On the 28th, social media and online forums were abuzz with posts from extras and staff members alleging mistreatment during the filming of 'When Life Gives You Tangerines'.
A claimed, "'When Life Gives You Tangerines' was notoriously known among extras as a schedule to avoid. For a Netflix production, it seemed like nothing was provided. It felt like the production team was cutting corners everywhere, reluctant to spend money on anyone but the main actors."
A went on to detail specific grievances, saying, "During the cold winter, they left elderly participants out in the cold without food, never provided a catering service or a meal truck, and just dropped us off at any restaurant telling us to eat within 30 minutes. Even in winter, the costume team wouldn’t allow thermals under our costumes, claiming it would ruin the look. It felt like we were treated like slaves, just background extras no one would notice."
"The mistreatment on 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' was particularly bad," A continued. "They would rather shave our heads than bother fitting wigs properly. It was unbelievable how inflexible and penny-pinching they were."
Another person, B, who worked on the set as a bus coordinator and mechanic, shared their experience of being verbally abused by the production team after helping out with tasks not assigned to them. "At first, I was treated as an outsider, spoken to politely. But then I heard a casting director board the bus and harshly tell the extras to 'get it together,' and I knew this place was doomed. When the lead actors showed up, it was like magic how the director and staff’s demeanor would instantly soften," B recounted.
While it is not confirmed if these posters actually worked on 'When Life Gives You Tangerines', the detailed descriptions of the filming schedule lend credibility to their claims.
In response to these allegations, Netflix stated, "We are currently verifying the facts of the situation. We continuously strive to create better production environments in collaboration with our Korean production partners. We will closely review the confirmed information to ensure such incidents do not happen again."
Meanwhile, 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' tells the adventurous life of a rebellious young woman from Jeju, Ae-soon (played by IU), and an irritable blacksmith, Gwan-sik (played by Park Bo-gum), through the four seasons. Since its release, it has topped the Netflix Global TOP 10 (non-English speaking) and has been a hot topic.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)