Lee Min-ho and Gong Hyo-jin. Image: Courtesy of Netflix Korea
Love can happen at an unexpected place and time. Sometimes, feelings develop in an unusual environment like space as portrayed in the K-drama “When the Stars Gossip.” As weird as it sounds, its lead stars Lee Min-ho and Gong Hyo-jin believe nothing is impossible when falling in love.
“When the Stars Gossip” tells the story of an obstetrician-gynecologist Gong Ryung (Lee) who ends up having a fateful encounter with an elite space scientist Eve Kim (Gong) in a space station. At the time, Ryung traveled to space on a secret mission, but his world changed upon meeting Eve.
“I think that if you spend a lot of time together in a confined space, you can fall in love. If you spend a lot of time together in an unfamiliar environment, you can fall in love. If you spend a lot of time in extreme conditions, you can fall in love — and space qualifies for those three conditions,” Lee told INQUIRER.net in a virtual roundtable interview when asked if it’s possible to fall in love in space.
“So yes, you can fall in love,” he pointed out.
At the beginning of the K-drama, Ryung admitted to his fiancé Choi Go-eun (Han Ji-eun) that he doesn’t know anything about love. Only to end up falling in love with Eve. “It turns out he finds out about what love is when he comes to the spaceship because Eve saves him from the brink of death,” Gong said, explaining the instant attraction Ryung held for her character. “I think he was very grateful to her and saw her as a ring of light because she’s a commander who saved his life.”
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Gong is aware that some might not believe Ryung because he is in love too fast. But after discussing the storyline with the cast and crew, they decided that it’s possible, knowing that being saved by someone in an unfamiliar place can lead to attraction.
“Some people say that it may have been too fast for him to fall in love but for me, it’s possible and it’s just enough. We amongst the cast and creators discussed how convincing the storyline is,” Gong said. “You would definitely see why this had to be the case and why this had to be inevitable as we go to the end.”
Filming a series set in space
Lee and Gong established themselves as actors with signature roles. After starring as Gu Jun-pyo in “Boys Over Flowers” and Kim Tan in “The Heirs,” the actor became notable for his rich boy persona. Gong, for her part, is known for taking on a variety of roles with a unique ability to fully embrace her character.
While “When the Stars Gossip” is a new genre for both of them, they enjoyed bringing its unique take on a love story to life.
“Gong Ryong does a lot of running so he basically has to run around, trying to adapt to everywhere, every place because he wants to succeed so desperately. He wants to earn a lot of things, like love. Whereas when I played someone from a wealthy family, I barely had to run,” Lee said of his past roles. “I would run once and [usually] in the most tense moment. I always had to be calm and laid back. That was one difference.”
But according to Lee, nothing changed. When he takes on a certain role, he makes sure to get into his character’s headspace to understand where he comes from. “Emotionally, no matter what role I had to play, it’s the same. I just had to focus on gathering my emotions and getting into my character’s headspace because they have their own story,” he said.