Travel Back to Fantasy Thriller Kdrama '365: A Year Against Destiny' Press Conference

Saturday, April 18, 2020

365: A Year Against Destiny airs every Tue & Wed at 7.50PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch 394)
If you are given the chance to travel back in time by one year, what would you change? Oh!K on-going fantasy thriller Korean drama '365: A Year Against Destiny' offers 10 people to travel back in time to 1 year ago to change their past, but mysterious situations start to arise and threaten their lives when their fates are changed and twisted in the process. This is what happens when you start to mess with time.

Let us transport you back to the press conference held in Seoul where the main casts Lee Joon Hyuk, Nam Ji Hyun, Kim Ji Soo and Yang Dong Geun talked about their drama characters, first impression of one another and their goals for this drama.

Q: Tell us each of your respective roles.
Lee Joon Hyuk starring as talented detective Ji Hyung Joo
Lee Joon Hyuk (LJH): I play Ji Hyung Joo in this film. Hyung Joo is a talented detective but sometimes he can get a little clumsy. He is not a perfect person, just a rather normal individual. The story focuses on his involvement in a major chain of events and how he handles various situations.
Nam Ji Hyun starring as web-comic writer Shin Ga Hyun
Nam Ji Hyun (NJH): Hi, I play Shin Ga Hyun in this film. She is a web-comic writer and is a bit of a perfectionist and a workaholic. She can get quite adamant when she stands up for her beliefs and opinions.
Kim Ji Soo starring as psychiatrist Lee Shin
Kim Ji Soo (KJS): I play a psychiatrist, Lee Shin. She invites the “Resetters” to participate in resetting their lives and purposely turns each of their destinies into chaos. Mysterious events soon follow each of their life as it resets.
Yang Dong Geun starring as the resetter Bae Jung Tae
Yang Dong Geun (YDG): I play the mysterious “Resetter” of this film, Bae Jung Tae.

Q: How similar are you to the character you play, Hyung Joo? 
LJH: This character (Hyung Joo) is more like me than the other characters I’ve played before. In my previous works, I played the roles of very talented people. So I would like to say Ji Hyung Joo is an ordinary character. That is the reason why I felt comfortable portraying him. Also, we both like to eat tomato-based pizzas. When I looked around the set of Hyung Joo’s house, I realized there were leftover boxes of tomato pizza. I personally prefer tomato over Hawaiian. So I thought that this was one of the things that we had in common.

Q: What was common between Ji Hyun’s character and yours? 
NJH: I think Ga-Hyun and I are workaholics. I love working hard. The difference is, maybe Ga-hyun’s personality is a lot stronger. She possesses many leadership qualities.

Q: You portray this mysterious magician according to the highlights reel. Please talk about your effort in playing this role. 
KJS: I paid a lot of attention to my hair and appearance for the role of Lee Shin because she is a flawless character who needs to look perfect every single time. And it was important to portray her in a very balanced manner because I had to remain mysterious until the middle of our plot. I focused especially on the balance between remaining hidden to the audiences but still arousing curiosity.

Q: It's been a while since you played the role of a villain. Please talk about the process you went through to play this character. 
YDG: It's a mysterious role. The script frequently said to make an 'indecipherable expression'. I contemplated rigorously about how to express by not expressing.

Q: What if you could go back one year ago, what would you do? 
LJH: If I could go back a year, I’d have shot three more films. I guess I'd rather choose to stay in the present. A year ago (around this time) was a rough time for me, as I had to lose 9kg for another project.

NJH: I think I would not go back to the past either. I’m pretty happy with myself at the time being. Actually, until now, there is no exact moment that I want to go back to.

KJS: I would go back to the past if I have a chance to remain younger. Even if it is for only one year.

Q: What was the first impression you had of each other? 
LJH: Ji Hyun is an anchor that brings all of us closer together on set. She naturally guides me in many ways, such as acting. She is an amazing and trustworthy person who brings comfort to people. As for Ji Soo, she is very pure and innocent in an almost child-like manner, but in a good way of course. Her pureness always brings out a smile in people.

NJH: Ji Soo started acting before me, also Joon Hyuk is older than me. So I was the youngest on set, which made me quite nervous. But Ji Soo and Joon Hyuk always told jokes, making this whole experience exciting and very enjoyable.

KJS: Ji Hyun is so mature for her age. I even felt that I was sometimes younger than her.
LJH: I've heard that production staff always spoke well of Dong Geun because he is so gentle.

KJS: Usually actors are selfish. But Yang Dong Geun doesn't think about himself and pays attention to other actor's acting as well. This makes other actors feel so touched and moved.

Q: What is your goal and how do you feel about this film? 
LJH: In every film, I always set a goal about being a sincere and reliable person. Especially in this drama, the way I act is different from my previous works as it required lots of cooperation between fellow actors and the crew. I thought it was important to keep up with not only the director but other actors as well.
NJH: Unlike my previous works, my character goes through solemn situations requiring a lot of serious contemplation; usually a dilemma between life and death. So you can see me in constant agony throughout the film. I was wondering what kind of side I would need to show the audience as a web-comic artist, but there wasn’t much drawing scenes but more scenes bringing insight into situations through an artist’s imagination. I usually don’t watch productions like these because I get scared very easily. But this time, I took up the opportunity and asked fans for their advice.
KJS: My character is quite tricky. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to express my full self through this character. Her emotions had to be created due to her lack of emotions. So I discussed with the director extensively about how to portray the character, rather than express my own feelings or thoughts. I think it’s the effort that counts, not the result. I cherish that effort and that moment, especially in this drama when all the things are going well. So I am very happily shooting my scenes in this film.

Q: What do you think is one hashtag that best describes this film?
LJH: #fast_paced_plot

NJH: #resetter

KJS: #like_a_Jjolmyeon (Korean style noodle)

YDG: #reset - I think "reset" will be the great substitute for the title. "Reset" is the biggest clue in this film.
Interested in this drama? The new episodes premiere on every Tuesday and Wednesday at 7.50PM on Oh!K (Astro Ch 394) and final episode airs on 29 April (Wednesday).

Trailer:
photo source: Oh!K, MBC Drama

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