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| From left, actors Seo Young?hee, Kim Seo-hyung, and Yoo Sun pose during the press conference for the new thriller series "Pale Moon," held at Lotte Cinema World Tower, in Songpa District, Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of KT Studio Genie |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Actress Kim Seo-hyung expressed that she fell in love with the strong female-centric story of KT Studio Genie's new thriller series "Pale Moon," and had been wanting for the past six years to join the project.
Led by director Yoo Jong-sun, whose previous work includes the 2018 rom-com series "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim," the new series revolves around a stay-at-home mom, Yoo I-hwa (Kim). In a childless marriage, Yoo lives a comfortable but somewhat empty life, dealing with her ambitious and power-hungry husband's indifference.
One day, she gets a job offer to work at a bank. And when she starts stealing money from the bank's VIP clients, her life soon heads toward a pit of misery.
The series, which kicked off Monday, is based on the Japanese novel "Paper Moon" by author Mitsuyo Kakuta. The novel was also adapted into a movie and a series in Japan, titled "Pale Moon."
"I came across 'Pale Moon' (live-action adaptation) six years ago. At the time, there were even fewer works with female-oriented stories, so I fell in love after watching it," she said, during the press conference for the series, held at Lotte Cinema World Tower, in Songpa District, Seoul, Monday.
"I wondered if there will be a remake in Korea and asked around. The current production company (of the series) held the IP (intellectual property rights). I was considering using it to make something else and I expressed I wanted to take part."
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| A scene from the series "Pale Moon" / Courtesy of KT Studio Genie |
The actress said she was drawn to the story because it was led by an independent character as well as its message.
"I felt I wanted to tell a story about a person taking charge of their own life. I had a strong attraction (to the story) personally and was mesmerized," she said. "The question that the original movie is asking about freedom and happiness spoke to me."
The director noted that the Korean adaptation expanded the story into a 10-part series.
"As this story had a great original novel and was already made into a series and a movie, I had to think about how I can change it into something else," he said. "The relationships that the characters have with each other have become more dynamic (in the Korean adaptation)."
He explained that the series explores human weakness, which sets it apart from the Japanese adaptations.
"This series is an interesting story about flaws and deception," he said. "What makes this one different from the Japanese version of 'Pale Moon' is that it talks about what it means to have flaws, and why we try to cover them up with money or use deception. We tried to portray a story about characters with deficiencies, struggling and desiring to make up for that imperfection."
He added that he wanted viewers to have mixed feelings about the characters in the series. "I wanted people to cheer (for the characters) but also wanted them to criticize them. There are no single characters in the series that don't have psychological issues. You will find yourself rooting for them and the next moment you'll think 'This isn't right,'" he said.
"This is the unique and interesting part. You can just follow the flow of the series but you will also be able to see (the story from) different perspectives depending on what points you sympathize and criticize."
"Pale Moon" airs every Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m. and is also available on Genie TV and Tving.
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