EXO’s Sehun on new K-drama All That We Loved and why he fell for his character, and director Kim Jin-sung on what makes the series different
- Singer and actor Oh Se-hun, of K-pop boy band EXO, plays the role of an athletic student in Tving’s new series All That We Loved
- The series plays with the idea of cellular memory syndrome – the unproven hypothesis that an organ can transfer things like memories from donor to recipient
By Lee Gyu-lee
“When I read the script for the first time, it was very interesting. I was studying my character, Go Yoo, and this person has so many different charms. Although it’s acting, I wanted to become such a charming person through Go Yoo,” Oh says.
The new series, released in South Korea on May 5, follows the friendship and love lives of two friends in high school: Go Yoo (Oh) and Go Joon-hee (Jo Joon-young).
Yoo is a carefree, outgoing student who is a top basketball player and has donated a part of his kidney to Joon-hee, his weaker best friend.
“I can’t pinpoint just one thing that makes [Go Yoo] attractive,” Oh says of his character. “He is a basketball prodigy. He’s playful and full of energy. But he’s also such a cutie to his grandmother and lovely to his friends. He’s also good at fighting and is loyal. I deeply fell for this perfect Go Yoo.”
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Playing a student and wearing a school uniform reminded Oh of his own high school years.
“It’s been a while since I wore a uniform … filming the series in school made me feel like I was back in my high school years and playing with my friends. So I could be carefree and enjoy filming the scenes,” he says.
“I was always the youngest wherever I went. But as time passed, I’ve come to work with people who are younger [than me]. At first, it was a bit overwhelming.
“My first task was to figure out how I can get close to them. So we would meet up to eat, and text each other a lot to become close to them quickly. It felt comfortable by the time we started filming.”
The series’ director Kim Jin-sung says that the idea of cellular memory syndrome brings a different dynamic to the common teen-romance trope.
“What’s different about our series from other ones is that it includes cellular memory syndrome [as a theme]. We tried to put [in] a fantasy element to bring out the bromance of the two lead actors more,” he says.
“Previously, teen-romance shows targeted the younger generation. But we have a grandmother and parents [in the show] as well. It incorporates all generations, which makes our series unique.”
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Jo also shares that the series will feature more than romance.
“The series not only looks at ordinary romance stories and high school life of the characters, but there’s also the heart-wrenching story of families,” he says.
