Hot on the heels of Light Shop, Unmasked, featuring Kim Hyesoo, Jung Sungil, and Joo Junghyuk, will be the first 2025 K-drama from Disney+ 15 January. It features a group of investigative journalists who are tasked with solving a 20-year-old cold case to save their careers. We hear from the cast and director themselves on what happened behind the scenes and what we can expect.
Kim Hyesoo, best known for her recent roles in Juvenile Justice and Under the Queen’s Umbrella, shared that she had to strike a careful balance between authenticity, wit and humour in her character, Oh Soryong. As a PD and a team leader, her character is extremely passionate about the work they do as investigative journalists, and this is the common trait the veteran actress shares with her character as she revealed that she had “tried to pull as many strings as possible to ask investigative journalists what they would wear and what was their work like.”
She had even borrowed some of the outfits these producers would wear, going right down to the details of having a big go-to bag – a new image of her that we are definitely looking forward to seeing!
Jung Sungil quipped that his character, Han Do, is the “polar opposite” of his character in The Glory, Ha Doyeong. He relates more with Han Do, who is more down-to-earth and socially awkward. However, perhaps the biggest challenge for him was acting against Kim Hyesoo.
“All I had to do was be there next to her, and although I was overwhelmed as she was such a big name in the industry, she’s so kind as a person and I just had to take her lead.” Nevertheless, his co-star similarly had nothing but praise for him, as she praised Jung Sungil for his great adlibs and Korean wordplay, which she admitted was not her forte.
Joo Jonghyuk, playing the role of Kang Giho, is similarly the youngest of the cast and among the characters. As a third-year assistant producer on a contract, Giho is a character full of trust in his team leader and is determined to secure a full-time position. Director You Sundong remarked that watching Jonghyuk’s performance reminded him of his own early days, when he was a contract staff member without insurance, and being a director was still just a dream. That’s high praise indeed, but Jonghyuk was quick to credit the entire cast for helping him stay true to himself. “They allowed me to just be myself, and not try to be something I’m not,” he shared.
While the director admitted feeling some pressure as the drama kicks off the streaming platform’s Korean releases for the year, he is taking it positively, considering it a “pleasant sense of tension.”
“The drama deals with issues that we see in Korean society, and while the Korean viewers will be able to relate deeply, I also hope that the global audience will also relate to the social issues that they see.”
Unmasked premieres January 15 on Disney+.
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