characters became different from what I had imagined at the start, but I really wanted to follow the actors' style, and I kind of adjusted their lines to suit the portrayed personalities," he explained.

Eui-sung also commented that at the end of each filming day when the cast had gone home, Yun-sung would send everyone an updated copy of the script with changes to their lines, which impressed the former.

In response, Yun-sung said: "That's important because every time we film, I feel like the characters are growing as a person — because that's what great actors do."

The first three episodes of Low Life will be available for streaming from July 16 on Disney+.

 

[[nid:719986]]

kristy.chua@asiaone.com