Kim Nam Gil Rejected “Island” Twice, Here Is Why He Finally Agreed To Do It
It turns out that veteran famous actor Kim Nam Gil wasn’t so sure about starring in the upcoming TVING drama “Island,” here is why!
Recently, the main cast of “Island” talked about their upcoming drama at a press conference. Actors Kim Nam Gil, Lee Da Hee, Cha Eun Woo, Sung Joon, and director Bae Jong attended the conference to talk about how the drama came to life.
“Island” is a fantasy action drama based on writers Yoon In Wan and Yang Kyung Il’s popular cartoon of the same name, and tells the story of the journey of characters who are destined to fight against evil which tries to destroy the world. Director Bae Jong, who has been recognized for his outstanding and delicate directing skills with movies such as “Welcome to Dongmakgol” and “Fabricated City,” challenged his first series through “Island.”
When asked about what is the competitive point of ‘Island’ that makes it different from other works. Director Bae replied,
The monster and zombie genre works are overflowing. I even thought, ‘Is it necessary to do something difficult at this time?’ But since it’s hard to do a new genre, I decided to twist it a little bit in that genre. The drama gave Jeju Island a mythical feeling in the monster genre. It’s a monster action, but it also has a lot of mythical elements. The sentiment will be a little different. I don’t know if it’ll be a weapon or a hindrance. It will feel like a new experience for those who will see this.”
Kim Nam Gil, who heard this, also confidently added,
“It’s a difficult genre. Even if it is a fantasy with CG and VFX, it is a solid story that is as important as CG. I think the story will be good like other OTT dramas. The attractions are more colorful than other genres.”
Director Bae also expressed his affection for Kim Nam Gil, praising,
“People who have seen the original work will know that Ban (his character) is sarcastic and in a way decadent. I felt that he could give a sense of discomfort or linearity that comes when doing a live-action. I wanted to express Ban’s sadness strongly and I thought the actor having such kind of sad eyes is Kim Nam Gil.”
Kim Nam Gil plays the role of Ban, who confronts evil that wants to end the world on the Island but is raised as a tragic person who cannot fit in with humans as he is a human and a monster.
As a big fan of the original work, he talked about how he came to participate in the drama after rejecting it twice, he said,
I rejected this work twice. The whole thing about making this work a live-action was burdensome., I wondered why it had not been made into a live-action before even if the drama industry is said to be more developed now. The original work was so popular that I thought even if I did well, it would be lesser than the original.
I was worried that I would disappoint the fans of the original work because I was not confident in myself. When I came to my senses, I found myself filming with the actors in Jeju Island.”.
Kim Nam Gil introduced his character as a “supernatural person” and pointed out the charm, saying, “There is no work that relied entirely on CG. Ban is a character who gave a lot of strength to the ability and appearance.”
Kim Nam Gil, who appears in only one costume in the entire drama, said,
There is a story about the half of the characters who live with the fate of humans have no choice but to wear it. It will be interesting to see why I wear only one set of clothing.”
“Island” premieres on TVING on December 30.
Are you excited to see Kim Nam Gil in “Island”?
