Actors Kong Hyo-jin and Kim Dong-wook shared how they built a lived-in married-couple dynamic on screen, even as real-life newlyweds.
Speaking at a press screening and production presentation for "The People Upstairs" at Megabox COEX in Seoul on Nov. 25, Kong said, “We set out to make our partnership feel like a real marriage.” She described her character Jung-a as someone who “plays gracious host to the upstairs neighbors but is desperate to keep up appearances ― she doesn’t want anyone to see the cracks in her relationship. She’s very much a modern woman who thinks the facade matters.”
“Funny enough, Dong-wook and I are both newly married, so fully tapping into a couple stuck in a rut wasn’t easy,” she added. “We talked to friends who’ve been married for years ― the ones who’ve been through the ups and downs ― and drew from their stories.”
Kim noted, “We’ve all seen plenty of dramas with bored marriages. Our goal was to avoid cliches and build a ‘real’ couple through specifics ― lots of conversation, lots of detail.”
In the film, the two play Jung-a and Hyun-soo, a pair whose relationship has cooled, leading to sharp, funny back-and-forths. Off screen, though, Kong tied the knot in 2022 and Kim in 2023, and both are still in the honeymoon phase.
"The People Upstairs" follows two couples ― the upstairs pair (Ha Jung-woo and Lee Hanee) and the downstairs neighbors (Kong Hyo-jin and Kim Dong-wook) ― who end up sharing a dinner after nightly complaints about very adult “after-hours” noise. What starts as a tense meal spirals into an unpredictable night. The film opens Dec. 3.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)