The Penthouse (펜트하우스)

(Seoul, August 30, 2021 Last film shoot of The Penthouse)

(Ju Dong Min, Director of The Penthouse)

(The last shoot for The Penthouse is the scene where Seo Jin dies.)

(there are many people who came to record this historical day.)

(There are some familiar faces too. Bong Tae Gyu, Yoon Jong Hun)

Cut. Okay. Good job.

(The last "cut" signaling the end of the shoot...)

Good job, everyone!

(The long journey of The Penthouse is finally over.)

- Good job, everyone! - Good job!

Good job!

(It's time to say goodbye to everyone.)

- You did a great job! - Thank you.

Good job.

(At times they were happy, and at times they struggled...)

(The Penthouse 3, the final story starts now.)

- Good job, everyone. - Good job, everyone.

- Good job, everyone. - Good job, everyone.

- It's over. - Goodness.

Seriously. Has it been over a year and a half?

We all met for the first time...

- about a year and six months ago. - Right.

Yes, that's right.

(March 20, 2020, The Penthouse 1, First Script Reading)

From our first script reading to the day our last episode aired,

a total of 540 days have passed.

- Goodness. - 540 days?

540 days?

It was 500 and how many days? Was it 534 days?

My kid began talking. My kid talks really well now.

During that time, my younger child...

She couldn't really speak.

During that time, she began to speak.

She also attends an educational institution.

That's a surprising change.

(How does it feel as this drama comes to an end?)

Is it really over?

The reality hasn't hit me yet.

I always had a lot of fun on set.

So now that it's over,

I thought, "Is it already over?"

I'm a bit sad and disappointed.

And I feel upset about it.

It feels like something big came and left my life.

When we finished shooting,

I thought, "It's finally over!"

Then I ran out.

But when I was doing the interview in my car,

that's when I suddenly got choked up.

I know. It suddenly hits you.

Right? I felt really strange.

- Why are you crying already? - No, it's okay.

- It's okay! - No, I'm not crying.

- It's okay! - No, I'm not crying.

(Tears can't help but fall by the thought of it ending.)

No, I didn't cry. Don't tell anyone.

During our first script reading...

I think I met Hyeon Soo for the first time that day.

- Right. I met everyone... - Right. That was...

- when I first met her too. - for the first time.

I was really nervous...

as I went to the script reading.

- I don't remember how it ended. - Me too.

- Me too. - I was really nervous too.

- I only looked forward. - I kept my eyes on the script.

When my name was about to come up,

- I took a sip of water. - Me too!

- I did that too! - Right?

Since we were...

- working alongside such veterans, - Right.

I thought that I shouldn't make mistakes during the reading.

That day?

I was really nervous.

My first line was "Enough".

(The Penthouse 1, Episode 1, Aired on October 26, 2020)

- Enough. - I said that to Lee Min Hyuk.

There were about 20 scenes...

before I said that line,

but during those 20 scenes, I couldn't focus on anything else.

I kept repeating "Enough" over and over again in my head.

I remember doing that.

While preparing for the reading,

the director kept telling me to be "unique".

I couldn't stop thinking about that,

so I thought, "What can I do to say this line..."

"in a way that has never been done before?"

I thought about this a lot before the reading.

For example, one of my lines was "Get out of my room!"

In that particular scene,

I could've shouted that line,

but instead, I made the atmosphere really cold,

and said calmly, "Get out right now."

(That is how Seo Jin's unique tone was created.)

He said he liked it.

Before the reading, I wasn't sure if he would like what I did,

but I remember sleeping really well after.

That's how I remember Season One's script reading.

(What is the meaning of the first script reading?)

When we have a script reading, we introduce ourselves,

and it's like a declaration...

that the drama is starting. That's what I think.

So one small mistake can create...

a joking mood. It's because...

we haven't actually started filming.

But with our drama, the air was really heavy during the reading.

They asked us to come in full makeup for the reading.

They asked that we didn't come wearing hats and such.

- Oh, right. - They asked me to come dressed...

as my character.

- To dress as your character. - So I... In the photos we took,

I was the only one dressed as Jenny.

I was dressed in...

- Right. - a yellow dress.

(Eugene even drew a scar on her neck.)

I feel bad for you.

To me, The Penthouse was my first drama in a while,

and a lot of people appeared in it too.

I haven't worked on a drama with so many other people before.

So it felt more tense.

(The kids started off as middle schoolers in Season 1.)

Our first shoot was at the middle school.

We felt really bad then.

- Right. - How many years did we deceive?

We started in ninth grade...

and ended as 23-year-olds,

so we portrayed eight years of our characters' lives.

It's like the "Harry Potter" series.

It was really awkward back then.

- The director asked, - We had to...

- "Are you guys close?" - act close.

"Try to look closer."

- We'd say, "Yes, we're close." - "Okay."

- "Okay." - When we finished,

- "Good job today." - "Good job."

"We agreed to address each other more comfortably..."

"Oh, right."

The number of actors including the minor roles was...

- Was it 60 people? - I think it was 200.

- That many? - It was about 500 people.

But if you were to add all the extras, it's a couple thousand.

There were a lot of characters, and a lot of actors were in it.

I believe that everyone knew what role they had to play.

This is what I always think.

The thing that is most important to a character...

is the character's...

internal drive. Their goal.

In order to achieve that,

the character moves forward, but there are interferences.

When it comes to those interferences,

you have to overcome that in the way the character would.

As for Logan...

You made someone's child die.

I thought that he was a character who was calm and didn't get angry.

That's the way I saw him,

so I couldn't throw things around...

whenever I got angry.

As a result, I had to portray his anger in a different way.

As for me... Su Ryeon is a character with many sides to her.

And as time passed,

she changes.

She becomes more driven in seeking revenge.

I think I focused a lot on that transformation.

As she finds out the truth,

she keeps getting hurt,

and she gets hurt by the people she trusts. As that happens,

she hardens, and she gets tougher and stronger.

So the Su Ryeon in Season Three is a completely different person...

from the Su Ryeon in Season One.

I thought that was most important...

as I portrayed her.

I think my battery has run out

This house is really nice.

Of course.

When I heard...

the basic description of the character Oh Yoon Hee,

I thought it would be really hard.

I guess you could say I got a glimpse of my future.

I don't really like things like that,

so if I'm being completely honest, I didn't really want to play her.

Honestly, there were a lot of things that I wasn't fully convinced about.

Her character is completely different from who I am.

Oh Yoon Hee is completely different from me in every aspect.

Every time I thought that, I spoke with our writer.

I'd tell her, "I don't understand this part."

"I don't think I would do this if it were me."

When I did that and our writer said something I didn't think about,

I would think, "I guess that's a possibility."

If this is my knowledge of the world,

there is a wide variety of people...

all with varying personalities.

I think this drama was a chance for me to widen my view of the world.

As a result, I began to think about my character and contemplate.

If I was only 30 percent convinced in the beginning,

it went up to 70 percent through conversations.

Then I would continue thinking about her character,

and it went up to 80 percent then 90.

I don't think I ever reached 100 percent though.

But this is what I thought.

"If I understood her 100 percent,"

"I can't play her."