[Interview] Producer of New Journey To The West 4 Says, “Kang Ho-dong and MINO are the closest. There’s good chemistry between them.”
[일간스포트=박정선 기자] New Journey To The West is the most unique out of all the shows made by producer Na Young-suk. Viewers can often hear beep sounds inserted to hide the curses, and it is more about showing how the cast hang out rather than their travel to China. There are no fixed rules, and the cast members literally say whatever they want.
In Season 4 of New Journey To The West, the cast head to Vietnam instead of China. The subtitle of the season is “Apocalypse Now”. Lee Soo-jeun dressed up asPiccolo, a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series, and EUN JIWON became Sun Wukong, a Super Saiyan. They really went for saying whatever that came into their heads. Once, Na Young-suk had to apologize on his knees because they won the chance to ride a Lamborghini as a prize.
The viewing rate is lower than Na Young-suk’s other shows, but New Journey To The West is the best in creating issues. Just after the show began, New Journey To The West became No.2 in the contents power ranking.
However, the unique quality of the show all came from producer Shin Hyo-jung. She worked with Na Young-suk from his 2 Days & 1 Night days, a member of his original crew. She is known to be quite a fanatic, so much so that she even came back to Seoul to attend Seo Taiji’s concert in the middle of shooting the 2 Days & 1 Night show. We met Shin Hyo-jung to find out how her fanatical side led her to making such a great show.
-It seems as if Kang Ho-dong is not acting tough any more.
“He doesn’t try to be the emcee or act like an older brother or a leader. He is more than 20 years older than MINO, but he likes to hang out with MINO the most. He always shares his room with MINO. MINO also seems to be comfortable around him. If you meet Kang Ho-dong in person, he is the funniest guy in the world. He is a great emcee and is funny on TV, but I want the viewers to see that he is really a funny person. He doesn’t like it when people feel uncomfortable around him. He wants them to come up to him and make jokes at him. He is actually younger in mind than most of the young people. He can even do girl group dances. People say that he’s enjoying his second glory days, and I think that his attitude is a big contributor. When he thinks that it’s time for others to shine, he takes a step back. He knows how to make others stand out too when doing a show. That’s a great strength.”
-When Lee Soo-keun put on the Piccolo outfit, we knew that this season is going to be a hit.
“Lee Soo-keun never stops talking. Not even for a second. Even when the cameras are off in the bus, he becomes the DJ. He plays songs, throws quizzes, and play pranks. If he says one funny thing on the show, that means there are 99 other funny things he said that didn’t come on the show. He is also good at doing little dramas. When people look tired, he says something funny to cheer them up. When the crew has to do after-shooting work in Korea but don’t have the energy to start, we say “Let’s watch Lee Soo-keun’s part and then start”. He is the funniest person on the show. On the other hand, Kang Ho-dong is a bit conscious of the camera. When the cameras are turned off, he goes quiet. However, Lee Soo-keun doesn’t stop talking regardless of whether cameras are on or off. He’s a true comedian. His life mission is to make people laugh. After he started wearing the Piccolo costume, he didn’t take off the antennae even after the day’s shooting was over. “
-MINO is in the center of spotlight this season.
“We didn’t expect him to shave his head. We chose Lamborghini as one of the prizes because we played the game before and thought it was impossible. They just took home a lot of sponges. You can’t make a situation like that. He was very lucky.”
-It seems that MINO has a talent for being funny.
“I don’t think he has talent, but he is real. We put a lot of thought into whom to pick for the new member because the cast is like family and they have to blend in. But he is real. He is true to his feelings, and he cares about looking cool like most people in his age. But he likes having fun and he doesn’t care about looking scruffy on TV. He even used the expression “hell disgusting“ in front of Na Young-suk and writer Lee Wu-jung. He listens when Kang Ho-dong talks. He is comfortable around Kang Ho-dong, but his eyes are full of mischief.”
2017. 6. 27.
