Speakers, in order of appearance:
SJS: So Ji Sub, actor (Cha Moo Hyuk)
ISJ: Im Soo Jung, actress (Song Eun Chae)
PD: Lee Hyung Min, producer
WT: Writer (Lee Kyung Hee)
LHY: Lee Hye Young, actress (Audrey~ Oh Deu Ri)
JKH: Jung Kyung Ho, actor (Choi Yune)
SJY: Suh Ji Young, actress (Kang Min Joo)
SD: Setting Director (Um Tae Man)
LD: Lighting Director (Park Joong Kee)
ED: Editor (Kim Yoo Mi)
MD: Music Director (Choi Sung Wook)
*PROLOGUE
SJS: I’m still not sure if I became Moohyuk, or if Moohyuk became So Ji Sub.
ISJ: The character of Song Eun Chae went through a series of dramatic changes in personality.
PD: “I’m Sorry I Love You” is a sad melodrama.
*THEME
PD: “I’m Sorry I Love You” is about Audrey and Moohyuk. That is, a mother and son’s tragic destiny.
ISJ: Sibling’s love. And the unexpected love between two most unlikely strangers.
PD: This drama is about these two types of love.
ISJ: Understanding, anger, forgiveness, hate… All these emotions are displayed, leading towards love. I think “I’m Sorry I Love You” showed this process.
PD: The characters don’t know their destiny. But the viewers do, so they cry. I wanted to make a drama where the viewers would cry sooner than the characters. And through a tragic story, I wanted to send a message to the public and to the society as a whole.
WT: Since there’re so many dramas where the character dies of illness, I was looking for something different. I remember reading in the Papers the story of someone who had a bullet removed from his head through surgery. That’s how the character of Moohyuk was born.
PD: At the beginning, the writer and I decided we wanted to make a love story similar to that of “Romeo and Juliet.” A story where both leads die, and where they’re put in a very tight situation. Here, for Yune to live, Moohyuk had to die~ that kind of tight situation. This was the starting point of our drama. And even while making it, I felt… this is really cruel, isn’t it? But destiny’s cruel, which is the reason why our drama’s a tragedy. Because of this theme, the love between Moohyuk and Eunchae is unavoidably painful.
*TITLE
PD: The title was created solely by our writer. “Sorry I Love You…” or “I’m Sorry I Love You,” it’s very inexpressive. Moohyuk didn’t know how to express himself.
SJS: Every character, although they couldn’t say “I’m Sorry” out loud, I feel they were sorry inside.
PD: Saying “I Love You” should be enough, but because I couldn’t say it… that’s why “I’m Sorry.”
ISJ: If we switch this around, “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “I’m Sorry, I Love You” I think they mean different things. I’d think “I’m Sorry I Love You” describes a deeper kind of love.
PD: The love between Moohyuk and Eunchae is very old-fashioned. She calls him ‘ajusshi’ and they hardly ever said “I love you…” they are almost rude to each other… but old fashioned or not, I think that the chemistry is still there.
ISJ: If I were to look for a unique element in our drama… I’d say it doesn’t have evil characters? Having no evil characters, each character, all of them… received love from the viewers because they portrayed realistic personalities.
*WRITER/ Lee Kyung Hee
SJS: While doing the drama… I think this was the first time I spoke so much with the writer over the phone. She really interacted a lot with all the actors, and she’d listen to us a lot.
PD: Since I’m a producer, I just think. But the writer must write it down.
WT: While writing the drama, I had to feel what the actors felt. Honestly, this was the toughest part. After writing each scene, I’d try to feel it, acting them out myself, and it was really hard… trying to ‘get in tune with the emotions.’ I’d feel Audrey’s emotions, and then I’d feel Moohyuk’s. That’s why it was very hard and painful. I even called my friend and said that I couldn’t continue writing dramas anymore.
PD: This writer internalizes really well. That’s the reason each character’s personalities are so deep.
ISJ: It’s not just a set of dialogues that she writes, but she takes each character and one by one… she shapes and develops them… knitting them all towards a nice closure.
*CHA MOO HYUK/ So Ji Sub
PD: When I see an actor, I observe his eyes a lot. So Ji Sub looks frank and straightforward. And there’s some kind of loneliness… or should I say melancholy feeling?~ emanating from his gaze. So I thought that in those aspects, he was similar to Moohyuk.
WT: The chewing of gum by MH, that’s like a ‘sucking instinct.’ He grew up without the mother’s breast. So he chewed gum because of his unconscious need for mother’s milk, and also as his way of coping with his inner rage.
SJS: MH expressed his emotions a lot by chewing gum. At times, I chewed really fast, slowly at others. I blew large bubble gums, or small ones. Honestly, acting while chewing gum… that was tough.
PD: In general, I think I prefer underdog characters. MH is someone abandoned by his mother. Being abandoned by the mother, I’d think this would impact enormously on his self image while growing up. That’s why he cannot express his true feelings.
In Australia, he’s been co-habiting with Ji Yeong. He tells her he loves her, but rather than love, he was internally longing for company. But even her, she abandons him for a richer man. So he is abandoned twice.
When we were creating the character of MH, one of the biggest describers was ‘an abandoned child.’
SJS: MH’s character, his inner emotion was too complex, and I had to act 2 different characters, there were too many things that made it difficult to play him. I just did as the writer told me, just as it was written. I did my best to be faithful to the script.
WT: Actor So Ji Sub, he has very deep gaze. He can say many things through his eyes. So rather than making him talk, I wanted him to express feelings through his eyes and his body language. I figured this would leave a deeper impression to the viewers.
Actually, before Mr. So Ji Sub was cast, up to episode 4, MH was solely made up by the producer and I. But from episode 5 onwards, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that MH was created by So Ji Sub himself.
ISJ: Since from the beginning, everything was focused on the character of Cha Moo Hyuk, I don’t think I had such a hard time acting.
SJS: Although he wants to get revenge from his mother, I think that was an expression of his love more than hate. MH wanted so much to be loved.
LHY: The first time I met SJS the actor, I felt there was some kind of ‘energy’ emanating from him. Regardless of how big or small it is, strong or weak… I’d say that’s what acting is all about, that’s the harmony.
PD: I knew from the beginning that if SJS rises, our drama would rise.
*SONG EUN CHAE/ Im Soo Jung
WT: MH doesn’t have a home. He’s more like a wild dog, untrained. But deep inside, he has more love and strength than any other character. But he doesn’t know how to express those feelings. EC was the one who helped him get in touch with his inner feelings, teaching him how to express them outwardly.
WT: EC is an innocent and bright character. She is like a second mother to MH, having all those positive characteristics lacking in Audrey. She’s a free being. She helps MH heal from his dark past, making him brighter. I think Miss Im Soo Jung was exactly Eun Chae.
PD: She is really nice, bright and caring.
ISJ: I felt in this drama, Song EC had to be sort of a saint.
PD: If we were to analyze this character, EC is not really that poor. And she has a nice education. She has good parents, and nice sisters. This is the story of such an ordinary girl falling in love with someone who grew up on the streets. The story of a girl who leaves the comfort of home to follow a trash. That’s why it’s a ‘sorry love.’
ISJ: I think the character of Song EC went through several dramatic changes.
PD: She starts changing after she receives MH’s love.
ISJ: Because of her misunderstanding, she tries very crudely to cut MH away from her. She tells him very cruel things, and acts very harshly… I think this was her second transformation.
PD: Then, she changes again after she finds out MH’s dying.
ISJ: The third time is after she finds out everything about MH, where she completely focuses on MH.
PD: I cast Im Soo Jung because she is good at portraying multifaceted characters. During the final episodes, I think there was a mysterious feeling, and I think she expressed those feelings pretty well.
LHY: The first time I was practicing with ISJ, I felt… ‘Wow, she acts really well!’
SJS: When I saw her in other programs, I saw her as bubbly and very talkative. I thought she’d like to joke a lot. But I was surprised the first time I saw her.
PD: Miss ISJ is really good at expressing deep emotions without exaggeration.
*AUDREY (Oh Deu Ri)/ Lee Hye Young
PD: I believe actors must have surprising elements. Ms. LHY had the surprising factor of not being in the small screen for 25 years.
SJS: When I learned LHY sunbae (older colleague) was cast as my mom, I had great expectations.
PD: Today’s young crowd don’t know, but long ago, she used to be Korea’s sexiest star.
LHY: The son they thought I’ve abandoned… and the realization that it was all a misunderstanding. The viewer’s sympathized with the misunderstanding. Audrey didn’t know anything.
Even before the viewers knew, I acted with confidence. I knew Audrey was not a bad woman. Thinking to myself and believing in myself. Saying to myself that I’ve adopted a son in order to heal from my past wounds, and that I was leading a good life, deeply loving my adopted son… That’s why I was confident.
PD: She has the personality of an actress. And she has great pride. These things, I thought were just like Audrey.
ISJ: Before this, she was someone I’d observe from far away. “Wow, she’s awesome! Such an awesome actress!” I thought of her like that before.
PD: She’s at the heart of this tragedy. A miniseries usually has many young audiences. But if this drama were to be played on a theatre, her character would be at the center of the stage. All tragedies in human lives, throughout history, ends in death. And no one knows someone’s destiny.
While making this drama, I heard the following story. That there was a woman who left her son at the orphanage… and that she cried a lot while watching our drama. Why would she cry? Even if she meets her son, she wouldn’t recognize him.
WT: I wrote from the beginning that Audrey wouldn’t know anything till the end. I discussed this with the producer. Instead of making you bawl loudly while watching a sad story, I wanted to write something that will sting your heart deeply even after you turn off your TV, making you come back to it again and again, making you sore. I thought of those things.
SJS: I agreed with what I read the first time I got the scenario, that it’s better for him to die without letting her know. So I acted thinking this way. If she has found out… I think the mother’s grief would have been overwhelming. Thus, in the point of view of the son, it’s better that the mother doesn’t know, even if everyone else knew, and that MH leaves by himself. I think that’s the right thing to do.
WT: According to my scenario, it would have been too cruel to let Audrey know the truth. Besides, her not finding out… I thought this would be a greater punishment for Audrey’s past sins.
*CHOI YUNE/ Jung Kyung Ho
PD: It’s an old film, but his character’s like Mozart, from the movie “Mozart.” A spoiled genius-like kid.
WT: If we think about it, Yune too, he’s a pitiful character. There was a time he didn’t know his love for Eunchae, but after he realizes this… he too is a very human character.
In a way, he’d have to live with the heart of the true son of his adopted mother. Because of this burden, his suffering would be greater than that of the dead MH. And his burden would be heavier too. When thinking of this, Yune is the most pitiful character.
JKH: I’m still like that… but I was very immature and playful then, and I’d get cranky very easily. So I figured all I had to do was to be myself. And that’s how I did it.
SJS: While filming, I really felt like he was my younger brother. At the end of the drama I told him that “I’d like to continue our relationship like brothers.” Kyung Ho was the first one I ever told that.
ISJ: Like a baby… sort of whiny? Yune was like that to EC. I think I could see parts of Kyung Ho that were like that. He tried hard to make people feel comfortable around him.
*KANG MIN JOO/ Suh Ji Young
PD: Before Jung Kyung Ho was cast… JKH is a newbie… I wanted to expand Minjoo’s character more.
WT: In a way, Minjoo’s too experienced and realistic. But she’s also thirsty for love. The love she received from Yune was very warm like the sunshine. The love she got from MH was like a storm. And before she knew it, she was falling inside the storm. And she’s so hungry for love, she tried to grab this love till the end. This would eventually be her downfall.
PD: In the movie “Last Exit to Brooklyn”, there is a blonde woman who doesn’t believe in love, but she enjoys getting attention from others.
SJY: This was my first time acting, but it came out a lot different than I had expected. I didn’t know any of the technical stuffs, and I felt kind out of place…
SJS: She must have felt the pressure. But she was always smiling and she worked really hard… she looked really pretty.
ISJ: She helped me a lot. EC and MJ are friends. If we didn’t get along, we couldn’t have played as being so closed to each other.
*SONG DAE CHUN/ Lee Young Ha
WT: Next to Yune, he’s the character that suffered the most. Because of the sin of loving Audrey too much. He atoned for his sins through his daughter’s death, he kept his mouth shut till the end in order to protect the woman he loves. I don’t think he kept the secret for his own sake.
PD: Today’s viewers may not know this, but he used to be Korea’s top drama male star. But as time went by, he started acting as an ordinary father. And not too long ago, he couldn’t get a role he coveted (*not too sure)… and although his character in our drama was very small… I thank him for making Misa shine.
*MIN HYUN SUK/ Shin Goo
PD: Min Hyeon Suk is somewhat of an evil character. At times, he’s funny, and at times, he’s childish. I think he expressed well these type of feelings.
In many scenes, such as washing rice or cutting fish… Mr. Shingoo added things that were not in the script, making the character more real. I thank him for that.
*YOON SUH KYUNG/ Jun Hye Jin
PD: The character of Suh Kyung can be very difficult to play. Acting as a mentally handicap, if you’re not careful, can make you exaggerate. I think she expressed the emotions in the right degree.
*KIM GALCHI/ Park Gun Tae
PD: The image of children I like are not the cute ones, but the childlike ones. Park Kwon Tae, for someone his age, has a childlike feeling and yet, he can act. That’s why I cast him. I think he did really well.
*MOON JI YEONG/ Choi Yeo Jin
PD: Miss Choi Yeo Jin too… it was her first time doing a drama. I needed someone who could speak fluent English, and who looks like a model… and is confidently sexy. I thought she was perfect visually speaking. And the more we practiced, the better she got.
*SONG SEUNG CHAE/ Ok Ji Young
PD: Miss Ok Ji Young… rather than giving her spoken lines, I showed her sleeping or acting funny. I’m sorry I couldn’t give her more lines.
*SONG MIN CHAE/ Jung Hwa Yeong
PD: And Miss Jung Hwa Yeong, she’s young but she’s so full of energy. I think she played really well the character of an ordinary girl from an ordinary family.
*SETTING DIRECTOR/ Um Tae Man
PD: I feel I’ve benefited so much from the setting director Um Tae Man.
SD: When I read the scenario, I realized this wasn’t the typical drama.
PD: I feel he was very ambitious when it came to taking shots. He took the camera everywhere.
SD: I believe a cameraman should work hard. Going one step further, climbing up and down… You can’t just stay in one place. You have to take shots from the floor… or standing on top. If you try, I believe good shots are bound to happen.
*LIGHTING DIRECTOR/ Park Joong Kee
PD: The lighting director has to coordinate well with the setting director. I think they worked together before. When we were in the slum of Australia, the lighting director added blue tones to the night scenes. I think he put color in “I’m Sorry I Love You.” His lighting effects matched really well with the drama’s mood.
LD: The drama’s extremely sad. So I wanted to avoid cold tones and tried using warm tones instead.
PD: I think Misa’s visuals and colors harmonized really well because the setting director and the lighting director worked well with each other.
*EDITOR/ Kim Yoo Mi
PD: Ms. Kim Yoo Mi was in charge of editing. This was her first time working with me. She worked in mania dramas before, but I told her I wanted this drama to be more main-stream.
ED: My first editing began after they returned from Australia. I remember talking to him after watching the first scenes. I think the character’s the producer had in mind, and those I had in my mind were not too different.
PD: The editor worked loving the character of MH. That’s why she was able to put together so many silent scenes of MH, and still show his charms… MH is charming, isn’t he?
ED: There were many scenes without spoken lines. I still remember them. In one episode, starting from page one to page 39, they had no spoken lines.
PD: “I’m Sorry I Love You” is a sad melodrama. But unlike other melodramas, I didn’t want the scenes or the back-ground music to be too slow.
ED: The producer actually likes more fast paced dramas.
*MUSIC DIRECTOR/ Choi Sung Wook
PD: In Misa, I think the music was a great success too. Of course the song “Snow Flakes” was great too, but I think the ‘theme’ music showed the right mood in our drama.
MD: I felt he liked heavy music, not ordinary types. Male oriented, tough ones. Once the drama started airing, the music was shaping the characters. Then, I thought we succeeded.
PD: Violin’s high pitch. On the one hand, it could sound exciting, but on the other, it’s sad too.
PD: Mr. Choi Sung Wook, who was in charge of the music, he knows how to listen to the producers. Thus, he is able to come up with the right background music. I think he’s a great music director.
MD: In the case of “I’m Sorry I Love You,” there were silent scenes, which gave viewers a sense of peace. So I thought, rather than filling those moments with music, I’d lower the sound, and enhance the emotional feelings of those scenes. This was how I worked.
PD: The song “Snow Flakes” did great too, but I believe the ‘theme’ song did a great job at portraying the mood of “I’m Sorry I Love You.”
MD: Several of So Ji Sub’s theme songs, they still move me and whenever I listen to it, I recall the walk in the streets of Melbourne.
*PRODUCER/ Lee Hyung Min
WT: If I suddenly increase the pace of the story, he’s able to fill in the gap to make the transition smooth.
SJS: He thinks a bit different from others. I never knew he likes to show the back position so much. Especially the back of a walking person… or the piggy-back walking…
ISJ: I think the story was great, but the visual was great too.
SJY: He’s very detailed oriented.
JKH: Rather than a director, I considered him my teacher.
SJS: People must have called him “a bear like wolf.”(*In Korea, a dull and boring person is called a ‘bear,’ and a cunny person who always gets his/her way is called a ‘wolf.’)
LHY: Bear like wolf? Wow! That’s exactly it!
*FINAL GREETINGS
SJS: While working in “I’m Sorry I Love You,” I felt very fortunate to be working there, among a great staff, and great actors and actresses. I think the entire process was well done. And I was happy while doing it. I’d like to work with this same team again.
I thank all of you… I had learned so much in such a short time. Everyone, I thank you… and I love you.
[Created by KBS Media]
[Produced by (Joo) Cool Media]
(*translated by Priscilla)
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