There’s a new iQiyi K-drama to watch out for this December, and it’s set to star two of today’s hottest Korean actors! Bad and Crazy, which premieres this Friday, December 17, is an action-packed series starring Lee Dong Wook, Wi Ha Joon, Han Ji Eun, and Cha Hak Yeon. It comes from director Yeon Seon Dong who directed Vampire Prosecutor 2, with a screenplay by Kim Sae Bom, who wrote the screenplay for The Uncanny Counter alongside Yeon.
Check out the trailer below:
Bad and Crazy comes from the team behind The Uncanny Counter and centers on a capable but bad cop named Ryu Su Yeol who regains his humanity after meeting ‘K’ — a crazy but righteous man who likes to use his fist to resolve conflict.
Just before the drama premieres this Friday, we got to join the cast of the drama — Lee Dong Wook, Wi Ha Joon, Han Ji Eun, and Cha Hak Yeon — in a press conference where they answered selected questions from the press. Here’s what you need to know about the new drama, according to the cast themselves:
Why they said yes to Bad and Crazy
During the press conference, the stars of Bad and Crazy talked about what hooked them to the script and why they decided to join the project. To this, Lee Dong Wook said that he found the script to be “very interesting” and “fun to read,” and that he thought that his character, Ryu Su Ryeol, is unlike all the other roles he did before. “I was very curious about how this character was going to be depicted,” he stated.
The same goes for Han Ji Eun, playing Lee Hui Gyeom, who said that she was “very fond of the script” and that she felt a connection with the director with who she previously worked with before. She also mentioned how it’s a new challenge for her to play a confident character like Hui Gyeom, especially after portraying quirky and fun characters in her previous dramas.
Lastly, Cha Hak Yeon, who plays Oh Kyung Tae, talked about his first impression of the script. He said, “When I read the script, I immediately fell in love with each and every one of the characters. All the characters were different from the ones I had before, so they were very appealing to me,” he said.
How they prepared for the roles
Despite Bad and Crazy being an action drama, most of the cast said that they mostly focused on bringing out their characters’ personalities when preparing for the role. Han Ji Eun, for one, said that aside from putting her hair up to make Hee Gyeom seem more serious, she also refrained from doing adlibs and stuck to the script. “I want to play by the book,” she explained. “[Hee Gyeom] is a very rigid and formal character, so I wanted to depict that aspect of my character.”
Wi Ha Joon, on the other hand, said that K is someone who has a lot of comical aspects to his character. And since he’s not a very funny person in real life, he had to bring out that aspect of him to life. “I watched a lot of comedy TV shows and films,” he said. “I just wanted to let go of myself and break that mold that I have. I will try to make jokes on set, try to stay in character on set. I think I really transformed myself into K.”
And then there’s Lee Dong Wook, who said that he didn’t really prepare that much for the role, especially since “the script itself was very entertaining” and so the only thing he needed to do was play his part well. “I had the freedom in terms of expressing my character,” he added. “On set, I tried to have as many conversations as possible with the director in terms of the direction and the character.”
How they pulled off the action scenes
Of course, preparations still had to be done when it comes to the action scenes. And for this, Dong Wook was all praise for his Wi Ha Joon, who gave his 100% in shooting these scenes without a stunt double. “The action team had stunt doubles for us so they can play the dangerous scenes. But Ha Joon, instead of using his double, volunteered to do the action scenes, even the really difficult ones,” he explained. “At that moment, I thought he was really amazing.”
Wi Ha Joon went on to explain Dong Wook’s statement, saying that because it was the beginning of shooting, he was very passionate about doing all the hard parts. Speaking about his co-star, he said that Dong Wook really went through a lot for the action scenes, and despite not practicing at all, he still pulled off all the stunts required for Su Yeol’s character since “he knows how to move his body.”
While Ha Joon spoke about how fighting in his leather jacket in the middle of summer was the most challenging part of the job, Dong Wook said that the challenge he needed to overcome the most during production was his laziness. “Constantly having to move in the scene, it was very tiring for me,” he started. “I shot a lot of scenes for this drama and I appear from the beginning to the end. If you have action scenes in between, I cannot afford to give my 200% for those because I know I have to stay on set until the day.”
What their most memorable scenes are
Asked about their most memorable scenes from Bad and Crazy, Lee Dong Wook, who’s a true pro at promoting his projects, cheekily said that the entire series is going to be memorable for him, especially since it’s hard to choose a single scene.
Cha Hak Yeon mentioned a moving scene where his character Kyeong Tae is experiencing extreme fear as he tries to keep his principles and philosophy. “[Kyeong Tae] gets a lot of help from Su Yeol, and he can rely and depend on him, so the scene was very memorable for me,” he explained. “It demonstrates what kind of character Kyeong Tae is, and you see his relationship with other characters in the series.”
As for Han Ji Eun, she talked about her character’s first appearance in the drama. Careful to not mention any spoilers, she said: “Hui Gyeom’s appearance is not very long, but it demonstrates her personality and she encounters Su Yeol in that scene.”
Meanwhile, Wi Ha Joon talked about a particular one that involves an action scene with Lee Dong Wook’s Ryu Su Yeol in a junkyard. “It was very spectacular, and there was a lot of intercutting in the scene,” he said. “I think the chemistry really shines in this scene. This is the first time that they feel like they’re actually part of a team.”
What they have been going crazy for lately
The cast of Bad and Crazy have also been asked about their “quirks” and what they’ve been going crazy for lately. To this, Cha Hak Yeon said that his unusual habit would probably have to be the fact that he actually spent 10 days at home before shooting the drama “I was too fond of staying at home,” he explained. “I trained at home. I did everything at home.”
Meanwhile, Han Ji Eun admits that she’s actually crazy about food since she’s one who loves to eat and watch mukbang videos on YouTube. “I always have something to munch on next to me,” she said. “The problem is I am more of an eater than a sleeper. Even if it’s 3AM or 4AM, I have to eat before I go to bed. Even if I’m drowsy and falling asleep.”
The two leads both shared their love for sports, with Wi Ha Joon being a fan of MMA and Lee Dong Wook going crazy about professional sports in general. Wi Ha Joon confesses that he’s actually a huge MMA fan, and that he was even able to get his hands on MMA player Jung Chan Sung’s outfit. “That’s what my friends thought, that I was crazy. I see Jung Chan Sung lose his game, I tear up, even if I’m not into watching sentimental dramas.”
Lee Dong Wook said that when it comes to watching sports games, he stays up to catch not only that Korean team but also the other teams playing. “I always try to stay up to watch European football, even if that means falling asleep with the remote control in my hands. During the World Cup, I don’t only watch the Korean team’s games, but also each and every game of the European soccer team,” he said.
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Bad and Crazy is streaming on iQiyi this December 17. New episodes drop on the platform every Friday and Saturday at 9:50PM.
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