Category: TV

On April 6, the star-studded cast and the hit director of What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim and Alchemy of Souls gathered to discuss their highly anticipated Disney+ series, Perfect Crown. ClickTheCity was invited to attend the virtual press event, and these are the highlights from the event.

Host Park Gyu-min wasn’t kidding when she called this “the most anticipated show of the year.” IU is a global superstar, with a string of hit shows and chart-topping songs, she’s practically South Korean entertainment royalty. Byeon Woo-seok, is no stranger to success either, just coming off the massive hit Lovely Runner. Their pairing in a rom-com by hit-making director Park Joon-hwa, is the talk of the streaming town.

Perfect Crown imagines an alternate reality where 21st-century South Korea is a constitutional monarchy. IU plays Song Hee-ju, the second daughter of a chaebol family who has everything – intelligence, looks, and wealth – yet her status as commoner has become an obstacle for her grand ambitions. Byeon Woo-seok plays Prince Yian, the King’s second son, who possesses nothing but his royal heritage. When the two find in each other a chance to complete what is missing in their lives, things begin to change. But as the trailer suggests: is love also on the table?

The cast arrives on stage dressed in their signature outfits from the official poster, a coordinated look that IU later reveals was actually Byeon Woo-seok’s suggestion. IU looks every bit the princess, with the host aptly noting that she “brings the whole of spring with her.” Perfectly comfortable in front of the camera, she’s playful with the photographers, and easily gives off many poses for their pictures. Byeon Woo-seok is dressed in a Western-style prince attire, think more like Cinderella’s Prince Charming from the cartoon but in blue. While he is also at ease in front of the camera, he seems more reserved. 

However, the moment the two leads share the stage for their couple pictures, Byeon Woo-seok seems to relax and get loose. He matches IU’s playfulness, constantly watching her to align with her poses. The chemistry between them is apparent.

Joining IU and Byeon Woo-seok are Noh Sang-hyun, portraying the Prime Minister and a good friend to both leads; Gong Seung-yeon as the Queen Dowager, Yoo Su-bin, who serves as Prince Yian’s aide, and Lee Yeon, playing Hee Ju’s secretary and loyal business partner.

Once the Q&A began, a lot of questions was directed towards the cast and PD Park Joon-hwa regarding the show’s concept. Park Joon-hwa expressed confidence, stating that he “believes this show is different from any show you’ve seen before. It will be fun.” He emphasized the amount of work it took to reimagine South Korea as a constitutional monarchy. “It was playing with the space,” he explained. He remarks on the way he envisioned life inside the palace and was meticulous about what the “costumes, locations, and even the food” would be like.

With the characters, IU says that the keyword for Hee Ju is “frustration.” She described her character as “greedy, adding “she wants things but she is also adorable.” IU insisted that despite her character’s ambitious nature, Hee Ju is a three-dimensional character she had a lot of fun portraying. “I had so much fun playing the role of a chaebol heiress,” she says. “I got to wear a lot of really nice clothes, but she isn’t your typical chaebol heiress.” She further explained that because her character is in the public eye but isn’t well-liked, she often becomes a target of online ridicule. “She’s turned into a meme a lot; so that was fun.”

As for Byeon Woo-seok, he felt that he really resonated with Prince Yian’s situation. “I could see scenes when I read the script,” he shared. “I wanted to flesh this character out.” 

Noh Sang-hyun describes the Prime Minister as someone who is “cold. He can control himself well. But he has character development and you will see some really great changes with him.” Noh Sang-hyun appeared to be the more serious type during the event, especially as Yu Su-bin and Lee Yeon encouraged the more playful sides of IU and Byeon Woo-seok during the press conference, he later added that his character “is stiff but the character can get messy; so it was a fun role to do.”

Also taking a more serious approach is Gong Seung-yeon, who plays the Queen Dowager. On her character, she says that the Queen Dowager “feels the royal family is the most important thing and her own needs take second place. Everything she does is for the royal family.” She appears to be the primary antagonist for our two protagonists, based on the trailer, host Park Gyu-min even commended her for keeping much of her character during the press conference. She admits that her biggest challenge for playing the role was that the script had said her character was “the symbol of the royal family” which led her to work closely with the production team to truly looked the part.

Having primarily worked in genre pieces, Lee Yeon noted that taking on this role was essential for her, as she has never done a romantic comedy before. She and IU had bonded previously at an awards ceremony where they both confessed being a fans of each other. IU, who had seen her shows and said she wanted to work with her and now it’s finally happening. IU says “she’s always prepared and took the lead in forming their chemistry.”

Yoo Su-bin went to great lengths for his role, even interviewing former aides from the Blue House (the executive office and official residence of the President of South Korea). The people he interviewed told him that an aide must think like their principal and believe in the things that the person they worked for believe in. They had to be one step ahead. He noted that playing Prince Yian’s aide was made easy by his co-star’s personality. Byeon Woo-seok is a “really good guy that my affection for him grew so much. He made it easy to get into character.”

For the chemistry, PD Park Joon-hwa noted it was already evident during the script reading. IU then shared and reminded everyone that she and Byeon Woo-seok had actually worked together a decade ago in Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. In that series, Byeon Woo-seok played the boyfriend who breaks up with her at the start of the show that sends her character back in time. “So, we already had a working chemistry,” she explained.

Though they hadn’t spoken much since in the years since, IU noted that their history brought a sense of ease to the set of Perfect Crown. She then quickly jokes saying that since he broke her heart over ten years ago in Moon Lovers, that it seemed like he was making up for it on this show. She then continues to joke saying that “I enjoyed working with him so much here that I think we should work again after another ten years.”Of course, everybody laughs.

Perfect Crown is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes arriving every week.