Thy Kingdom come

Seoul — Nine zombies were roaming at the Harmony Ballroom of Intercontinental Seoul Coex as soon as we, the journalists from around Asia invited to the Kingdom junket, arrived for the press conference. Despite the earlier reminder that we would be met by zombies, some of us let out a scream not from fright but from being startled.

Were we scared? Not at all. The zombies were actually friendly and even joined the cast on stage to greet the crowd. I even had a photo with the female zombie and took a video shot of her for my Instagram account and it was viewed and liked by hundreds. During the break, we ate cookies shaped like cut fingers with nails covered with fake blood, downed with green tea.

Wondering why the zombies were present at the event?

They play important roles in Kingdom, a six-episode original Korean mystery thriller now streaming (since Jan. 25) on Netflix. Directed by Kim Seong-Hun from a story Kim Eun-Hee (dubbed as “masters of genre-driven stories in film and drama”), in a kingdom defeated by corruption and famine, a mysterious rumor of the King’s death spreads as does a strange plague that renders the infected immune to death and hungry for flesh.

...joined onstage by the zombies.

From the carefully crafted Production Notes, we learned that writer Kim chanced upon a record in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty about countless people dying of a mysterious disease. Said director Kim, “We brought together zombies which are horrific and dynamic creatures and Joseon’s world of static beauty. One of the show’s aesthetic strengths is the tension between the two contrasting aspects.” Added writer Kim, “Ultimately, I wanted to tell a story about hunger. I wanted to portray people who were mistreated by those in power struggling with starvation and poverty through the monsters. But hunger doesn’t only mean people starving. Kingdom associates other aspects of human nature including ambition, desire for power and greed.”

Cast in the lead roles are Korea’s bankable actors whose movies have sold more than 10 million tickets respectively — Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Lee Chang tasked to save his Kingdom and people from the monsters trying to overtake Joseon; Bae Doona as Seo-bi, a physician investigating the cause of the plague; and Ryu Seung-yong as Cho Hak-ju, the de facto ruler of Joseon, whom the King cannot easily dismiss.

More quotes from the junket:

Tell us about your character.

• Ju Ji-hoon (who’s also in the cast of the hit Korean movie Along With The Gods): Crown Prince Lee Chang becomes worried and suspicious of his father’s health and safety and is almost forced out of the palace after being framed as a traitor Cho Hak-ju. The world outside the palace is completely different from what he has always imagined. He realized that the plague that is infecting the people is linked to a series of incidents related to the power struggles of the ruling class and he begins his investigation to solve the mystery.

• Bae Doona: Seo-bi is a nurse in the Joseon dynasty and is a very strong woman. Life is tough with everyone starving after a series of wars, but she never gives up. She’s not flustered by difficult circumstances. She’s someone you can rely on mentally and emotionally. She has to fight off the monsters created by the plague to move forward, and she’s the one who finds critical clues and makes inferences from those people who turned into monsters. Her intelligence is a big part of her charm.

• Ryu Seung-yong: Cho Hak-ju wields greater power than the King. He is a very ambitious character that seeks to take the throne using the Crown Prince Lee Chang and his own daughter. To portray such ambition, I needed to add weight to my voice and my gaze. I tried to give authenticity to the character who accomplishes anything he sets his mind to even though his beliefs and means may be morally wrong.  

Photos show the pastries with cookies shaped like cut fingers with nails covered with fake blood and a statuette featuring ‘hungry citizens’ of a troubled kingdom.

What did you find interesting about the series?

• Ju Ji-hoon: I love director Kim Seong-hun and his works. I was also excited to work with my fellow actors in the series. When you are on the set with good people, you can still stay positive and energized in challenging situations. I was also intrigued by Netflix and its system. The platform provides content to many countries and therefore starts a project after taking into consideration many factors from the production stage. I was excited about working through a more precise and detailed process. I was very curious to see the kind of response that Kingdom would generate when it’s released across the globe, it being a historical drama set in Korea.

• Bae Doona: When I first read the script, I was intrigued by the overall story and plot as well as their quality. I’ve always wanted to work with writer Kim Eun-hee and I fell in love with the script. I had a chance to work with director Kim Seong-hun in Tunnel and I loved working with him. Most of the characters I’ve done were modern and an image of Kingdom has been associated with me after Sense 8. I was happy to join the project and I had so much fun playing the character. It was an opportunity for me to learn a different style of acting, including developing my own way of executing a tone suitable for historical drama, and it was fun.

• Ryu Seung-yong: I found my character quite fascinating as he is someone who reveals the innermost desires of human nature like ambition even though his method and process of achieving his goals may be wrong.

The Kingdom stars talk about the strengths of the mystery thriller now streaming on Netflix (since January 25)

What are the strengths of Kingdom?

• Ju Ji-hoon: Zombies can appeal to the audiences across the world. And combining a period of time that is most traditionally Korean and zombies, which are a familiar concept in Western culture, creates contrast but at the same time can be very refreshing. I believe it’s one of the biggest strengths of the series. Plus, the emotions of the characters in the story are very relatable. The production team paid great attention to the visual aspects.

• Bae Doona: In many ways, Kingdom is original. Zombie stories are very popular across the world, but the element of a historical drama of the series, I think, will be more interesting for the international audience. The audience will first think, “Zombies in the medieval Joseon?” That I think is quite refreshing. Also, Kingdom has a variety of elements; it is a zombie thriller/historical fiction and it’s sad, funny and exciting. It gives the audience food for thought, carries a message that criticizes those in power, and can be cynical at time. I think these are all the strengths of the series.

• Ryu Seung-yong: I think the harmony between Asian and Western culture created by combining a very Western theme with Korea’s historical drama that involves kings and power struggles is the key strength. In fact, the series incorporated the beauty of Korea with the art direction, including the traditional garments and the filming set for the palace. Then story itself transcends time and space as it is about those in power and power struggles. As the series explores universal human desire, audiences across the world will be able to relate to the story. And as the story unfolds, a long narrative that cannot be covered in a movie was fully developed in episodes whose quality is outstanding.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)