Director Kim Jae-hong and writer Park Mi-hyeon showed special affection for the work.

JTBC new weekend drama ‘Esquire: Lawyers Dreaming of Becoming Lawyers’ (written by Park Mi-hyun, directed by Kim Jae-hong, (abbreviated as Esquire)is an office growth drama about Kang Hyo-min(played by Jung Chae-yeon), a righteous and confident but socially awkward rookie lawyer at the law firm Yullim, who grows into a full-fledged lawyer with the help of her partner lawyer Yoon Seok-hoon(played by Lee Jin-wook), who seems cold to the world for some reason but is the best in terms of skills.

Under the name of the litigation team of the law firm Yullim, the story of those who sometimes clash and sometimes come together is expected to unfold, and attention is focused on director Kim Jae-hong, who is in charge of directing, and writer Park Mi-hyeon, who wrote the script, as they personally convey the behind-the-scenes story contained in ‘Esquire’.

Director Kim Jae-hong, who co-directed “The Devil” and “The Readers of Evil Minds” and established his presence as the main director of “Chaebol X Detective,” recalled his first encounter with the work, saying, “When I first read the script, I knew for sure, ‘This is real.’” He said, “I was strongly drawn to the narrative that dealt with the essence and growth of humans, rather than just a simple courtroom drama.” He continued, “I also had a deep experience of reflecting on my own life through the story of characters with different deficiencies growing through each other.”

Writer Park Mi-hyeon also said about the planning intention of this work, “I wanted to explore love within the space of the law.” “When people’s emotions reach their peak, they seek out the law, and among them, love is the most complex and passionate emotion.I wanted to capture various forms of love within the structure of a lawsuit in each episode,” and explained, “I wanted to convey the vibration between emotion and reason to the viewers when extreme emotions collide in the most rational space of a courtroom.”

‘Esquire’ stars Lee Jin-wook, Jung Chae-yeon, Lee Hak-joo, and Jeon Hye-bin.Writer Park Mi-hyun expressed her deep trust in the character synchronization, saying, “100 points is not enough, I want to give it 150 points, or even 200 points.” She continued, “As a writer, I can only imagine how the characters will breathe on screen when I draw them in my head, but when the actors really breathed life and warmth into them, I thought, ‘Ah, this is the drama.’” She expressed her sincere admiration.

Meanwhile, director Kim Jae-hong unexpectedly brought up the special directing point of ‘Esquire’, saying, “It may sound contradictory, but the most important thing was not to stand out in terms of directing.” He said that he believed that all elements on the screen should flow naturally like water so as not to harm the power of the characters and story.

Lastly, Director Kim Jae-hong emphasized, “If you have a good story and good actors, the most important thing in directing is not to disrupt that flow,” and “I prioritized the harmony of characters, space, and emotions over unique techniques,” raising expectations for the first broadcast.

‘Esquire’ will first air at 10:40 PM on August 2nd.

Hong Se-young, reporter for Donga.com projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.