Unlike other virtual press conferences I’ve attended, the media launch for the new Disney+ crime drama series Gold Land carried a notably more somber tone than usual. It was more serious, this time, mirroring the show’s dark theme of desire and greed. While the cast member Lee Kwang-soo brought flashes of his signature comic timing to the proceedings, he felt more like a “troublemaker” than a comedian this time, a fitting energy as he takes another turn as a villain in this series.
Written by Hwang Jo-yoon and directed by Kim Sung-hoon, the story of Gold Land follows Hee-ju (Park Bo-young), an airport security screening agent whose life is upended when her boyfriend Lee Do-kyung (Lee Hyun-wook), gets her entangled in a smuggling operation involving a dangerous gang. While on transit, Do-kyung attempts to steal the shipment but is caught by the ruthless Park Ho-cheol (Lee Kwang-soo).
When Hee-ju discovers the hidden shipment, she realizes the stakes are astronomical: 100 ten-kilogram bars of gold worth a staggering 150 billion won. To survive, Hee-ju must team up with a gangster gone rogue, Woogy (Kim Sung-cheol) and reconnect with her estranged mother, Yeo Sun-ok (Moon Jeong-hee), who she has a serious love-hate relationship, while a corrupt detective in on her tail played by Kim Hee-won.
The first four episodes are explosive, suspenseful, and thrilling. Most notably, Park Bo-young showing a different side of herself never before seen on screen; this marks her first foray into gritty genre drama.
Throughout the press conference, the cast remained calm and cool, staying anchored in their characters’ serious personalities, save for Lee Kwang-soo, who couldn’t resist hamming it up for the photographers. Kim Sung-cheol, meanwhile, seemed the most prepared with many different poses. His interactions with Park Bo-young brought a smile to her face and showed off their brilliant chemistry that plays really well to the screen.
Director Kim Sung-hoon, when asked about the show, says it’s about “greed and desire” and that audiences will see Hee-ju’s morality truly tested as we watch her go from being afraid of the gold to being consumed by it. “She wants the gold for herself,” he says, which is interesting, considering that’s not in play in the first four episodes of the ten-episode thriller.
On doing the show, Park Bo-young shared that she has always wanted to do a crime show. When she was talking to Kim Sung-hoon, he told her that she would be perfect for the role because her appearance and her public persona would make people believe she would do the right thing and return the gold but that’s not what’s going to happen. The unexpectedness of it is what makes it so compelling on screen. Kim Sung-hoon continues by saying, “Park Bo-young is a very courageous actor. Showing greed is not something you do externally. It’s an interior emotion but she gives such a nuanced performance that you can see her change.” He praised her for her ability to show her character’s evolution throughout the series.
She was praised for not using any make-up to help deglamorize her and to portray Hee-ju as a woman who is exhausted with life and with no hope. She even had to lose weight for the role.
Echoing this, Kim Sung-cheol also shared about not needing any make up to play the gangster, Woogy. “It took me five minutes to get ready,” he says. “I would just put sunscreen on and then go straight to set.” Oozing with charm during the press conference, Kim Sung-cheol described his character as someone “without any charisma. He is unafraid of his own desires and he is blunt and frank and shallow.” But he adds that he has a quality to the character that makes him interesting to watch in a show like this.
In the show, the two actors form an unlikely partnership. They don’t trust each other and Hee-ju is really afraid of him but they have history together and as the show progresses, she starts to rely on him and it would make an interesting dynamic to see. The two admit to having a brother-sister bond on set, with Park Bo-young saying, “If I had a little brother, I wish he would be like Kim Sung Cheol.”
The director is quick to point out that in this show, “no one is really good or bad.” It seems that the gold bars tempt each character forcing them away from their moral center and the series explores this aspect of humanity.
This is a pervasive theme that is discussed throughout the press conference, and it is Lee Kwang-su who brings in the levity; saying his character has no backstory at play in the show itself so he was given free reign to provide input to his character.
In a hilarious exchange that became a running joke of the media launch, Lee Kwang-soo shared that he personally bought his own accessories to adorn Park Ho-cheol, to imply a dark past, and teases the director that he has yet to be reimbursed for the expenses. He even joked saying putting gold plates on his teeth was his idea and that director Kim Sung-hoon liked it so much he told everyone it was his.
Jokes aside, Kim Sung-hoon is most grateful to Kim Hee Won, whose character plays a vital role in the ending. He claimed that if it wasn’t for Kim Hee-won, his show wouldn’t work because – while all the characters are important – Kim Hee-won’s detective, Jin-man, whose life collapses as he gives in to his own greed and which gives the show the proper weight near the show’s finale.
The first four episodes of ‘Gold Land’ are now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping each week.
