Song Joong-ki breaks new ground in Netflix’s Arthdal Chronicles

SEOUL, Korea — The mere mention of his name could set many a heart a-flutter. Song Joong-ki has definitely claimed the top in the coveted Korean hallyu hall of fame for his portrayal of the ultimate romantic hero after his performance in Descendants of the Sun three years ago. Today, Joong-ki’s name reverberates the world over and his female fans will be the first to tell you so.

The pressure now lies in reinvention and pushing the envelope to further his versatility as an actor. Even as he claims to have been stabilized by his marriage to actress Song Hye-kyo whom he calls his “cheerleader,” Joong-ki’s craft takes precedence. And his followers will not be disappointed. Joong-ki comes ripe and ready to break new ground in his latest television series on Netflix called Arthdal Chronicles where he secures a most challenging role that puts his acting abilities and resilience to a test.

The project, directed by Kim Won-seok (of Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Misaeng, Signal, My Mister fame), is just as ambitious as it signals the very first attempt of an ancient historical drama in Korea. Written by Kim Young-hyun and Park Sang-yeon (the tandem behind the success of Deep-Rooted Tree, Six Flying Dragons, Queen Seon-deok), the epic fantasy drama Arthdal Chronicles is a by-product of vast and elaborate researches that led to a courageous attempt to present the pre-historic era, the very beginning of time, if you may.

Consequently, Joong-ki finds himself right smack in the middle of the experiment as the series introduces brand-new concepts, new terminologies, new tribes, new rituals and even the development of an ancient language much like how the Dothraki language evolved in the Game of Thrones.

Joong-ki plays the role of Eunseom, a protector of the Wahan tribe in the Arthdal region, even as he struggles to discover his true identity. This role demands a wide range of emotions from the actor in the depiction of his character from a pure-hearted innocent boy to becoming a strong warrior who knows no fear. No doubt, Arthdal Chronicles is a vehicle for Joong-ki to achieve higher heights in his career.

He relates well to his character in the show. Joong-ki said, “Eunseom is someone who is strangely very confident even in situations where he’s experiencing things for the first time. Even when he is meeting the enemy for the first time. He may be afraid sometimes but he has this strange confidence and believes that he is going to win. I believe that is quite similar between myself and Eunseom.”

Song Joong-ki (second from left) with Arthdal Chronicles co-stars Jang Don-gun, Kim Ji-won and Kim Ok-vin during the press event at the Imperial Palace Seoul.

Joining Joong-ki in the series are equally important Korean actors Jang Dong-gun as the war strategist Tagun, Eunseom’s nemesis; Kim Ji-won as Tanya, the successor in the Wahan tribe leadership who is the main recipient of Eunseom’s protection; and Kim Ok-vin as Taealha, the power-hungry heir of the Hae tribe in Arthdal whose ancestor was responsible for bringing the bronze technology to the region.

Joong-ki didn’t need much convincing in accepting this role. He shared, “I first met the writers seven years ago when we did the project Deep-Rooted Tree. I worked with them only in Episode 4. It was a huge honor then and I have always wanted to work with them again hopefully from start to finish of a new project. I also worked with the director before in Sungkyunkwan Scandal. That’s why I didn’t hesitate to accept this offer at all. And when I first visited their office for a meeting, I saw the board where there were notes of a totally unfamiliar language and a map of an unknown land. That got me really interested. I knew this was something big. I have full confidence in them. I am happy to be part of Arthdal.”

The series deals with an era that is too far back in the past and may therefore lack any resource material for acting but curiously enough, the actor was unfazed. Joong-ki said, “I didn’t approach it as historical drama. I mostly adopt the same acting style, manner of speaking and body gestures both for a modern series and historical drama. I don’t think the tone of voice needs to be set in a certain way and with Eunseom’s character, rather than adopting different method of acting, I reversely tried to eliminate all the usual components supposedly required for historical drama. Eunseom is a very active character that never stays still. I don’t recall acting in one spot simply standing throughout filming of the series. He moves around places, rides on horseback, runs around, swims, jumps off a cliff, jumps off a horse, and climbs up a cliff — he’s always moving about. Out of all the movements, horse-riding was the most important. That’s why I invested most of my time in practicing horse-riding. Thankfully, I did a lot of training in horse-riding for another film, so it certainly helped this time.”

He proudly tells of a specific scene during filming where his hard work paid off. “Eunseom rides a horse called ‘Doeul,’ but their relationship doesn’t work in a way that a human controls the animal. They’re equal. They’re friends. I had to practice my skills more to portray their organic movements, which is why I spent a lot of time in training, and even during breaks, I would stay on horseback to spend more time with the horse. To be honest, I liked being close to the horse because Eunseom’s clothes are very thin and being on the horse kept me warm (laughs).

“We had an interesting experience shooting a simple montage scene in Jeju, where Eunseom says to Doeul, ‘Can I climb onto you? Please let me go up,’ and Doeul pushes Eunseom away so he falls to the ground. Director Kim simply turned on the camera and kept it rolling without saying ‘cut.’ So, I had to ad-lib. The horse was quite comfortable around me by then, but as I stayed on the ground on all fours like an animal and looked up at the horse. The horse suddenly rolled around after looking at me in the eye. The director caught that on camera. You’ll probably see the scene in one of the episodes, but when we filmed the scene, everyone in the crew clapped at what they saw. On camera, it looked like Eunseom and Doeul were having a lot of fun together, and it was quite surreal to watch. I think you’ll see a lot of that interaction between Eunseom and Doeul, as I think it should, and that the scene carries a sentimental importance in the series. It was quite an amazing experience.”

There were other challenges in the making of this epic series and Joong-ki said it was the weather that tested him. He narrated, “Our tribe is supposed to be located in the warm part of Arthdal region and naturally we are dressed accordingly. My costume has really thin fabric. I almost felt like I was naked. I was so cold, especially in my horse-riding scenes. That was a great challenge. But when I saw the shots, the refreshing visuals, the beauty of the location, I was able to put up with the cold. It was beautiful how they captured it on camera. I forgot my discomfort.”

Admittedly, Arthdal Chronicles, according to the writers and actors, is a world that requires a lot of imagination. But Joong-ki said it is not hard to relate it to present times because human behavior is universal. He explained, “The biggest issue for my character Eunseom is actually his identity. Who was he? Where does he come from? Where are his roots? These were the biggest questions hounding his life. And there were groups of people there trying to define Eunseom for being different and ostracize him in the process. He gets out of place because he is different, he is unique, and he thinks and acts differently.

“I think that resonates well with the present time. Although Arthdal Chronicles is of a different period in time, it all comes down to the story of human beings today. There are still certain unchanging common traits of human beings happening today and this is one of them, I believe. This is also prevalent if you read Greek or Roman mythology, or even old folklores, you can relate to it as well. There are certain sentiments and human aspects that you can relate to in whatever timeline they may happen.”

To conclude, we asked Joong-ki about his vision beyond the fame and popularity he now enjoys. How does he reach out to the world beyond? His answer showed a true blue patriot. He said, “I watched Narcos on Netflix and through that show, I was able to feel and taste the flavor and the culture of Colombia indirectly. So in that regard, if Arthdal Chronicles can reach global audiences in the same way, I want people to be able to feel and learn the Korean culture in a very interesting way. And for that to happen, I think that we should be more distinctively Korean. We should strive to make shows that are more distinctively Korean going forward. And we should ensure that the Korean culture and the elements will not be distorted along the way. As an artist, I think making that happen in a more fun and more fresh, better-managed (way) is a virtue that we will need to strive for.”

(Arthdal Chronicles’ first and second episodes will broadcast on Netflix today and tomorrow, 9:30 p.m. with succeeding episodes every Saturday and Sunday thereafter.)