Radiohead's 'Creep' sets nostalgic tone for Netflix's 'The WONDERfools'

"But I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo [...] I don’t belong here,” Thom Yorke’s familiar whisper plays beside Park Eun-bin’s character, Chae-ni, in the opening scene of Netflix’s new comedy action-adventure series “The WONDERfools.”

Park Eun-bin as Eun Chae-ni in ″The WONDERfools″ [NETFLIX]

"But I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo [...] I don’t belong here,” Thom Yorke’s familiar whisper plays beside Park Eun-bin’s character, Chae-ni, in the opening scene of Netflix’s new comedy action-adventure series “The WONDERfools.”

The lyrics of self-loathing and alienation are, of course, from Radiohead’s pop classic “Creep” (1993). Paired with Park’s bright orange highlights and grunge aesthetic, the song immediately screams: It’s the 1990s. She’s a misfit. And it's about to be a nostalgic ride back to a time of millennial uncertainty.

"The WONDERfools" director Yoo In-sik said he knew he "absolutely wanted to use the song at least twice" in the series, even as it has been used countless times in film and television — partly for its obvious stylistic fit.

"It's a song that swept the '90s. The lyrics [about being an outsider] fit the main characters so well, especially Chae-ni," he told reporters in an interview in central Seoul's Samcheong neighborhood on Friday, the day of the series' release.

"It was used once in the opening scene. Then the song goes, 'Yeah, I'm a creep, so what?' So I wanted to use it in a [later] scene where the characters finally let loose and have a blast," Yoo said.

Still from ″The WONDERfools″ [NETLFIX]

The series follows a group of eccentric "fools" — Chae-ni, a sickly but bold young woman, and her neighbors, Gyeong-hun, played by Choi Dae-hoon, and Ro-bin, portrayed by Im Sung-jae — in the fictional city of Haeseong, who suddenly acquire supernatural powers. They, along with Un-jeong, played by Cha Eun-woo, who has his own superpowers and a mysterious past, must fight an evil organization that threatens the peace of Haeseong.

The year is 1999, the year doomsday fears reached a high as the world prepared to enter a new millennium. Nostradamus had been interpreted as predicting the end of the world; the Y2K Scare stoked fears of a financial meltdown triggered by computer failures; and apocalyptic prophecies by fringe religious groups had, in some cases, already led to mass casualties. Yoo said he borrowed on his own experiences to create the setting for "The WONDERfools."

Director Yoo In-sik on the set of ″The WONDERfools″ [NETFLIX]

“As I was counting down on Dec. 31 [that year], there was a part of me that wondered if some great catastrophe might really happen a few seconds later,” Yoo said. “That ominous mood — and the slightly naive spirit of an era that believed in it — felt like the right backdrop for the story. It was fertile ground for the drama’s villains, and creates the circumstances that force our Wonderfools to step up.”

Using the 1993 Radiohead song, much like taking on the superhero genre for the first time, allowed him to "realize one of my long-held dreams," Yoo said with a smile. He had contemplated taking on "The WONDERfools" after receiving the first draft from writer Huh Da-joong of "Extreme Job" (2019) fame in 2020, even before his breakout with Netflix's "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" (2022).

Director Yoo In-sik, right, and actor Park Eun-bin, left, on the set of ″The WONDERfools″ [NETFLIX]

Yoo said watching Park handle an overwhelming amount of dialogue without outtakes as the brilliant autistic lawyer Woo Young-woo on “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” convinced him of “her ability, sense of responsibility and focus,” as well as the strength needed to carry a series as its lead.

He also saw similarities between Young-woo and Chae-ni, despite their obvious differences.

“Even if others say no, they both have that boldness, courage and sense of justice when they believe they are right,” Yoo said. “That sense of justice may be naive, but it is convincing. I think that is part of the actor’s own color, and I thought it would fit Eun Chae-ni well.”

Cha Eun-woo as Lee Un-jeong in ″The WONDERfools″ [NETFLIX]

Asked about working with Cha, Yoo recalled a scene late in the series in which the actor’s character breaks down over his trauma. “The emotion came out much better than I expected in one take, and that stayed with me,” he said.

The series marks Cha’s first TV appearance since a nationwide scandal over allegations that he used a shell company to avoid taxes. Cha apologized and said he had paid the dues and penalties imposed by the National Tax Service. Yoo previously said Cha’s scenes were kept intact to preserve the storyline. In the pilot, he's in more than one third of the screen time.

Cha was cast because he was a natural fit for his “mysterious, fairy-tale-like” character — a cautious, socially isolated man shaped by past trauma, Yoo said. His looks were also part of the appeal: The actor is famously nicknamed a “face genius,” and his appearance becomes a recurring punchline in the series.

The ensemble’s chemistry is what makes the comedy series come alive, Yoo said. In Friday’s interview, he praised Choi’s “flexibility and comic sense” and Im’s “genius” and “unpredictability,” among many other compliments for the cast.

“Comedy isn’t built on one actor’s individual talent alone,” Yoo said. [...] “This time, we had a group of actors I had long wanted to work with.”

Still from ″The WONDERfools″ [NETFLIX]

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]