Kim Nam-gil, third SBS Grand Prize? The original Friday-Saturday drama ‘The Passionate Priest 2’ welcomes back after 5 years (Comprehensive) [DA:On-site]

Before ‘Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim’ and ‘Model Taxi’, there was ‘The Passionate Priest’. ‘The Passionate Priest’, the first work that opened the SBS Friday-Saturday drama era, has returned for season 2 after 5 years. ‘The Passionate Priest’, which won Kim Nam-gil the Grand Prize in 2019, is raising expectations to see if it will cause another big stir(?) at the end of this year. If he wins the grand prize this time, Kim Nam-gil will have won three SBS Drama Awards in 2019 (The Fiery Priest), 2022 (Those Who Read the Heart of Evil), and 2024 (The Fiery Priest 2).

Production conference for SBS‘s new Friday-Saturday drama ‘The Fiery Priest 2’ held at the SBS building in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 8th. Director Park Bo-ram, Kim Nam-gil, Lee Ha-nui, Kim Sung-kyun, Sung Joon, Seo Hyun-woo, and Kim Hyung-seo (Bibi) attended the event that day.

‘The Fiery Priest 2’, which returned five years after the blockbuster season 1, is a collaborative investigation drama about Kim Hae-il, a passionate priest with anger management issues who is a priest during the day and the boss of the Angels’ faction for ‘Bellato’ at night, and goes to Busan to fight the country‘s biggest drug cartel. This is a reunion project between writer Park Jae-beom, who wrote ‘Chief Kim’ ‘Vincenzo’ and ‘The Fiery Priest’ Season 1, and director Park Bo-ram, who co-directed ‘The Fiery Priest 1’.

Director Park Bo-ram said, “Viewers who watched Season 1 will be able to fully enjoy it and not be disappointed, and viewers who did not watch Season 1 will also be able to feel the new fun of Season 2,” emphasizing, “I thought it was important to maximize the ensemble that was the strength of Season 1 and present refreshing action and comedy with the ensemble in Season 2.”

First, Kim Nam-gil plays Kim Hae-il, a priest with anger management issues. Lee Ha-nui and Kim Sung-kyun returned as prosecutor Park Kyung-sun and passionate detective Goo Dae-young, respectively, who returned as apostles of justice.

Kim Nam-gil said the secret to returning for season 2 after 5 years, “I think it’s trust. I said that even those who didn‘t watch season 1 would be able to enjoy season 2, but are there people who didn’t watch season 1?” He said, “Rather than believing that season 2 would be better, I believed that we would be happy and enjoy it if we did it together, and that we would be able to convey that to the viewers. The actors have also been waiting for season 2 for a long time, and I‘m glad that they all ran to do it together.”

Lee Ha-nui said, “I realized why it’s hard for a drama to go seasonal. I think we needed ‘despite all that’ when we did season 2. Despite that, we were able to unite because we had to do season 2 and wanted to do it.” She added, “Thanks to the support you sent us for season 1, we didn‘t feel tired while filming. He said, ”It must be hard, but we’re having fun filming.“ Kim Nam-gil joked, ”Am I the only one having a hard time?“ and made everyone laugh.

Kim Sung-kyun said, ”I think it‘s thanks to the viewers who loved Season 1 and how much we missed each other. I’m happy and honored to be able to return for Season 2.“

The new villains are a two-top system. Sung-joon plays Kim Hong-sik, the deputy leader of a drug organization, and Seo Hyun-woo plays Nam Du-heon, the chief prosecutor of the Busan Southern District Prosecutors‘ Office.

Sung-joon said, ”Season 1 was so well-made that I enjoyed watching it too. Since the villains in Season 1 were strong, I thought a lot about what kind of charm the villains in Season 2 would have while filming. I thought the atmosphere would be there even if the seniors didn’t act arrogantly, but I had fun filming while watching them continue the story by wrapping up the scenes,“ he said. He added, ”I lost weight to look sharp on the outside. I thought Kim Hong-sik would be one of the worst guys that could happen in Korea. I thought a lot about making people believe that he is a person with such dirty crimes.“

Seo Hyun-woo joked, ”‘The Fiery Priest 1’ was a hot topic among actors. There was even jealousy and envy,“ and confessed, ”The actors who were working on this kind of project looked so happy and the teamwork was so good that I thought I really wanted to do it, and I was happy that I got the offer. I filmed it with a pleasant excitement and burden so as not to be a burden to the project.“ He continued, ”I thought that playing a villain is really lonely because it‘s a role that you build on your own. I felt very lonely,“ and ”I gave the center a less flashy role than the villain roles I’ve played so far. “I focused on realism in order to express a person who seems real,” he said.

Lastly, Kim Hyung-seo will transform her acting by taking on the role of Busan Police Station Narcotics Investigation Unit’s anonymous detective, Gu Ja-young. Kim Hyung-seo said, “Since Season 1 went well, I started with ambition. I don’t have much experience on projects, but I felt that there would be no other set like this. I personally felt saved. I laughed a lot on set, and this project had a big impact on my life. I’m grateful and love that I could be a part of it.” He expressed his overwhelming emotions by saying, “The dialect was okay because I’m from Changwon. It was my first time doing action scenes, but finding the gag code was more difficult. Once I found the gag code, I ended up participating in the ‘Gag Charyeok Show.’ It was so much fun. We filmed while laughing out loud. “It was so funny that we couldn‘t look each other in the eye,” he said, sharing a behind-the-scenes story.

In addition, Ko Dok (Kim Won-hae), who has transformed into a solid sidekick in Season 2, and Oh Yo-han (Go Kyu-pil), Song Sak (Ahn Chang-hwan), Kim Soo-nyeon (Baek Ji-won), and Han Shin-bu (Jeon Sun-woo), members of the ’Gudam Avengers‘ who flew on Train to Busan, will be joining the cast.

Kim Nam-gil also participated in the production through his agency Gilstory ENT, of which he is the CEO. Lee Ha-nui said, “Kim Nam-gil should have participated in the production a long time ago. He is the center of ’The Fiery Priest 2‘ and is playing a really big role,” and praised him, saying, “He was also involved in the casting. It was also Kim Nam-gil who suggested this project to me in Season 1.” He said, “I think when an actor’s eyes expand, they also go into producing. Kim Nam-gil is a person who specializes in acting, but I think the production PD is a great fit. When watching a project, there are times when an actor can‘t help but be selfish, but he has an eye for the whole picture and the power to be considerate and inclusive. When someone like that produces, the actors feel more comfortable and relieved. I wish he had done it sooner,” and did not spare his praise.

There are high expectations for Kim Nam-gil to win the grand prize this time as he has returned amidst hot interest. When asked about it, Kim Nam-gil joked, “I think I’m the only one,” and added, “I have no such expectations at all. This isn‘t just me saying it out loud. I’m just grateful that I can do season 2,” but added, “I told people, ‘Really good acting doesn’t care about awards,‘ but (the awards ceremony) is just around the corner. I don’t care about awards, and I don‘t think (the grand prize) is worthy,” he said, honestly expressing his feelings.

Regarding the viewership ratings, “Since the situation is different now than five years ago when Season 1 was aired, I don’t think it will be easy to surpass the viewership ratings from back then. Out of personal aspiration and courtesy for Season 1, rather than numerical success, if we look at it in terms of a numerical scale of ‘Many people were happy watching this work, I hope it definitely goes over 20%,” he said.

‘The Fiery Priest 2’ will premiere on SBS on the 8th (Friday) at 10 PM as the follow-up to ‘The Judge from Hell’.

Jung Hee-yeon, Donga.com Reporter shine2562@donga.com
Photo|SBS