'Moon River' Kim Se-jeong "Playing two roles, I received advice from senior Ha Ji-won"

Actress Kim Se-jeong revealed that she actively utilized advice from senior actress Ha Ji-won for her role as a character with a swapped soul.

On the 30th, at the production presentation for the new Friday-Saturday drama 〈Moon River〉 held at the Golden Mouse Hall in Sangam, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Kim Se-jeong said, "I asked a lot of questions to senior Ha Ji-won, who was the main character in the most famous drama for playing two roles, 〈Secret Garden〉. She advised me that spending a lot of time with the co-actor and matching our breaths is the most important thing."

〈Moon River〉 is a romance fantasy historical drama depicting the story of Crown Prince Lee Gang (played by Kang Tae-oh) who dreams of revenge and Park Dal-i (played by Kim Se-jeong), a merchant who has lost her memory, whose souls are swapped. Following Ha Ji-won's advice, Kim Se-jeong invested considerable time in studying the characteristics of Kang Tae-oh, her co-actor whose soul is swapped with hers.

Kim Se-jeong explained, "I heard from senior Ha Ji-won that it’s good to read the script together whenever we have time, so we tried to have many sessions reading the script together." She added, "I also tried to mimic the habitual actions or frequent expressions of the other person without them knowing."

Kang Tae-oh also mentioned that he focused on detailed observation and analysis. He said, "To mimic (Kim Se-jeong's) external appearance, I even asked her to smile suddenly, and I worked hard to show her unique habits and bright energy even after our souls were swapped." He added, "I learned the Chungcheong dialect that Dal-i uses in the drama, and I analyzed it a lot to ensure that I didn’t feel out of place by not just using the dialect but also mimicking Dal-i's way of speaking."

Kim Se-jeong expressed high satisfaction with the romantic comedy ('roco') chemistry with Kang Tae-oh. He said, "Whenever we met, the atmosphere on set was so good that we would burst into laughter, and our comedic timing matched well, so when I tried to be funny, Kang Tae-oh immediately responded." He reminisced, "In romance, eye contact is really important, and since Kang Tae-oh's gaze is really good, there were scenes that brought more depth to the romance than I expected."

This work is Kim Se-jeong's first historical drama challenge, having mainly worked in modern dramas like 〈Business Proposal〉. Kim Se-jeong shared, "Honestly, since this is my first historical drama, I had a lot of concerns, but when I started preparing for the shoot, it wasn’t so much that the historical drama was difficult, but rather that there were so many roles that the character Dal-i had to fulfill." She added, "I had to think a lot about how to express this character as I needed to study the situation of swapped bodies and the dialect."

Kang Tae-oh, who plays the counterpart, is also making his return to historical dramas after six years since 〈The Tale of Nokdu〉. Kang Tae-oh said, "I’m returning to historical dramas after six years, and I was very worried because it’s been so long." He added, "So, I monitored my appearance in the previous work, 〈The Tale of Nokdu〉, to review the tone for historical dramas."

MBC, which has received praise as a 'historical drama powerhouse' for numerous works such as 〈The Red Sleeve〉 and 〈My Dearest〉, is promoting this work as a highly anticipated project for the second half of this year. Director Lee Dong-hyun, who is in charge of the production, stated, "Honestly, the pressure is very high," but added, "I really worked hard and poured everything I could into it. I hope we can achieve double-digit ratings to shake off this pressure."

The production team and cast have also promised that if they achieve double-digit ratings, they will wear hanbok and distribute a total of 600 cups of coffee in front of the MBC main gate. 〈Moon River〉 will premiere on the 7th of next month at 9:50 PM.