Korean Drama Port: Han Ye-seul

KBS held an emergency press conference on the 16th at their broadcast station, to address the issue of Han Ye-seul’s departure from Monday-Tuesday drama Myung-wol the Spy.

Presiding was KBS’s drama department chief, Go Young-tak, as well as other executives EP Lee Kang-hyun and CP Jung Sung-hyo.
Their official stance was that Han acted “irresponsibly” and independently, in such a way that they can’t tolerate the reason for her actions. Go stated that the station “cannot accept that she refused to shoot based on discord with producers.”
Go called Han’s reasons for leaving the drama — the killer schedule and the late, piecemeal script deliveries — “an excuse” because “Myung-wol the Spy‘s schedule is not more arduous than other dramas.”
He denied that the drama was behind schedule or putting out script pages late. The scripts were released in bound form, not loose pages (loose pages is what happens when they’re so behind that the writer churns out pages rather than full scripts at a time). (Note: There were previous rumors that the drama was already in loose-script mode.)
CP Jung confirmed that Han made the request early on for a five-day workweek and stated that they made concessions to reduce her schedule and let her out of shoots to film CFs, but also stated that the reality of live-shooting dramas requires the lead actress to shoot long hours.

CP Jung added that Han didn’t want to act with certain actors, and scripts were revised when she didn’t want to do physical gags. “We did everything she asked.”
CP Lee said that he spoke with Han on the phone on the 13th, who said that the producers were ostracizing her on set. Lee told her that it didn’t make sense for producers to alienate their leading actress, and that they were probably just upset that she was late.
Lee added that Han had a positive reaction prior to the broadcast. “However, after seeing Episodes 1 and 2, she seemed dissatisfied with the result, which didn’t live up to her expectations. She also had complaints about her character, such as the physical gags and the personality that was limited to cheerfulness.”
KBS stated their intention to see the drama through the end.
A new actress will be brought in to replace Han if necessary.
Go added, “Actually, KBS was waiting for Han Ye-seul to return through it all. If she returned by Sunday night, the Monday broadcast would have been possible, and if she returned Monday the Tuesday broadcast would have been possible. Even now, although we don’t expect that she’ll return to Korea, if she were able to film Episode 13 and the situation could continue as planned, we would consult with the production company. If that’s the best [Han could offer], we would choose it.”

Han Ye-seul upon arrival in LA

Other points:

As of the 15th, less than 50% of this week’s intended episodes had been filmed.
Monday’s episode was pre-empted for a (pointless) special, which was basically the drama’s first 10 episodes condensed into the hour in an extended highlight reel.
The drama resumed shoots on the 16th with the other cast members. Apparently they intend to air an episode as scheduled for Tuesday evening. (How they will manage that, I have no idea.)
Han’s early-morning arrival in LA on the 16th was confirmed, and she spoke with an SBS program, Entertainment Tonight upon her arrival to say, “I left everything behind. I hope that as a result [of my departure], the other actors will be able to film in a better environment.”
Production company Lee Kim Productions has stated its intent to go after Han for civil and possibly also penal suits.
Han’s own agency, Sidus HQ, also plans to sue for damages, in conjunction with the producers.
Advertisers are also likely litigants; some of the companies she has been contracted to endorse have also expressed the possibility of filing lawsuits.
The fate of Han’s next movie, Penny-Pinching Romance with Song Joong-ki, is unclear. The film completed shooting a few months ago and is currently scheduled for a fall release.
Rumors are therefore rampant that Han intends to retire. Chances are, that choice is out of her hands now.

Credit:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/08/kbs-speaks-about-myung-wol-the-spys-future-at-press-conference/

Oy vey. The reports are conflicting, the response is growing heated, and confusion abounds over the immediate fate of Myung-wol the Spy, which was thrown into chaos over the weekend when its star, Han Ye-seul, didn’t appear for her scheduled shoots.

The trouble began on Saturday the 14th when Han, who was scheduled for an early morning shoot, didn’t appear. Her side seemed as confused as everyone else, and stated that the shoots had gone so far into the night that she only had two hours after being released before her next day’s call time. Then stories emerged that Han and the PD, Hwang In-hyuk, have been at odds since the very start, which has only grown more contentious as filming went on. They’d fought fiercely on set earlier in the week, and Han had repeatedly requested a PD switch. A new PD was brought onboard but PD Hwang remained, which appears to have been a halfhearted non-attempt to appease her.

According to a production rep, Han expressed her problems with the schedule, and when those differences were not resolved, told the director that she wouldn’t make the Saturday shoot. The explanation was her ill health due to the shooting schedule, but apparently the crew still expected her, and the cast was in standby mode until shooting was eventually cancelled.

Han didn’t shoot on the 15th, either, and with the drama up to its neck in live shoots, that left the show with only 40% of its scenes shot for this coming week. KBS and the producers met on Sunday for emergency meetings to try to resolve the conflict, but ultimately the show was too far behind and they decided to go with the time-honored solution to many a last-minute broadcasting emergency: a special episode, whipped up to fill the timeslot.

That’s the plan for Monday; producers are still not sure what to do with Tuesday’s broadcast.

Okay, so those are the facts. To be honest, this story doesn’t add up for me, which is why I hesitate to make any declarations. I recall that Han had made the request before the drama began that the shoots adopt a less killer schedule, along the lines of a five-day workweek. Those rumors faded once the drama got under way, which suggests that she found a way to reconcile herself with the schedule. Or perhaps (and now I speculate) she was assured of a lighter load, only to be worked to the bone anyway.

I do think that Han’s behavior is clearly unprofessional, but because of the way this story has been reported and sensationalized in the past day, I’m not ready to condemn her yet. She would have to know how damaging to her image it would be to refuse to shoot — and she’s already getting lots of heat from netizens — so I wonder how bad it must be for her to risk it anyway. Then again, maybe she didn’t think. Who knows what the real story is?

As we know, the K-drama live-shoot system is hectic, possibly dangerous, and definitely crazy. It’s flawed, but as long as productions believe that the rewards (freedom to adjust on the fly, cater to ratings) outweigh the costs, they’ll keep doing it as long as they can get away with it. But one can’t help but wonder when the broadcasters will get sick enough of the madness to impose some rules from the top down to create some safety nets. In the case of Myung-wol the Spy, it’s one actress refusing to shoot, but in other cases, a delay of just a day or two from accidents and injuries can take a drama off the air (see: Boys Before Flowers, You’ve Fallen For Me). Surely we need more buffer time than that.

If Myung-wol fails to air this week, on the upside (glass half full!), perhaps they won’t need their two-episode extension after all. The story doesn’t need the extension, and it was more out of consideration for follow-up drama Poseidon than for Myung-wol anyway. If Myung-wol resumes broadcasting next week, it can end with Episode 16 and still let Poseidon premiere as scheduled.

Credit:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/08/myung-wol-the-spy-unable-to-complete-shoot-to-air-special/