Every work has numerous perspectives. Although the director and actors share the same space and time, their experiences may differ. 'Choi Song-hee's B-Cut' focuses on the vivid behind-the-scenes moments that go beyond the 'A-Cut' captured on screen. It reconstructs the more intense 'B-Cut' moments through interviews with the director and actors. (Editor’s note)
The Tving series 'Lotto Winner Goes to Work' follows team leader Gong Eun-tae (played by Lee Jun-hyuk), who, after winning the lottery, arrives at work with a new mindset, clutching his 1.3 billion won prize instead of submitting his resignation. The series is based on a web novel and is directed and written by Yoon Young-bin.
"I found it most interesting to see how a person maintains their life values even after a huge stroke of luck like winning the lottery. That kept me engaged. Initially, I wondered if a story about someone who won the lottery would be interesting to those who haven't won. But I became convinced that with the right adaptation, it could be a good drama," said director Yoon Young-bin.
"I really like the movie 'Sully.' It poses the question of what miracles can happen when everyone does the right thing. I felt the same way about this work. While stories that expose societal injustices are necessary, I wanted to see works that showcase role models or visions of people living rightly. This project came at the right time," added Lee Jun-hyuk.
Yoon discussed the process of translating the original novel into visual language. He explained that since he couldn't directly convey the thoughts and emotions of the characters, he aimed to show them through relationships. He created a new character for Gong Eun-tae to confide in about his lottery win, while also reducing or combining the roles of other characters.
"While novels can express personal emotions or psychology through text, visual media cannot do that, and narration has its limits. So, I created a café owner as someone with whom the lottery story could be shared. Overall, I focused on reducing and combining characters, ensuring that those who serve a function in the story can continue to play a role rather than just appearing briefly," Yoon explained.
As the supporting characters gained more significance during the adaptation, it was crucial for Gong Eun-tae to maintain his central role. Yoon viewed Lee Jun-hyuk as an actor who could support his co-stars, allowing them to shine.
"In my view, Lee Jun-hyuk has always delivered precise performances in every project. He expresses himself accurately without overshadowing others. I believed this work required him to anchor the story while allowing the surrounding actors to shine, and he did that exceptionally well, often prioritizing their visibility over his own," Yoon said.
The approach to introducing Gong Eun-tae also stemmed from this idea. Instead of hiding the protagonist's appearance, Yoon chose to showcase Lee Jun-hyuk's face from the very first scene.
"Typically, important characters are introduced by showing their feet or back first. In contrast, we started with Gong Eun-tae's face right away. I wanted to begin with the protagonist's face intentionally, as I believe Lee Jun-hyuk's face is one of his strengths," Yoon noted.
The original author of the web novel, Seo In-ha, sparked interest by revealing a surprising behind-the-scenes detail when Lee Jun-hyuk was cast as Gong Eun-tae. The author had requested that the illustration on the web novel's cover be modeled after Lee Jun-hyuk. This revelation came as a surprise to both director Yoon Young-bin and Lee Jun-hyuk, who were unaware during the casting process.
"I found out later. The original author didn't necessarily have Lee Jun-hyuk in mind for casting from the start, but rather wanted the cover illustration to be based on him. I was surprised when I learned that," Yoon said.
"It feels great. The original author is the one who created this world. In our work, they are like a 'god.' Hearing such words from them is incredibly fulfilling. I referenced a lot of the webtoon’s hair and image to ensure that fans of the original would not be too disappointed, and I’m grateful that the original author liked it," Lee Jun-hyuk added.
After casting the central character Gong Eun-tae, the next step was to fill in his colleagues. Yoon conducted rigorous auditions to find fresh faces that would resonate with viewers, aiming for characters that felt like they could exist in a real office setting.
"I held a lot of auditions. I think we saw around 300 people. The most important factor was acting ability, so we prepared difficult sentences for them to read to assess their basic skills. I also believed that having unfamiliar faces would make it feel more like a real company. Familiar actors might carry the weight of their previous roles and histories," Yoon explained.
Yoon envisioned the characters in Sales Team 5 as resembling a 'sports team.' He wanted them to harmonize while each holding different roles.
"I see Sales Team 5 as a sports team. Just like in basketball, some are centers, some are forwards, and others are guards, each with different roles but part of the same team. I wanted them to appear as a cohesive unit, wearing the same uniform while performing different functions," Yoon said.
"Sales Team 5 has a certain 'sensor' that is always on. Just by looking at each other, we can understand everything. Hyun-woo (played by Yang Jun-ho) knows where to fill in just by seeing me move slightly in the frame. The same goes for Hyun-kyun (played by Jang Kyung-cheol). It was really fun to receive and return that energy when everyone was tuned in," Lee Jun-hyuk shared.
Martina, who appears towards the end of the drama, is a key character that heightens the tension. In the original story, Gong Eun-tae travels to Italy for a crucial deal, but the drama adapted this scene to fit domestic filming, resulting in the creation of a new character.
"In the original, there’s an important scene where Gong Eun-tae goes to Italy to make a deal. However, we couldn’t go to Italy, and we didn’t want to have long conversations in English or Italian. Initially, we set it up so that the counterpart comes to Korea, but Lee Jun-hyuk suggested introducing another Korean character. That idea led to casting Yoon Se-ah, and Lee Jun-hyuk played a significant role in shaping the emotional depth of the character Martina," Yoon explained.
"Considering the direction of Ji-hye's character, I thought meeting Martina would be better than meeting the original counterpart. The presence of a new character could add tension to the scene and provide Ji-hye with a different kind of stimulus for her growth. The director quickly accepted that idea and incorporated it into the script, and I was thrilled that Yoon Se-ah took on the role," Lee Jun-hyuk concluded.
The Tving series 'Lotto Winner Goes to Work' follows team leader Gong Eun-tae (played by Lee Jun-hyuk), who, after winning the lottery, arrives at work with a new mindset, clutching his 1.3 billion won prize instead of submitting his resignation. The series is based on a web novel and is directed and written by Yoon Young-bin.
"I found it most interesting to see how a person maintains their life values even after a huge stroke of luck like winning the lottery. That kept me engaged. Initially, I wondered if a story about someone who won the lottery would be interesting to those who haven't won. But I became convinced that with the right adaptation, it could be a good drama," said director Yoon Young-bin.
"I really like the movie 'Sully.' It poses the question of what miracles can happen when everyone does the right thing. I felt the same way about this work. While stories that expose societal injustices are necessary, I wanted to see works that showcase role models or visions of people living rightly. This project came at the right time," added Lee Jun-hyuk.
Yoon discussed the process of translating the original novel into visual language. He explained that since he couldn't directly convey the thoughts and emotions of the characters, he aimed to show them through relationships. He created a new character for Gong Eun-tae to confide in about his lottery win, while also reducing or combining the roles of other characters.
"While novels can express personal emotions or psychology through text, visual media cannot do that, and narration has its limits. So, I created a café owner as someone with whom the lottery story could be shared. Overall, I focused on reducing and combining characters, ensuring that those who serve a function in the story can continue to play a role rather than just appearing briefly," Yoon explained.
As the supporting characters gained more significance during the adaptation, it was crucial for Gong Eun-tae to maintain his central role. Yoon viewed Lee Jun-hyuk as an actor who could support his co-stars, allowing them to shine.
"In my view, Lee Jun-hyuk has always delivered precise performances in every project. He expresses himself accurately without overshadowing others. I believed this work required him to anchor the story while allowing the surrounding actors to shine, and he did that exceptionally well, often prioritizing their visibility over his own," Yoon said.
The approach to introducing Gong Eun-tae also stemmed from this idea. Instead of hiding the protagonist's appearance, Yoon chose to showcase Lee Jun-hyuk's face from the very first scene.
"Typically, important characters are introduced by showing their feet or back first. In contrast, we started with Gong Eun-tae's face right away. I wanted to begin with the protagonist's face intentionally, as I believe Lee Jun-hyuk's face is one of his strengths," Yoon noted.
The original author of the web novel, Seo In-ha, sparked interest by revealing a surprising behind-the-scenes detail when Lee Jun-hyuk was cast as Gong Eun-tae. The author had requested that the illustration on the web novel's cover be modeled after Lee Jun-hyuk. This revelation came as a surprise to both director Yoon Young-bin and Lee Jun-hyuk, who were unaware during the casting process.
"I found out later. The original author didn't necessarily have Lee Jun-hyuk in mind for casting from the start, but rather wanted the cover illustration to be based on him. I was surprised when I learned that," Yoon said.
"It feels great. The original author is the one who created this world. In our work, they are like a 'god.' Hearing such words from them is incredibly fulfilling. I referenced a lot of the webtoon’s hair and image to ensure that fans of the original would not be too disappointed, and I’m grateful that the original author liked it," Lee Jun-hyuk added.
After casting the central character Gong Eun-tae, the next step was to fill in his colleagues. Yoon conducted rigorous auditions to find fresh faces that would resonate with viewers, aiming for characters that felt like they could exist in a real office setting.
"I held a lot of auditions. I think we saw around 300 people. The most important factor was acting ability, so we prepared difficult sentences for them to read to assess their basic skills. I also believed that having unfamiliar faces would make it feel more like a real company. Familiar actors might carry the weight of their previous roles and histories," Yoon explained.
Yoon envisioned the characters in Sales Team 5 as resembling a 'sports team.' He wanted them to harmonize while each holding different roles.
"I see Sales Team 5 as a sports team. Just like in basketball, some are centers, some are forwards, and others are guards, each with different roles but part of the same team. I wanted them to appear as a cohesive unit, wearing the same uniform while performing different functions," Yoon said.
"Sales Team 5 has a certain 'sensor' that is always on. Just by looking at each other, we can understand everything. Hyun-woo (played by Yang Jun-ho) knows where to fill in just by seeing me move slightly in the frame. The same goes for Hyun-kyun (played by Jang Kyung-cheol). It was really fun to receive and return that energy when everyone was tuned in," Lee Jun-hyuk shared.
Martina, who appears towards the end of the drama, is a key character that heightens the tension. In the original story, Gong Eun-tae travels to Italy for a crucial deal, but the drama adapted this scene to fit domestic filming, resulting in the creation of a new character.
"In the original, there’s an important scene where Gong Eun-tae goes to Italy to make a deal. However, we couldn’t go to Italy, and we didn’t want to have long conversations in English or Italian. Initially, we set it up so that the counterpart comes to Korea, but Lee Jun-hyuk suggested introducing another Korean character. That idea led to casting Yoon Se-ah, and Lee Jun-hyuk played a significant role in shaping the emotional depth of the character Martina," Yoon explained.
"Considering the direction of Ji-hye's character, I thought meeting Martina would be better than meeting the original counterpart. The presence of a new character could add tension to the scene and provide Ji-hye with a different kind of stimulus for her growth. The director quickly accepted that idea and incorporated it into the script, and I was thrilled that Yoon Se-ah took on the role," Lee Jun-hyuk concluded.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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