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Penetrating the country's biggest chaebol is the main goal of three ambitious youths in the new Korean series 'The Impossible Heir.'

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Ambitious underdogs at center of K-drama ‘The Impossible Heir’

Jaehwa Bernardo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/Lee-Junyoung,-Hong-Suzu,-Lee-Jaewook-1-02282024.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=" Lee Jun-young, Hong Suzu and Lee Jae-wook at the press conference for the South Korean series ‘The Impossible Heir,’ February 26, 2024. Photo courtesy of Disney+]"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"> Lee Jun-young, Hong Suzu and Lee Jae-wook at the press conference for the South Korean series ‘The Impossible Heir,’ February 26, 2024. <em>Photo courtesy of Disney+</em></span><em></em></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA — In South Korea, the term “chaebol” is used to refer to conglomerates typically run by families whose influence extends beyond the realm of business. Such wealthy and prominent kin have been depicted, even romanticized, countless times in K-dramas.</p><p>In the series “The Impossible Heir,” penetrating the country’s biggest chaebol is the main goal of three ambitious youths, played by Lee Jae-wook and Lee Jun-young, and actress Hong Suzu in her first lead role.</p><p>But numerous challenges threaten the trio’s path, which is something that viewers can look forward to, director Min Yun-hong said at an online press conference held ahead of the show’s February 28 premiere.</p><p>“When they were very young, they had to go through many difficulties and were almost at the very bottom of Korean society. They are bent on clawing their way up to the very top of the game,” Min said through an interpreter.</p><p>“I tried to focus on how these main three characters overcome the difficulties to achieve their goals. I want the audience to be constantly curious and also ask themselves, ‘What kind of choice would I make [in the position of the characters]? How would I react to these circumstances?’” he said.</p><p>Jae-wook, who rose to fame in the period fantasy drama “Alchemy of Souls,” plays Han Tae-oh, a poverty-stricken but smart student who uses his wits to get his abusive stepfather thrown in jail.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/03/15/23/lee-jae-wook-talks-alchemy-of-souls-meeting-fans" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Actor Lee Jae-wook on &#x27;Alchemy of Souls,&#x27; meeting fans, NewJeans</a></div><p>Seeking a fresh start, Tae-oh and his mother flee to a new town, where he meets and befriends Kang In-ha (Jun-young), the illegitimate child of the head of the Kangoh Group conglomerate.<span style="white-space:pre">    </span></p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TmI4VKW25rA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>In-ha enlists Tae-oh’s help to claim his place at his father’s business empire, but their plans as well as their friendship begin to falter with the arrival of Na Hye-won (Hong Suzu), who similarly faced a rough past and harbors her own ambitions.</p><p>“The narrative is going to be very intense, full of twists and turns so you&#x27;re going to have a lot of fun watching it,” said Suzu, who previously appeared in the second season of the apocalyptic horror series “Sweet Home.”</p><div><strong>Raw energy</strong></div><p>Fans can also look forward to what Jun-young described as an “unpolished” and “raw” dynamic between the three lead actors. </p><p>“I could just feel that sort of raw energy come out of me. We played off of that energy, which bounced off of one another. I think that kind of energy is definitely going to show,” said Jun-young, known for starring in dramas such as “Imitation” and “Let Me Be Your Knight.”</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/04/06/23/love-k-pop-here-are-9-k-dramas-that-you-can-watch" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Love K-pop? Here are 9 K-dramas that you can watch</a></div><p>Jun-young especially noted how he loved working with Jae-wook, whom he would playfully stare at during the press conference as though to fuel “bromance” moments. “We had so much fun. We had a lot of bloopers because we would end up laughing whenever we locked eyes [in a scene we were filming],” he said.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/Lee-Junyoung-&amp;-Lee-Jaewook-1-02282024.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=" Lee Jun-young and Lee Jae-wook at the press conference for ‘The Impossible Heir.’ . Photo courtesy of Disney+"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"> Lee Jun-young and Lee Jae-wook at the press conference for ‘The Impossible Heir.’ . <em>Photo courtesy of Disney+</em></span><em> </em></span></span></span></div><p>Suzu, on the other hand, admitted she was “extremely nervous” of the project since it was her first lead role, but eventually warmed up due to the atmosphere on set.</p><p>“We had so much fun. They (Jae-wook and Jun-young) were so great to me. I learned so much from them. So I think I was just very lucky to be there and become a part of the production,” Suzu said of her co-stars.</p><p>Meanwhile, Jae-wook said he was a bit challenged with portraying Tae-oh because the character was “not expressive,” a far cry from his previous roles.</p><p>“He’s very quiet and he always puts on a poker face so he is not an expressive type. There was little leeway as to how I can express him,” he explained.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/2024/2/27/lee-jae-wook-aespa-s-karina-dating-report-1252" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lee Jae-wook, aespa&#x27;s Karina dating: report</a></div><p>Thankfully, director Min had different ways to show the character’s emotions. “He knows how to express parts of the character by using different camera angles so he would focus on my hand gestures or the way I look at things,” Jae-wook said.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/Group-1-02282024.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Director Min Yun-hong (second from the right) with the cast of ‘The Impossible Heir.’ Photo courtesy of Disney+"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Director Min Yun-hong (second from the right) with the cast of ‘The Impossible Heir.’ <em>Photo courtesy of Disney+</em></span></span></span></div><div><strong>Convincing sets</strong><strong><br/></strong></div><p>Because the series takes place in a world of chaebols, the production team also prioritized making the sets feel realistic. “Visually, it had to be convincing so when you watch the show, just by the look of it, you have to see that it’s the biggest chaebol group in Korea,” Min said.</p><p>“So we used a lot of computer graphics and help from the production design team,” he said.</p><p>Min added that even the office of the fictional Kangoh Group’s CEO had “to be really cool.”</p><p>“Everyone’s running towards that throne [of the CEO], that office of his, so people would be curious about what type of ‘throne’ it is... We tried really hard to make it look like a really royal place,” Min said.</p><div><em>For more news and features on K-pop, K-drama, and K-stars, visit the<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/kcontents" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Hallyu Corner</a> microsite.</em></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>Penetrating the country's biggest chaebol is the main goal of three ambitious youths in the new Korean series 'The Impossible Heir.'</p>

Ambitious underdogs struggle in ‘intense’ K-drama ‘The Impossible Heir’

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Ambitious underdogs struggle in ‘intense’ K-drama ‘The Impossible Heir’

Jaehwa Bernardo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 28, 2024 06:20 AM PHT

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Updated Feb 28, 2024 07:41 AM PHT

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K-content

K-drama

The Impossible Heir

Lee Jun-young

Lee Jae-wook

Hong Suzu

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