December 2023 Issue
Disclaimer: Article is roughly translated. It may contain inaccuracies. Please pardon any mistakes.
The Story of Park's Marriage Contract
Lee Seyoung and Bae Inhyuk’s “The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract” on a flower viewing experience just for the two of them.
How far can we go for love? Lee Seyoung and Bae Inhyuk of “The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract”, embark on a flower-viewing tour this season.
(Note: Since the title is too long, I just put “the drama” to refer to
<The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract>, unless they talk about a different drama)
Q: You were both continuously joking around (smiles). Was it also like this on the set of the drama?
Inhyuk: It’s always like this. On the outside, we look different because of the clothes and makeup, but we always have this energy on set.
Seyoung: He always teases me, but on official events or scheduled promotions, I’m more mischievous. But he looks different today after only seeing Inhyuk’s neat and simple appearance.
Q: In the drama, Taeha is a chaebol executive, and is cold enough to be called ‘robot’. Is he different from Inhyuk?
Seyoung: They’re completely different. Extreme opposites. We talked about the characters MBTI with the writer. He’s an ENFP acting as an ISTJ.
Inhyuk: Seyoung is an ISTJ in real life, but in the drama, Yeonwoo is an ENFP.
Q: So you’re basically acting as each other (laughs).
Inhyuk: My personality changed a lot while I was acting. I’m an active person. I can’t stay still. But I suppressed that energy.
Seyoung: Inhyuk likes sports. He has a lot of active hobbies like riding his bike, or taking a walk by the Han River. Whenever I message him to talk about the script, he’s always riding his bike.
Inhyuk: Whenever you contact me, I’m always doing something (laughs).
Q: Are your reasons for being attracted to the drama also different?
Seyoung: A Confucian girl from Joseon comes to the modern world? I got very curious about the next episode. I quickly read the script as soon as I received it. Eventually, I met with the writer and director, and asked them, “What happens in the end?” I wanted to do it because I was curious.
Inhyuk: For me, I decided to do it even before meeting the director and writer. Seyoung got casted first, and that played a big role in my decision (laughs). I really wanted to work with her. We don’t have that much of an age gap, but she’s been acting since she was young, and on the other hand, I’ve only been acting for a short while. I learned a lot. Sometimes, she’s like a senior actor, and other times, she’s like a friend. And I also thought it would be interesting to show a performance that showcases a wide range of emotions.
Q: From the 19th century to 21st century South Korea, the two characters meet each other after transcending time and space. What makes this love special?
Seyoung: I thought I wouldn’t be able to understand Yeonwoo’s feelings. I mean, I’ve been living my whole life in South Korea. She becomes brave in a world she’s never experienced before. It must be so unfamiliar and scary, but how immense is that love that she’s willing to do everything. I was drawn to that deep and vast love.
Inhyuk: For Taeha, it’s not only that he never experienced love, he also never opened up his heart to anyone. To be affected by someone you’re meeting for the first time, to open up to the person approaching you, and to finally expressing your feelings. It’s about completely changing a person.
Q: What’s the good thing about Yeonwoo and Taeha?
Inhyuk: Taeha has a strong tendency to be defensive, so I’d say he plays the role of a defender. For that role to be fulfilled well, there needs to be a striker that attacks well. And Seyoung is the best striker.
Seyoung: In the process of discovering a new side of him while feeling the emotions of love, Taeha is able to show his humane and cute side. I think that’s because Inhyuk is normally a kind, loving and affectionate person. It just comes out naturally.
Q: What words do you exchange the most on set?
Seyoung: This might be a spoiler but, “Do you want to visit grandfather?”
Inhyuk: “Do you want to go to grandfather’s house?”
Seyoung: It’s this line. You’ll understand it eventually… (laughs).
Q: I feel a bit left out, but for now, I understand (laughs). Many of Lee Seyoung’s historical drama characters, including your recent drama <The Red Sleeve>, received a lot of love. Is there a big difference in expressing a woman who ‘came’ from Joseon versus a woman who ‘lives’ in Joseon?
Seyoung: The things that are natural for us would be unfamiliar to someone from the 19th century. When automatic doors open, we naturally walk through them, but it’s not easy for Yeonwoo to take that one step. It wasn’t easy to express that natural and instant reaction that comes out when faced with something unfamiliar and strange, whether it be a thing or a place.
Q: Yeonwoo is introduced as a Confucian girl. Is Lee Seyoung also similar to a Confucian girl?
Seyoung: Yeonwoo enjoys reading romantic novels (laughs). That already makes her far from being a Confucian girl. However, she can be called one when it comes to the way she dress or her outer appearance. If there’s anything that’s similar to my personality, it’s that I’m straightforward when it comes to love.
Q: As for Bae Inhyuk, your gentle deep voice in <Under the Queen’s Umbrella> as the Crown Prince was very attractive. Did you also pay attention to your intonation and tone in this drama?
Inhyuk: This time, my tone is higher than last time. I think that makes (my character) colder and sharper. From the beginning of the filming process, the director wanted me to be more robotic, but that wasn’t easy. If I do something wrong, then I might really sound like a robot, and we don’t want that happening (laughs). Maybe it’s because I worked hard, that I got nervous as the airing of the first episode came closer.
Q: You mentioned that it’s fun to act as someone who is the complete opposite of yourself. In that sense, was it interesting to act as Taeha?
Inhyuk: That’s what I thought. While acting as Taeha, I realized how difficult it is to play a role that is my complete opposite (laughs). However, I know that as time passes and I look back on those difficult times, I’ll remember them as fun moments. That process of achieving something becomes a sense of achievement.
Q: Lee Seyoung, you received the Best Couple Award for your recent dramas <The Red Sleeve>, and <The Law Cafe>. As a ‘chemistry fairy’, what do you think makes you have good chemistry with your lead actors?
Seyoung: I’m grateful for that nickname, but that’s because the actors I acted with were good actors. They were also charming and good people. Chemistry is at its best when the characters match each other well, and they have a tight-knit relationship. It’s when you don’t want them to break up (or separate), and you want them to be lovey-dovey. I hope (viewers) will feel the same way this time as well.
Q: Are you confident you’ll win the Best Couple Award this time?
Seyoung: I’m confident.
Inhyuk: Of course.
Q: On set, when do you feel the most confident about that? When you rely on each other as one team.
Inhyuk: It’s every moment for me. There are many scenes that are emotionally difficult. There are also many scenes that require important give and take of lines. But for me, I found the normal scenes more difficult. I relied on Seyoung a lot during rehearsals.
Seyoung: The person closest to me on set is Inhyuk. From the moment we started drama, to the moment we wrapped up, I thought of him as my closest ally and felt compatible with him. We sense each other’s emotions without saying anything. And Inhyuk is always in good condition.
Inhyuk: I am? (laughs)
Seyoung: I’ve never seen you feeling down or dispirited! That’s why I find you reliable. It’s mentally reassuring.
Q: Are there any attitudes or principles that you both try to keep when on set? Lee Seyoung, in particular, you’ve been acting since you were young.
Seyoung: I try not to lie. I don’t have to do it, but I don’t want to do it. On set, the staff help the actors create a good drama. They are our allies who make us inevitably love our characters in any way. With that trust, if I had a better choice, I try to be straightforward and speak constructively, without holding back. It’s not to be disrespectful, but to avoid misinterpretations. I used to not be good at speaking this way, but now that my responsibility has grown, I do.
Inhyuk: I also try to do that. Many times, I hold back on what needed to be said because we were all in this together. These days, I clearly express what I want to say and I listen to my co-actors’ ideas, because this is how we can find the right direction. I make an effort to express my opinions.
Q: If you can really travel through time, is there a time and space you want to go to?
Seyoung: I don’t have a particular past I want to change, and I’m not curious about the future. I think I’ll just go back to the times when I was struggling in the past. look around or check on my past self and assure her that “That’s not a a big deal”.
Inhyuk: I want to go back to 2002, during the Korea-Japan World Cup game. Seyoung also likes soccer, but as someone who also really likes it, I want to feel the intense excitement during those times in the state that I’m in right now.
Q: <The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract> looks at our world today through Yeonwoo’s eyes. We live in a world where everything is quickly changing, and many people believe that love lasts only for a moment. However, are there emotions or values that you hold on to?
Inhyuk: We’re living in a very free era, but I think we need to say no when something’s wrong. We can’t call something that’s right a mistake, but we do need people to point out something that’s wrong. However, it’s clear that we’re now in an era where everyone is being cautious about this aspect.
Seyoung: There are values that I definitely hold on to, and those certain beliefs and fundamentals are always precious. Although we’re in an era where we read books on tablet PCs, I still value paper books. Of course reading books on tablets doesn’t destroy the significance of reading, but the feeling is different. In the past, when people watch soccer games, they go and watch it with their own eyes. But now, many people just record/watch through their smartphones or through a camera. Although I appear on TV and aim to show glamour and a pretty image, I try to stay grounded and not to forget who I am. There’s no need to overly emphasize on the speed of things or blindly follow anything.
Q: You two believe in unchanging values. Are you also willing to accept a love that transcends time and space?
Seyoung: In loving, I find myself transcending time and space. And it’s not to try hard to overcome those boundaries for love.
Inhyuk: As long as that person is there, that’s all that matters, no matter where it is.
Seyoung: Exactly. Just having that person there is all that matters. Because that person is the one I’ll be sharing my life with, and nobody else.
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