“Narco-Saints” director reportedly reduced a large amount of screen time for Kim Min-gwi because of his private life controversies
It was revealed that the screen time of Kim Min-gwi in Netflix’s drama “Narco-Saints” had been cut significantly due to his scandals, which broke out during the filming.
A staff member from the production crew of “Narco-Saints” recently said, “Kim Min-gwi’s scandal broke out while we were filming in Jeju Island last summer so we had to hold an emergency meeting. Director Yoon decided to reduce a lot of sequences in the remaining amount of Kim Min-gwi’s screen time. The atmosphere on the set was quite heavy for a while”. They explained that it was hard to eliminate Kim Min-gwi from the drama because the deacon character played by Kim Min-gwi was very important to the plot.
While the production crew was filming at Honeymoon House in Jeju, which was set as the mansion of drug lord Jeon Yo-hwan (Hwang Jung-min), in July last year, Kim Min-gwi’s ex-girlfriend, whom he dated for 6 years, disclosed the actor’s private life issues and released their Kakaotalk conversations online. She said, “When Kim Min-gwi was dating me, he had a one-night stand, two-timed me several times, and verbally abused me. Even during his Covid-19 self-quarantine period, he left home at dawn to meet a female model”.
Due to the unexpected controversy, Kim Min-gwi’s second lead role in JTBC’s drama “Nevertheless,” starring Song Kang and Han So-hee, was canceled. Except for the scenes where only his back appeared, his screen time in the remaining episodes was edited out nearly 100%. It was a bolt from the blue that hit right at the time Kim Min-gwi was receiving keen attention with his appearance in a series of dramas and movies, such as tvN’s “L.U.C.A.: The Beginning”, “Whispering Corridors 6: The Humming” and Netflix’s “Kingdom: Ashin of the North”, etc.
“Narco-Saints” staff member added, “The deacon Lee Sang-joon played by Kim Min-gwi is a villain but is also a charismatic character who stays loyal and protects his boss Jeon Yo-hwan until the end. However, the actor failed to complete the role due to his past actions. It was unfortunate that Kim Min-gwi was not able to introduce his character and participate in the lineup for the drama promotion”.
Meanwhile, Kim Min-gwi revealed his handwritten apology through Instagram on July 27th last year, saying “It is true that I hurt the friend who had shared many things with me for a long period of time and I’m reflecting on myself”. However, the response from netizens was cold.
Source: Daum
