“The expectations for the series seemed to be quite high. We were also eager to do something new, not just repeat the previous season. I think there was some dislike or embarrassment about Season 2 at first, but if you look at the reactions over the past few days, it seems like people are looking at Season 2 as it is and finding its own charm,” he said, noting that he had looked at the reviews of viewers who watched Season 2.
Season 1 of D.P. focused on the internal situation of the soldiers, which resonated with a lot of people, but as we move into season 2, we’re asking questions about the larger narrative. Speaking about Season 2’s story, which asks the question of who and where to blame for the tragedy that befell the soldiers, Son says, “The satisfaction of the work actually comes more from the process than the result. I had so much fun filming this one that I was very satisfied regardless of the outcome,” he said.
In season 2, Son Seok-gu’s character, Captain Lim Jisub, reveals his hidden family history and undergoes a significant change in his thinking about his role in the military. “I think the seeds of this change were planted at the end of season 1. He’s not a villain, but he’s on the opposite side of what Joon-ho and Ho-yeol are trying to do, and we wanted to show that he’s torn. He’s constantly wavering, and there’s a possibility that he could go back to the way he was in season 1, but in the end, there’s a big inflection point in ‘Sergeant Na Jung-seok,'” he says, explaining how they were careful to show the character’s emotions.
“In season 1, I thought it was because of his family that Lim Ji-sub was trying so hard to get promoted, but when I got the script for season 2, I realized that he was a divorced father who couldn’t get in touch with his child. Moreover, the divorced wife is even worse than the others, and they have become a relationship that is punished just by looking at each other’s faces. I was puzzled at first when I saw this situation, but I thought of it as one of the many layers of Lim Jisub and enjoyed it,” he said, revealing his thoughts on the divorced man setting.
He also talked about working with Kim Ji-hyun, saying, “Originally, there were a lot of male characters in ‘D.P.,’ but when I worked with Kim Ji-hyun, there were some parts that left a lasting impression and gave me vent.”
When asked about Son Seok-gu’s increased screen time in Season 2, he said, “Absolutely not,” and added, “His physicality only increases,’ and there is little difference in other episodes. But it must have seemed that way because Lim Ji-sub’s change was so big. I’ve seen articles about my workload, and I’ve seen director Han Jun-hee’s response, but at least he’s someone who creates his work regardless. He has a tremendous amount of pride in his work, so he’s not a person who is swayed by such things,” he said of Han Jun-hee.
“I’ve worked with him many times and we get along very well. He’s open-minded and unafraid to improvise and keep doing new things. When I meet a director like him, I go to the set excited to see what he can do. When I met a director like that, I went to the set because I was excited to see what he could do.” He made it clear that he is not a director who is influenced by the number of scenes.
Son Seok-goo spent more time talking about his acting juniors than his own popularity. “While we were acting, I was asking him a lot of questions like, ‘How are you so good at acting? How long have you been acting? I’ve been acting for about 10 years, so it’s like that, but how do you do it?’ I was really curious about what you watch and how you do it. He said he was nervous, but he didn’t look nervous at all, and I got a lot of help from Choi Hyun-wook. I really admire him,” he praised.
Choi’s conflicting memories made the episode feel like a movie. “Director Han Jun-hee told me before we started filming that he wanted to make it feel like an independent movie with a different genre. It’s genre and theatrical, but it’s a story about the same event from different perspectives, so it was very fresh,” he says, adding that the director’s intentions for the episode were clear.
When asked if he had to choose between Junho and Ho Yeol instead of playing Captain Lim, he said, “I would have chosen Ho Yeol. Junho has to do a lot of action. I’ve done action in ‘Crime City 2,’ but I think Ho Yeol’s oral action suits me better,” he says with a laugh.
Speaking about ‘D.P.,’ Son Seok-gu said, “It’s a healing work. Each movie has a different atmosphere, but in the case of ‘D.P.,’ there were only people who were really the best in their field. I was able to just have fun and act without worrying about anything else. I felt like I was on a vacation from my busy life,” he said.
