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| Actor Jung Woo-sung is the executive producer of Netflix's Korean original series, "The Silent Sea." Courtesy of Netflix |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Netflix's latest Korean original series, "The Silent Sea," has created a buzz among K-drama fans not only due to its star-studded cast members, like Gong Yoo and Bae Doo-na, but also because of its executive producer, Jung Woo-sung who is a famous actor.
The series has topped the streaming service's official weekly top 10 charts for non-English series, about a week after its premiere on Dec. 24.
Jung, who made his producer debut with the 2016 romance film, "Remember You," said that leading the sci-fi series, set on the moon, as the executive producer, was a huge challenge for him.
"Producing a series is a very difficult thing to do. For 'Remember You,' I was also the lead actor, so I wasn't really able to have a third-person perspective. However, with 'The Silent Sea,' as I only took part as a producer, I was able to take a step back in overseeing the project and learn a lot," Jung said in an interview with The Korea Times, last week.
"Everything about this film was new. There aren't many films centering on the moon. So I couldn't find many references for the technical aspects of the production… Bringing the script to life itself was a challenge, like we were starting from scratch. It was scary but it also had the thrill of doing something new."
Based on director Choi Hang-yong's 2014 short film of the same name, the mystery, sci-fi series follows a group of astronauts ― played by Bae, Gong, Lee Joon and Kim Sun-young ― in a dystopian future, where resources on Earth have been depleted.
The space explorers go on a perilous mission to an abandoned research facility on the moon to retrieve a sample that might help resolve the water shortage issue on Earth. During their mission, they encounter an unexpected secret that has been kept hidden in the facility.
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| A scene from the series / Courtesy of Netflix |
The producer said he got his hands on the project in order to bring up a philosophical question about water to the viewers.
"I liked the reverse thinking of searching for water on the moon to make up the water shortage on Earth," he said. "I thought we could deliver a philosophical message regarding water through the series. So (during the production), it was a series of conundrums on how to perfect the final product and how we can make it resonate with the viewers."
He added that working as a producer has given him a chance to look back on himself and his career as an actor.
"This was my first time observing the process of actors creating their characters, from a third-person perspective. And it was really interesting and exciting. It made me love the job as an actor even more," Jung said.
"I had been wanting to become a director, but it was by chance that I became a producer. And when I took on the job, I came to look back on myself as an actor and would think about the question, 'What am I pursuing in the world through this film or that series?'"
The series has been met with split reviews ― despite its success on the chart ― for its unusually subtle plot for the sci-fi genre.
The producer expressed that he felt pressured to match the standard set by the streaming platform's earlier smash hit series, "Squid Game."
"Since 'Squid Game,' the anticipation about Korean content has risen really high. And getting all that attention was such huge pressure," he said. "So we are just trying to be as objective as possible in reviewing our work. I've been trying to do a self-assessment of what I've missed and done wrong (throughout the production)."
