Why real-life couple Shin Min-a and Kim Woo-bin don't play lovers in K-drama Our Blues

Although longtime couple Kim Woo-bin and Shin Min-a will be co-starring in a drama series together, it may come as a surprise to fans that the two won't be romancing each other onscreen. 

During the virtual press conference for their new drama series My Blues on Thursday (April 7), writer Noh Hee-kyung explained why she didn't cast the couple as lovers in the series. 

"I knew they wouldn't join the series if they appeared as a couple. When I was casting them, I told them that they would not appear as a couple and they would each have a romantic relationship with someone else."

"I wanted to cast them because they are great actors. I didn't think much about anything else — they're cool and professional." 

My Blues is an omnibus-style series that showcases the stories of 14 characters, whose lives are intertwined through the Seopseop Market in Pureung village, Jeju Island.

Min-a plays Min Seon-a, a mother who leaves her child to move to Jeju. Her character romances Lee Dong-seok (played by Lee Byung-hun) a truck driver who was born and raised on the island. 

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Though it was Min-a's first time playing a mother onscreen, the 38-year-old welcomed the challenge, adding that she could relate to her character's emotions. 

“I could understand the pain Min Seon-a was feeling and it hurt my heart. I thought it would be fun to play this role," she said. 

On the other hand, her co-star, Byung-hun, took a bit more time familiarising himself with his role because he wasn't sure which role he was cast in at first. 

"What's interesting about an omnibus drama is that in one episode you're the lead, and in another you're not."

As the 51-year-old is very used to playing the leading man, he assumed that he would be playing the role of Choi Han-soo, whose story appears first in the script. 

Han-soo (played by Cha Seuong-won) is described as a tall character who was good at basketball. 

"I was positive it was me, but then I found out it wasn't," he said. 

The Squid Game actor also thought he would play Woo-bin's role — a boat captain named Park Jeong-jun. He only found out he would be playing Dong-seok after reading five volumes of the script. 

"I had to start [reading the script] all over again on a clean slate, and start looking into Dong-seok."

Kim Woo-bin felt seasick while filming at sea 

However, Byung-hun might just have dodged a bullet as Woo-bin shared that he got seasick while filming his scenes as a boat captain. 

"I would take pills in advance to alleviate the nausea, but I still felt sick. If someone got sick while we were filming we would have to turn the boat around and film the scene again, so I just focused on the horizon and concentrated on breathing." 

"Once I got the hang of it, it was actually calming, almost like meditating. It made the nausea go away." 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSBIJQOLKoY[/embed]

Our Blues premieres on Netflix on April 9. 

claudiatan@asiaone.com