On-screen siblings, Park Hye Su & Moon Joowon. Credits: ONE

On October 10, the main cast of the recent Korean hit drama The Gang Doctor, Moon Joo Won and Park Hye Su, met up with the media for an exclusive press conference prior to their free public event – Gang Doctor Meet & Greet in Singapore.

The Gang Doctor has been dubbed the most popular Korean drama series of 2015, garnering record ratings of over 20% in Korea. In Singapore, it is the highest-rated prime time drama of 2015 till date on ONE.

Former K-pop Star 4 contestant, Park Hye Su, who made her acting debut with the drama as Kim Sohyun shared that she is especially thankful and grateful to be part of such a successful drama series. It being her first experience, she shared that she felt nervous and worried if she could pull off the character well. However, with the support and encouragement from the staffs and crews, she managed to deepen the bond with her role, delivering it with skill.

Park Hye Su Credits: ONE

Especially giving credits to her on-screen older brother, Kim Tae Hyun, she shared, “I still remember the first scene I had with Joo Won. It was when we were having a meal together. I was worried initially, but while recording it, I felt really comfortable and at ease because he really delivered the heart of an older brother to me. I felt very thankful for that”.

Joo Won plays the role of a medical prodigy with incredible surgical skills who had only one aim – to save his ailing sister. In order to treat Sohyun, he dabbles with illegal activities and made dealings with the wealthy, including criminals. Despite it being a medical drama, it has a fair bit of action scenes.

When asked about the most difficult scene, he revealed a scene whereby he had to drive furiously on the street with limited vision. Recalling his nerve-experience, he shared, “I was literally driving into a wall. There were cameras everywhere on the car. I was driving the car without having anything to look at.” Though it was both mentally and physically challenging, he was glad and thankful that the scenes turned out well.

With over 50 out of 60 scenes to shoot per episode, it took a toll on the actor as he lost over 7kg and went without sleep for six days during the filming of the 18-episode drama series. However, he assures that with the completion of the production, he has since taken better care of his body and is on the road to being healthy back again. He admits that while he does enjoy more time post-production, he feels empty at times.

Moon Joo Won Credits: ONE

Prior to The Gang Doctor, the multi-talented 28-year-old star was also the lead for the medical drama hit, Good Doctor. Notably, the latter required him to memorize technical medical terms in which he shared that he had many difficulties in doing so. In fact, he was so pressurized of the role of a doctor that he once swore to himself that he will never take up another medical drama project again. However, upon comparing the roles, he realized that the context of both roles were very different – driving him to take up the project.

During the media gathering, the duo was asked a very interesting question – What advice would you give to your 15-year-old self?

Joo Won began to smile and laugh as he recalled memories from almost 14 years ago. At a time when he was undergoing puberty, he labelled the period to be a dark time for him. He shared, “I was a studious kid and a bit lost. Back then, there was a lot of hype about the 2002 World Cup. I wish I could have been more involved with the sports event. Football is a fun sport, afterall.”

The Gang Doctor Press Conference at Grand Park Orchard Credits: ONE

It was also a dark time for Hye Su as she confessed her regret of not spending quality time with her family. “I was going through puberty and those were the days when I enjoyed more time with my friends rather than my family.  I had a lot of quarrels with my parents as well. Looking back, I do regret not having a better relationship with them. So, one advice I would give to my 15-year old self would be to spend more time with my family and also be a good daughter I wish I could have”.

Wrapping up the press conference, the duo expressed their hopes for the drama to continue being well-received and extended their thanks to the media for gathering.

Fans of The Gang Doctor can catch the encore broadcast, with two episodes back-to-back, every Saturday, 4.30pm, on ONE, starting 7 November 2015. ONE is available in Singapore on: Singtel TV Ch 513, 604 and StarHub TV Ch 124, 820 and 823.

Special thanks to ONE for giving The Fifth Parlour the opportunity to cover The Gang Doctor Press Conference.