'Extracurricular' star turns into badminton player in new series 'Love All Play'

From left, director Cho Woong and actors Park Ju-hyun and Chae Jong-hyeop pose during a press conference for KBS' new series, "Love All Play," Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of KBS

By Lee Gyu-lee

Actress Park Ju-hyun, who became known to overseas audiences through Netflix's crime series, "Extracurricular," has taken the role of a badminton player, Park Tae-yang, in KBS' new sports series, "Love All Play," which premiered on Wednesday.

"Sports is everything for Park Tae-yang. She lives for badminton like her world revolves around it," the actress said during an online press conference for the series on the day.

Led by director Cho Woong, whose previous work includes the 2017 family drama, "My Father Is Strange," and the 2019 legal series, "Justice," the series follows the romance and life of two badminton players ― Park Tae-yang (Park) and Park Tae-joon (Chae Jong-hyeop) ― who are complete opposites.

Tae-yang is a passionate athlete who used to be one of the most sought-after badminton players. After taking a break from the sport for three years, she joins a company-sponsored badminton team, where she meets Tae-joon, who views the sport as nothing more than a way to make ends meet.

The series is written by Heo Sung-hye, who is known for writing the hit comedy film, "Honest Candidate," (2020) and the fantasy romance series, "Tomorrow with You" (2017).

"This is a sports romance series. But it has different stories for each of its characters," the director said as he described the series. "It also has writer Heo's unique style of comedy, so the viewers will be able to follow the story lightheartedly."

The director explained that the series will show the lives of athletes who struggle and deal with hardships throughout their careers.

"Athletes, unlike people in other professions, go through ups and downs with their careers and consider retiring at a relatively young age. The series follows the story of characters who are in their 20s to early 30s. But their struggles can also resonate with those in their late 30s to 40s," Cho said. "From the surface, it seems that they are enjoying their brightest times ― their 20s ― but underneath, I wanted to tell the story of their conflicts and suffering."

Park said the two lead actors put in extra effort to play the professional badminton players. "Chae Jong-hyeop and I like sports and (badminton) is not an unfamiliar sport, so I wasn't really worried," she said.

"But after having the first practice, I started to worry a lot. Since then, I have put in everything to practice my skills. And about midway through the production, I came to take an interest in the sport and played against professional players. (Throughout the production) it was like 80 percent practice and 20 percent acting."

"Love All Play" airs on KBS every Wednesday and Thursday at 9:50 p.m.

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