Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee bank on long-distance chemistry in ‘Gyeongseong Creature’

Han So-hee and Park Seo-joon. Image: Courtesy of Netflix

Being known as chemistry magnets as individuals, it’s inevitable that Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee’s team-up in “Gyeongseong Creature” will cause a stir. But since they were apart in many scenes, it taught them the value of “trusting each other” to pull off the “restrained” form of romance required by the story.

The K-drama, which released its first seven episodes last Dec. 22, tells the story of Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon) who joined forces with Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee) to uncover the mystery unfolding at Ongseong Hospital in Gyeongseong, which refers to Seoul’s old name, in 1945.

Compared to his past work which involved connecting with his leading ladies at a usual pace, Park said during a press conference that being “away” from Han helped them pull off the “restrained romance” between their characters.

“Actually, we met at the start of the shoot but we didn’t get to [interact more] until later into the shoot and that was very helpful. Because I wanted to see her, I missed her. When I did get to see her, I said, ‘I missed you, So-hee. We haven’t been in a scene together for so long.’ So I think those circumstances helped me out,” he recalled.

Han So-hee and Park Seo-joon are the lead stars of K-drama “Gyeongseong Creature.”

Park also believed the forlorn ambiance of “Gyeongseong Creature,” which is described as a “genre mash-up,” is what helped him and Han bring the “reserved romance” between Tae-sang and Chae-ok to life, along with his leading lady’s acting prowess.

“When we were shooting scenes together, there were emotions that sacked up. There were [also] things brought up by the circumstances so I think those were helpful in building our restrained romance,” he said. “And Han So-hee is just a great actress. In terms of a reserved romance, I think it has more to do with the context of making people’s hearts ache.”

Han So-hee and Park Seo-joon in a scene from K-drama “Gyeongseong Creature.”

‘Trust your partner’

The connection between their respective roles also reminded Park of the value of “trusting” his onscreen partner while filming.

“There are scenes where I have to look at Chae-ok, and I would know what she’s feeling with her gaze. From there, you just have to trust your counterpart. I trusted So-hee this time around. I really relied on her a lot and she helped me out a lot,” he said.

Park Seo-joon during the press conference of K-drama “Gyeongseong Creature.”

For her part, Han explained during the media con that the love story between her character Chae-ok and Park’s Tae-sang had to be “restrained” because they “respectively had something to protect” as individuals.

“As Seo-joon said, it took us a lot of time to get back together on set so we were always missing each other,” she said. “He’s usually locked up somewhere while I’ll always be ‘hurt’ in the show. There aren’t many scenes where we’ll come together. I think the circumstances helped us become more restrained in terms of expressing our feelings.”

Han So-hee during the press conference of K-drama “Gyeongseong Creature.”

Han also pointed out that the story of “Gyeongseong Creature” doesn’t solely rely on the “romance between a girl and a boy,” but also about the “camaraderie” between the characters.

“It’s about camaraderie, about banding together to fight off the creature. So, I hope the viewers don’t just focus on the romance part of the show but the entire circumstances and how they band together to struggle and survive together. There’s also friendship, romance, and camaraderie,” she said.

The Chung Dong-yoon-helmed series, where its remaining three episodes will be released on Jan. 5, 2024, also stars Soo Hyun, Claudia Kim, Wi Ha-jun, and Jo Han-chul.