Celebrity

“Everyone disagreed with my decision”… The reason why “Narco-Saints” director cast this former girl group member who used to cause controversy over swearing 

The behind story of how former Jewelry member Yewon got cast in Netflix’s drama “Narco-Saints”.

Yewon, a member of the famous girl group, has completely become an actress. She appeared as “Drug lord’s wife” in the popular series “Narco-Saints” and became a scene-stealer with her shocking exposure. 

Then how did Yewon, who used to be active in music and entertainment industries only, get cast in “Narco-Saints”?

yewon

On September 15th, My Daily reported the information that “Narco-Saints” director Yoon Jong-bin cast Yewon despite opposition from everyone.

Accordingly, Yewon passed the audition for “Narco-Saints” with a competition rate of 500:1. However, some staff voiced opposition to the casting of Yewon because of her comic image on entertainment programs. 

yewon

In fact, Yewon once had a conflict with actress Lee Tae-im when appearing on MBC’s entertainment program “My Tutor Friend” and was involved in an abusive remark controversy. At that time, Yewon was criticized for saying “Unnie, you don’t like me, right?” in an informal way to Lee Tae-im as if she was talking back to her senior.

However, it was revealed that director Yoon Jong-bin did not recognize Yewon at the audition and he only judged her by her acting performance without prejudice.

yewon

Director Yoon Jong-bin said, “A huge crowd lined up for the audition. There are not many female roles in ‘Narco-Saints’ so I did the selection very carefully”, adding “After three people came up, I got to know that one of them was a member of Jewelry. Only then did I was told about that and people around me strongly opposed casting her because of that reason.”

yewon

He added, “They told me that Kim Ye-won had a strong image on entertainment programs so she might not be able to immerse in the work. But I said ‘I didn’t know that’. As I didn’t feel it that way, I thought the viewers would react in the same way.” Of course, director Yoon Jong-bin was also concerned about the strong opposition from the staff.

He then said, “I had a lot of conversations with Yewon during our meeting. I could feel that she really wanted to act, and I believed she could do well”, praising Yewon’s passion for acting.

yoon jong bin

Meanwhile, “Narco-Saints” directed by Yoon Jong-bin tells the story that takes place when a civilian, who was falsely accused of being the drug lord who is taking control of the South American country Suriname, accepts the secret mission by the NIS. Numerous leading actors, including Ha Jung-woo, Hwang Jung-min, Park Hae-soo, Jo Woo-jin, and Yoo Yeon-seok, appear in this work. 

yoon jong bin

Within five days of its release, “Narco-Saints” rose to 3rd place on Netflix TV Show Worldwide Ranking. The drama is still viral in 14 countries, including Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. 

Source: insight

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