The Life List: Lee Dong-wook fights himself in K-drama sequel Tale Of The Nine Tailed 1938
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Lee Dong-wook has plenty of cool fight scenes in Tale Of The Nine Tailed 1938, which sends his gumiho character back in time.
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
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SINGAPORE – South Korean actor Lee Dong-wook is going back in time.
The success of his fantasy romance series Tale Of The Nine Tailed (2020) has spawned a sequel, Tale Of The Nine Tailed 1938, which sends the leading man to the year 1938.
Lee, 41, reprises his role of Lee Yeon, a man whose true form is a 1,000-year-old gumiho, or nine-tailed fox. South Korean actor Kim Bum, 33, also returns as Lee Yeon’s estranged half-brother Lee Rang, this time sporting longer, wilder hair.
Kim So-yeon and Ryu Kyung-soo, newcomers to the series, play mountain gods and long-time friends of Lee Yeon.
Unsure why he has crash-landed in a different era, Lee Yeon is desperate to return to the modern day. But there are debts to be repaid and enemies to confront, including the angry, depressed version of himself in 1938.
In a video call with regional media, the cast reveals five things about the new K-drama, which premieres on Saturday on Prime Video.
1. Less romance, more action
The love of Lee Yeon’s life, Nam Ji-ah – played in the first series by actress Jo Bo-ah, who is not appearing in the sequel – is in the present day while Lee Yeon is stuck in the past. But he will not be having flings in a different time period.
“I’m going back in time as a married man to Ji-ah and my love stands very firm,” says Lee.
Without a leading couple and romantic arc, fans can look forward to bigger, better action.
Kim Bum says: “The time period is different and we added new characters, which means there will be a greater scale of action to look forward to. With the period setting, where we would have been in cars in the modern day, we’ll now be riding horses and using guns and other weapons that fit the particular time.”
Kim Bum sports a longer, wilder hairstyle for Tale Of The Nine Tailed 1938, in which he reprises his role as a gumiho.
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
2. Non-stop fight scenes
Since the series has pivoted to include more action sequences, the cast had to engage in some memorable fight scenes. In fact, Lee felt as if he never really stopped fighting during the shoot.
He says: “It was as if someone would yell ‘Fight!‘ at me every morning when I woke up, and then I’d be right on set fighting.”
His most memorable brawl was the one with himself – between modern-day Lee Yeon stuck in the past and the original one in 1938.
He says: “We managed to film it faster than expected, but there was so much work to be done because I had to do the action scenes from both sides (as two versions of Lee Yeon). It was very challenging but very fun.”
The new cast members were thrown into the deep end too. Kim So-yeon, 42, thinks her coolest fight scene was the one atop a train carriage with Lee Yeon.
“I had to fight with a sword almost as tall as me, so that was a unique experience,” she says.
Ryu had a more painful time. The 30-year-old actor confesses: “I had a wire action scene in which I walked on the wall, but I have to admit that it hurt a lot. My sides really ached.”
3. Fan-turned-cast member
Kim So-yeon was a huge fan of the series prior to joining the cast, having watched the first season when it aired.
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
Prior to the sequel, Kim So-yeon was a huge fan of the first series. She has watched it multiple times and was excited and intrigued when she heard rumours of a second season. When she was cast, her first order of business was to binge-watch Tale Of The Nine Tailed again.
“To prepare for Season 2, I worked out and got my body in shape for the role, and I studied the time period our story is set in,” she says.
4. Bonding over makgeolli
Ryu Kyung-soo (left) says cast members like Lee Dong-wook (right) welcomed him with Korean rice wine.
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
The mountain gods are new to the show, but Kim So-yeon and Ryu were welcomed warmly by the cast and had strong rapport with Lee and Kim Bum.
Ryu says: “Rather than us doing the work, they were so generous. They reached out first and tried their best to make us feel comfortable. They treated me to a lot of great food and makgeolli (Korean rice wine). So I’m very grateful.”
5. Gumiho lore
Tale Of The Nine Tailed is not the only television series that centres on a gumiho, a well-known creature in Korean mythology. Series such as My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho (2010), Gu Family Book (2013) and My Roommate Is A Gumiho (2021) have all revolved around the fabled fox.
When asked about the popularity of the creature in K-dramas, Lee says gumihos are often portrayed as women, and his role reverses that stereotype.
He adds: “I think it also taps the curiosity of what it would be like for a mythical character or an otherworldly being to come to life in the modern day. All those elements combined have led to the great response we’ve been getting (for our series), and has helped gumiho become an intriguing subject in K-dramas.”
Tale Of The Nine Tailed 1938 premieres on Saturday on Prime Video.
