The unexpected reason why an actor who betrayed his ex-girlfriend appeared until the end in “Narco-Saints”
The reason why actor Kim Min-gwi appeared in “Narco-Saints” despite the controversy over his private life was revealed.
In July last year, Kim Min-gwi was embroiled in a controversy over his private life while JTBC’s “Nevertheless”, which he appeared in, was in the midst of airing.
Through an online community, A, who introduced herself as an ex-girlfriend who dated Kim Min-gwi for 6 years, claimed that Kim Min-gwi had a one-night stand while he was dating her.
A said that Kim Min-gwi cheated on her and had affairs with several women.
A added that Kim Min-gwi verbally abused her.
A confessed, “You keep appearing on TV and showing up on Instagram. I hope everyone knows how selfish you are and that you’re such a bad guy.”
Afterwards, Kim Min-gwi’s agency Big Picture Entertainment issued Kim Min-gwi’s apology, saying, “The actor admits his fault regarding the controversy over his private life.”
In other words, Kim Min-gwi admitted that the allegations of him having a one-night stand, cheating and verbally abusing his ex-girlfriend were true.
Kim Min-gwi also posted a handwritten apology on his Instagram. He bowed his head, saying, “It’s my fault, regardless of the reason, for hurting the friend I shared a lot of things with in a short time. I’m reflecting on myself.”
The production team of “Nevertheless” later edited Kim Min-gwi’s footage as much as possible, and he had a time of self-reflection.
About a year later, Kim Min-gwi appeared in Netflix’s “Narco-Saints”, which was released on Sep 9th.
Kim Min-gwi played Lee Sang-jun, who disguised himself as a pastor of a Korean church but turned out to be a butler who follows Jeon Yo-hwan (Hwang Jung-min), the Korean drug lord who has taken control of Suriname by distributing cocaine.
Newsen reported that Kim Min-gwi’s role in “Narco-Saints” was greatly reduced due to the controversy over his private life.
The production team of “Narco-Saints” 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.”
They added, “Director Yoon Jong-bin 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 butler character played by Kim Min-gwi was very important to the plot.
It was also said that it was fortunate that his part was not edited out completely.
A staff member of “Narco-Saints” shared, “The butler Lee Sang-jun 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.”
Source: Insight
