SINGAPORE - In new South Korean comedy crime caper Bad And Crazy, leading man Wi Ha-joon performed many of his own stunts and action scenes, surprising his co-star Lee Dong-wook.
At a regional press conference for the K-drama, which premieres on iQiyi International today, Lee, 40, says: "We had body doubles who could do some of the stunts for us, but Ha-joon volunteered to do a lot of the scenes himself, so I thought he was amazing."
Wi, 30, who had to execute many of his fight scenes clad in his character's signature leather jacket, says he had to train hard and endure the midsummer heat to film the action sequences.
Lee (Goblin, 2016), who had the most action scenes alongside Wi, jokes: "The hardest part for me was overcoming my laziness. I had to move around so much for this drama."
But, Wi adds, of equal importance as the kicks and punches are the humour and wit of his character.
The actor - best known for playing the hunky policeman from Netflix's smash survival thriller Squid Game (2021) - is the "crazy" K in the series' title - a righteous but volatile vigilante who solves problems with his fists. Lee plays his "bad" counterpart Ryu Soo-yeol, a capable cop with questionable ethics.
Wi says: "There were many comical aspects of K I wanted to bring to life. I'm not a very funny person in real life, but I wanted to bring as much of K as possible to the set and break out of my mould. So, I tried to stay in character and crack jokes during filming."
Also among the cast is actress Han Ji-eun (Be Melodramatic, 2019) and Cha Hak-yeon of K-pop boy band Vixx, who is also known by his stage name N.
Han plays a cop and Soo-yeol's ex-girlfriend.
The 31-year-old, more known for starring in romantic series, says: "I've played many cute or adorable characters, so this time, I wanted to stay away from that stereotype and project a more serious image. I paid more attention to how my character would look and kept my hair tied up."
Cha, also 31, had to chop off his locks for his role as young and passionate police officer Oh Kyung-tae.
He says: "After I was discharged from military service (last year), I grew out my hair. That was something I really wanted to do when I was still serving, but I had to cut my hair short again for this role.
"I read the script and just fell in love with the characters. Kyung-tae is down-to-earth, sweet and innocent, but very persistent when it comes to solving a case."
Like their characters who form an unlikely alliance to take down police corruption, Lee and Wi developed a strong bond off-screen.
"Dong-wook and I didn't need to practise to pull off our scenes together. We just had great chemistry," says Wi, adding that a fight scene set in a junkyard involving both of them was the most memorable.
"It was a spectacular scene and our chemistry was off the charts. It really felt like our characters are a team."
Lee chimes in agreement: "Yes, the bromance is there. We work very well together."
Bad And Crazy premieres today on iQiyi International.
