“Chief Detective 1958”, prequel to MBC’s daily soap drama “Chief Inspector” (1971 to 1989) aired on 19 April 2024 on Disney+. The press conference for the K-drama was attended by actors Lee Je-Hoon (Taxi Driver, Signal), Lee Dong-Hwi (Big Bet, Reply 1988), Choi Woo-Sung (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, My Roommate Is a Gumiho), Yoon Hyun-Soo (Good Day to Be a Dog, Running Mate) as well as director Kim Sunghoon (Confidential Assignment, Rampant).
Going back in time, the series brings us through the younger days of our main character Detective Park Young-Han (Lee Je-Hoon) before he became Chief Inspector. Originally from a small town, Detective Young-Han moves to the city and finds himself with a team of unique colleagues and a whole new set of criminals, craftier and more complex than the cow thieves he is used to.
Read on to find out what happened at the press conference.
Q: Did you get any advice from the original actor Choi Bool-Am (actor who played detective Park Young-Han in the original series)?
Lee Je-Hoon: I met Mr Choi Bool-Am during the table read for the first time. Even though I was very prepared for the table read so I wasn’t very nervous, being in front of him and reading out the lines of the young detective Park Young-Han was nerve wracking! I don’t even remember if I did well for that table read as I was losing my mind.
After we were done with the table read for the first two episodes, Mr Choi told me that Detective Park is a guy who has a lot of rage inside because he wants to tackle all the bad guys and protect the weak. Instead of trying to look like Mr Choi, which was a difficult thing to do, I decided I wanted to really take after his inner feelings and his personality.
Q: The original series aired till 1989, Je-Hoon and Lee Dong-Hwi were born in this era. Did you know about this drama and characters beforehand?
Lee Dong-Hwi: I actually don’t have much memory of it as I was so little. I watched many clips of the original series on YouTube and got more interested while I was looking into the series. Although it was in the 70s and 80s, it was so sophisticated and refined that it is hard to believe it was 35 years ago, you could still feel their charisma oozing out of the screen.
Q: The original drama aired before Woo-Sung and Hyun-Soo were even born, how did you feel about being casted for this series?
Choi Woo-Sung: I was curious about my character “Cho Kyung-Hwan” when I was casted. While doing my research, I found out he was supposed to be that ‘Big Guy’, so I started eating more and put on around 25 kilograms. I really wanted to pull this off and look similar to the character in the original series.
Yoon Hyun-Soo: Yes, the original series aired before I was even born and my grandfather was a big fan of it. My grandfather gave me a big hug after I told him that I think I did well during the audition.
Q: To those who remember the original “Chief Inspector”, is there anything that would really invoke a sense of nostalgia?
Kim Sung-Hoon: 1958 was a turbulent time where it was post-war with economic troubles. How did the regular people live back in the day? We focused on the detailed art of it; we looked at past footage, there were still remnants of the Joseon Dynasty then. The language used, the commercials aired and the mix of old and modern objects will remind viewers of the time.
Q: What was it like working together?
Lee Dong-Hwi: This series is based around Je-Hoon’s character and we wouldn’t be here without him. As filming progressed, we realised we were always the ones following Je-Hoon or Detective Park. He made us into a team that could collaborate really well on the cases and I felt the chemistry between all of us. For myself, I had many scenes of following him from the back, I could emotionally relate to my character and I felt like I could really rely on him. I have 100% perfect chemistry with Je-Hoon!
Photo Credits: MBC
