Fantasy action drama 'The Island' to begin airing from Dec. 30

“The Island” featuring Cha Eun-woo, Kim Nam-gil, Lee Da-hee and Sungjoon is a fantasy action drama involving forces of good and evil, set to air on Tving and Amazon Prime Video from Dec. 30. The main cast and director held a press conference...

Actor and Singer Cha Eun-woo poses for a photo at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. [NEWS1]

“The Island” featuring Cha Eun-woo, Kim Nam-gil, Lee Da-hee and Sungjoon is a fantasy action drama involving forces of good and evil, set to air on Tving and Amazon Prime Video from Dec. 30. The main cast and director held a press conference in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday.

The series is about a half-human, half-monster protagonist, Ban, played by Kim. Cha plays a central role in the series, with the role of Yohan, a priest from the Vatican who comes to Korea — Jeju Island, specifically — to fight evil forces. It will be divided into two parts, with the first episode of Part 1 airing next week.

Kim rose to fame with a small role in the historical saga “Queen Seondeok of Silla” (2009). Queen Seondeok was the first ever female ruler of a Korean dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period in the 600s AD. Kim went on to play leading roles in films such as “The Shameless” (2014), which was screened at Cannes, and “The Odd Family: Zombie On Sale” (2019).

“Island” is directed by maestro Park Bae-jong, who directed hit films including “Welcome To Dongmakgol” (2005), which garnered 8 million viewers in total and received the Best Picture award at the 2005 Korean Film Awards.

Park explained during the press conference that he has always been fascinated by closed spaces where characters are unable to escape.

“With my previous films, I think I wanted to tell a story that happens in an enclosed space so that that limitation gives way to a special story.”

Cha in particular praised his fellow co-stars for helping him study for the role of Yohan.

“Namgil really helped me a lot in preparing for the role,” said Cha. “We discussed our roles and he gave me a lot of advice for filming.”

Lee’s character Miho is someone who is followed and chased by mysterious and evil forces to Jeju Island. The cast and director revealed that filming took place on Jeju and that the crew shared a living space during the course of filming.

Sungjoon’s role, Gungtan, is someone who was “abandoned” by the world and has to fight for himself.

“Gungtan is a lonely character who the audience will have to struggle to understand,” said Sungjoon. “I tried hard to express why he is the way he is.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]