It’s Okay to Not Be Okay is coming very soon on Netflix and fans are beyond excited to see Kim Soo Hyun back on the small screen starring opposite the beautiful Seo Ye Ji!
In this romance comedy drama, Kim Soo Hyun plays the role of Moon Gang Tae, a caregiver in a psychiatric ward who is really smart, patient, and sympathetic.
He is also a loving sibling who takes good care of Sang Tae (played by Oh Jung Se), his older brother with autism.
Seo Ye Ji, on the other hand, takes the role of Ko Mun Yeong, a well-known writer of children’s book who has an antisocial personality disorder and is totally selfish.
The main leads, Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Ye Ji, are totally ready to laugh, feel hurt, and be healed together with the viewers.
In an exclusive digital press conference of IOTNBO for Netflix held on June 10, the two lead stars talked about their new drama, their respective roles, the preparations they made prior to filming, and shared a glimpse of what to expect in the story as well the lessons they want the audience to learn from their series.
On working with each other
Kim Soo Hyun admitted that during the start of the drama’s filming, “There was a sense of awkwardness and difficulties between the two of us but as we began to transform into the characters of Gang Tae and Mun Young, we have to spend a lot of time together. I feel like we have quite a more comfortable chemistry between us now. So I hope that you can enjoy our chemistry on screen as well.”
Seo Ye Ji gave nothing but good words about his on-screen partner during the presscon.
“I would say that on my very first day, he has been very considerate of me so I feel like our chemistry started off right away and continues to be quite good up to now,” Ye Ji was quoted saying during the interview.
She even added, “I think I would even go as far as to say that he is probably the best partner that I had.”
On preparing for their roles
When asked about the preparations they each made to portray their characters, Kim Soo Hyun shared, “I really wanted to be able to express all of the hurt that my character Gang Tae has and throughout the process, and through that process, what I would want most is for people to resonate with that.”
For her role, this is what Seo Ye Ji said, “I did a lot of research. I tried to do a lot of it and also look into some anti-social characters with the actual personality disorder that my character probably has. I referred to a lot of these different characters. However, I came to the conclusion that Ko Mun Yeong is extremely unique and really has a color of her own. So, I tried to express a lot of these characteristics even from what is seen on the outside, her hair, makeup, costume and all that.”
She even added a bit of what to expect with Ko Mun Yeong, “I think even what my character wears might seem a little odd for other people or might be difficult to understand on why is she is dressing like that. But, I really tried to focus not on the character to be fashionable but to be someone who is extremely expressive, like somebody who can show herself through what she wears. I think it’s important to understand that what she wears is not something to show off but is actually something she puts on to defend herself.”
On what life lessons they want to share to the viewers of the drama
On the question about the moral lessons they want the viewers to learn from the drama, Seo Ye Ji had this to say, “Everyone has their own different wounds and their hurt in different ways and of course the depth is also different. However, what I do hope is all of the viewers through our drama series will experience some sort of healing.”
She ended, “One of the keywords for our drama series is healing of the hurt. So, I hope that as you watch our story together, we will be angry together, we’ll be healed together, and we’ll laugh and feel happiness together.”
Kim Soo Hyun answered, “Despite all of our differences, culturally or physically, what is universal would be the way we are worried or concerned about our loved ones, the way we think of the people that are important in our lives and the way we feel love towards other people. I think all of that is universal. So, despite the cultural differences, I hope that it would be the point that all of us can relate to and that’s what I expect our viewers to see through our drama series.”
Are you getting more excited upon reading the impressive answers and stories shared by Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Ye Ji?
Experience another promising story of hurting, loving and healing as we journey together with Moon Gang Tae and Ko Mun Young.
IOTNBO will finally premiere on June 20 and will be available on Netflix Philippines with two episodes per week, Saturday and Sunday, at 9:30PM.