Amid the unfortunate lack of success of Disney+'s original Korean series after the hit show “Moving” (2023), the cast and director of the new drama “Red Swan” wish to breathe new life into the platform through its mix of genres, ready to hook viewers’ attention this summer with a blend of action, mystery, thriller and romance.

“I hope that ‘Red Swan’ becomes the most successful series on Disney+ this year,” singer and actor Jung Ji-hoon, who is also known by his stage name Rain, said at a press conference held at the Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul, on Tuesday morning, a day before the show's release on Wednesday.

The multi-genre series revolves around the journey of Oh Wan-soo, a former golf professional who married into the chaebol family of a fictional conglomerate called Hwain Group. Her bodyguard is Seo Do-yoon, a police academy graduate. The two uncover the truth behind the terrorist attacks and death threats seemingly targeting Wan-soo. "Hwainga" from the Korean title of the series, "Hwainga Scandal," translates to "The Hwain Family."

Park Hong-kyun, who is well-known for producing hit shows such as the MBC historical drama “Queen Seondeok” (2009) and the romance comedy TV series “The Greatest Love” (2011), helmed the series, which stars singer and actor Jung Ji-hoon and actors Kim Ha-neul, Jung Gyu-woon, Seo Yi-sook, Yoon Je-moon and Ki Eun-se.

The intriguing and mysterious plot of the series is what drew the cast members into taking up the script of "Red Swan," according to the stars.

“I enjoyed the film ‘The Bodyguard’ (1992), and it’s been a while since seeing a story that touches on that concept, which got me interested,” Kim, who plays Wan-soo, said. “Also, as the story moved forward, each episode made me more curious, and each one captured so many different stories, sucking me into them in minutes, which made me decide to take the role.”

Kim's character, Wan-soo, showcases two careers within the series — her past career as a professional golfer and her current career as the chair of a foundation. As an actor without much real-life experience in the two professions, Kim had to look up the job descriptions and train herself.

“As my character is set as a foundation’s chairperson, I monitored many UN goodwill ambassadors to learn their hand gestures, movements and mindset,” Kim said. “I also paid a lot of attention to my appearance, as it was an important factor in how my character looked.”

Kim also tried her best to depict her character’s world-class golfer era. But as hard as she tried, achieving the posture of a world-class golf player remained a difficult task.

"It was the most difficult part while shooting the series," Kim said.

Jung Ji-hoon, playing Do-yoon the bodyguard, had to carry out various action scenes, and he tried to do most of them himself.

“I have a disease of feeling sorry for using stunt body doubles, as I know I can do the actions myself,” he said. “I thought that I have to work as much as I get paid."

“I always said that I’ll do them myself, and actually, that was more comfortable for me,” he added.

Jung Ji-hoon also added that he didn’t have many lines to do, as his role was being a bodyguard. This made it rather difficult for the actor, as he had to showcase his character’s emotions through his face — especially through his eyes — which he described as “eyeball acting.”

“In fact, the size of my eye is small, so I worked hard not to get my eyes swollen,” he said. “I fasted for dinner because I needed to show emotions through my eyes, and I also ran about 30 minutes before going in to shoot.”

Director Park expressed that he feels sorry that Jung Ji-hoon is only garnering attention for his action scenes. “What surprised me the most personally while filming was how detailed the actor is when expressing emotions. So, I believe that it will add more fun to the show when the viewers have this in mind while watching his actions.”

However, Jung Ji-hoon also pointed out that the show does not only involve physical action but also conflict through words, saying the “word action” scenes showcased by actors Kim and Seo will be "unbelievable."

“Red Swan” is a mix of “spiciness, saltiness and sweetness,” according to Ki, as it touches various genres and captures various narratives.

In addition to the quality of the physical and verbal tussles, the characters are relatively "simple," which will make it easy for not only domestic audiences but also global audiences to watch and like, Kim said.

“I’m confident that after watching a minute or two of the series, the viewers will be sucked into it,” Jung Ji-hoon said.

"Red Swan" comes as the first Disney+ original series after the recently released "Uncle Samsik," which premiered in May. Although the show boasted veteran actor Song Kang-ho, "Uncle Samsik" did not achieve the anticipated success.

Disney+ has struggled to hit homeruns with its other Korean originals, ever since its Korean hits "Big Bet" in 2022 and "Moving."


BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]