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| From left, actors Park Hee-soon and Kim Hyun-joo, director Kim Moon-kyo, actors Chung Su-bin and Kim Moo-yul pose during an online press conference for SBS' mystery series, "Trolley," Thursday. Courtesy of SBS |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Actress Kim Hyun-joo, who is set to lead SBS' upcoming mystery melodrama series, "Trolley," says the plot and her character as a lawmaker's wife with a dark secret immediately drew her interest.
"When I first read the script (for the series), it felt like I was reading a mystery novel. I could smoothly read it through," Kim said during an online press conference for the series, Thursday. "(The story) felt like it was clogged with an enormous amount of mist and I was feeling this desire to make it through. I was personally curious about how (my character) will get through this mist, so I decided to take part."
The series, set to kick off on Monday, revolves around a married couple, lawmaker Nam Joong-do (Park Hee-soon), and his wife, Kim Hye-joo (Kim). Hye-joo runs a book repair shop. And despite her husband's political life, she tries to stay out of the media spotlight to keep her life ordinary.
But her peaceful life falls apart when her dark secret from the past surfaces. Put in a series of dilemmas, Joong-do and Hye-joo must make choices to get through the crisis.
It is led by director Kim Moon-kyo, who is making his directorial debut with the series, and is scripted by Ryu Bo-ri, whose previous work includes the romance series, "Do You Like Brahms?" (2020).
The director said that he was intrigued with the series' depiction of people at crossroads in terms of making decisions.
"When I got the script, the cases that occur throughout the plot were so interesting that I read through it in one sitting. Not just the cases, but how they delicately portray each character's psychological state as they go through these cases was excellent," the director said.
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| A scene from the series, "Trolley" / Courtesy of SBS |
He explained that the title comes from the "trolley problem," a series of thought experiments in ethics and psychology.
"You're given a scenario where you are given authority to divert the trolley to save five people from getting hit and kill just one person. It asks whether it is justifiable to sacrifice an individual for a greater number of people," he said. "We used it as our title to ask questions about what kind of decisions we should be making in every moment.'"
Kim Hyun-joo plays the role of a bookbinder, which is an unfamiliar job to many. She explained that the job reflects a lot about her character's personality.
"Her job is as a bookbinder, which is uncommon. But I felt that was just the right profession through which to express my character. You need to be delicate and resilient, and should know how to value old things, which perfectly describes Hye-joo," she said.
"Hye-joo seems gentle but also has her own inner strength. She is tough on the inside and I found that side of the character appealing," she said.
Park and Kim Hyun-joo said they had good chemistry while playing the married couple.
"This is the first time working with Park, but I felt like we'd known each other for a long time," Kim Hyun-joo said.
Park added: "We personally thought we hit it off well. We didn't have any disputes from the beginning to the end. I don't know how we could have made this series if it weren't for Kim playing the character. I relied on her a lot."
"Trolley" will air on SBS Mondays and Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
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