iQiyi’s year-end heavyweight Original Korean drama series Bad and Crazy took center stage internationally today (December 13th), in a global press conference featuring leads Lee Dong Wook (Tale of the Nine Tailed, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God), Wi Ha Jun (Squid Game, 18 Again, Something in the Rain), Han Ji Eun (Lovestruck in the City, Be Melodramatic) and Cha Hak Yeon (Mine, Children of Nobody).
Produced by the team behind The Uncanny Counter, Bad and Crazy will weave together themes including action, dark comedy, suspense and crime for a satisfying and exciting series of vengeance in an insane society. The series premieres on December 17th at 9:50PM, across 191 territories globally on www.iq.com.
● Lee Dong Wook, Wi Ha Jun, Han Ji Eun and Cha Hak Yeon play characters with distinct personalities. Lee is Ryu Su Yeol, a consequentialist police inspector looking to get ahead in life. Wi is the crazy yet righteous K who is not afraid to uphold justice in a corrupt world using any means. Han is in the role of hot-blooded narcotics police officer Lee Hui Gyeom. Cha plays junior police officer O Gyeong Tae who warms the team like sunshine. Each actor talked about their characters and the ways they brought them to life. Lee Dong Wook shared frankly that this is a side of him that viewers have never seen. He spoke at length with Director You Soon Dong on many character details and the director let Lee express himself, “He allowed me to act however I thought to act.” Wi Ha Jun on the other hand said he chose to take on the challenges of action scenes. Han Ji Eun who plays Lee’s former girlfriend laughed, “My character’s personality tends to be dull, so I tried not to improvise.” The series is Cha Hak Yeon’s first work since leaving the military and he revealed the greatest challenge was to cut his hair after growing it longer for quite some time.. Cha described his character as being pure but will get to the bottom of things in investigations.
● Other than the chemistry amongst the cast members, a highlight of the series is the exhilarating large-scale action scenes such as the motorcycle chase in trailers and crime busting operations, which undoubtedly tested the stars’ physical endurance. When quizzed about the greatest challenges filming the action scenes and their preparations, Lee Dong Wook said that he did not go through special training. He said that because the direction for action and fights on set was good, the production was safe. Lee however praised Wi Ha Jun as the best actor in Korean action shows and had a strong understanding of the filming requirements. Lee Dong Wook joked that action scenes were a “war against exhaustion” as Wi echoed, “Brother really had it tough, my action scenes turned out more beautiful.” Wi Ha Jun added that the toughest part of production for him was the heat, “Fighting while wearing a motorcycle helmet was really super hot!”
● From being at loggerheads to fighting side-by-side for justice, the ‘bromance’ between Lee Dong Wook and Wi Ha Joon is greatly anticipated by viewers worldwide. Talking about how they built their chemistry, Wi Ha Jun expressed that although their characters could not stand each other at the start, they will progress on to working well with each other. Wi revealed that his on-screen chemistry with Lee Dong Wook was very strong and they were able to work together perfectly even without detailed coordination.
● With the series weaving together the themes of action, comedy, romance and crime, the stars shared many endearing scenes with each other. When asked about which scenes left the deepest impression, Lee Dong Wook laughed, “The entire series left a deep impression on me.” He pointed out that the fireworks between the male leads are not to be missed. Wi Ha Jun found the speeding scenes on motorcycle to be the most memorable while Han Ji Eun said there will be scenes of her in uniform in as early as the first episode. Sharing it was the first time in her career acting in uniform, Han asked viewers around the world to look forward to that.
● Living up to the series title Bad and Crazy, the characters are set to showcase the “bad” and “crazy” sides of their personalities. The four stars were quizzed about some of the wildest things they have done in real life. Lee Dong Wook started joking, “I don’t have any,” before recalling he is a super football fan and would be up in the middle of the night to catch live matches. “The World Cup period was when I was most tired,” laughed Lee. Wi Ha Jun revealed he was obsessed with martial arts techniques as they helped with his work in action scenes. Han Ji Eun described herself as a foodie and would eat before going to bed regardless of how exhausted she is. Cha Hak Yeon shared about how he was so immersed in work that he completely forgot about the time as he exercised and ate at home. When he came back to his senses, he was shocked to realize that more than ten days had passed.
Bad and Crazy is a heroic drama that follows capable but bad cop Ryu Su Yeol regaining his humanity after meeting the righteous but crazy ‘K’. The iQiyi Original K-series is set to premiere on December 17, with new episodes simulcasting with Korea on Fridays and Saturdays at 9:50pm (SGT), globally across 191 territories on the iQiyi International app and www.iq.com.
