[Photo] “Uhm Junghwa or Nothing” “OK Madam 2” Returns After Six Years — Scale Doubled, Director Lee Chul-ha Interview

The comedy action gem “OK Madam”, which delivered feel-good laughs even amid the harsh conditions of the 2020 pandemic, returns after six years with “OK Madam 2”, expanding its scale twofold. Director “Lee Chul-ha” puts the spotlight on “Uhm Junghwa”, an actor with an aura that is impossible to replace, and “Choi Soo-young”, who joins as a fresh villain, presenting a new paradigm for an upgraded “Korean-style family comedy.”

Fateful deja vu as the setting expands to a “cruise ship”

In an interview held in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 10th, director “Lee Chul-ha” looked back on the shutdown of theaters caused by COVID-19 at the time of the original’s release and shared a solemn yet distinct sense of purpose for this sequel. He said, “The second chance granted by heaven,” adding that the “fateful deja vu” of releasing on the same Aug. 12 as the previous film filled the production team and actors with powerful courage.

The story of “Mi-young”, a legendary secret agent turned ordinary deep-fried dough twist vendor, becoming a target of a criminal organization again has moved its stage from airplanes to a massive “cruise ship.” Filming aboard an operating cruise ship allowed the production to realize an overwhelming “scale.” It also wove in tightly knit character-growth storylines with depth.

Uhm Junghwa, pure and simple, with absolute charisma that runs through the series

The director expressed boundless trust in “Uhm Junghwa”, who steered the success of the first film and again took on difficult action herself. From the friendly, warm face of a regular person to the charisma of an agent with unbreakable strength and devastating power, his assertion is that only “Uhm Junghwa” can perfectly bridge this extreme gap.

The director defined her as “Mi-young” herself, and did not hide his intense desire for a long-running “franchise” that will continue into the third and fourth films.

With the addition of a new villain, Choi Soo-young, “Korean-style comedy” is completed

Among the most talked-about casting in this work is “Choi Soo-young” as the new villain, Anya. Marked as the top pick for casting from the planning stage, she created a three-dimensional villain that blends playful mischief, a childlike purity, and a cool, eerie appeal. “Choi Soo-young”, taking on “action acting” for the first time since her debut, fully grasped the director’s intentions and leads the film’s tension.

Originally, the foundation of this series traces back to the Hong Kong film “Yes Madam”, starring Yang Zi-chun (Michelle Yeoh). The starting point was the thirst for “female action” that was absent in the Korean film industry. While drawing on the unique sensibilities of Hong Kong action from the 1980s, the production maximized its humanity by focusing on the most Korean relationships—those between a mother and daughter, and between a married couple. The director said that the true make-or-break factor of this film is what will spark broad, universal empathy from audiences, and he showed strong confidence in its clear evolution as an unmistakable “Korean-style family comedy.”