Viu Original “Moon in the Day ” lead stars Kim Young-dae and Pyo Ye-jin are not ones to back out from acting challenges. The two play dual roles as star-crossed lovers in two different eras in the fantasy romance drama “Moon in the Day” now streaming on Viu Philippines. Hallyudorama got the chance to chat with them about their latest project, their perspectives on love and destiny, and the things they enjoyed in their past visits in the Philippines.
Kim Young-dae plays the role of A-list actor Han Jun-ho in the present time and the nobleman Do-ha in Silla in “Moon in the Day.” Spoiler alert: Do-ha’s vengeful spirit possesses the body of Han Jun-ho after an accident while filming.
“This guy is a person from the Silla dynasty but he’s trapped in the body of a present day boy so the way he speaks, the way he behaves and the way he looks, they all have to be in sync and I didn’t want him to look too farfetch so I wanted to make sure that he’s a grounded character and a grounded person so that was the challenge,” Kim Young-dae tells Hallyudorama about the intricacies of his dual role.
Meanwhile, Pyo Ye-jin, whom we often see as a part of an ensemble cast, now takes the lead as the firefighter Kang Young-hwa and the noblewoman from Silla Han Ri-ta.
“I believe that this project can become a turning point in my life. It was the first time for me to lead such a big narrative and there were a lot of things I could try for the first time in the show and I feel like I broke some barriers I had before so it was a very good challenge for me and I learned so much from it.”
Working on the set of a difficult project has made these two young stars rely heavily on each other, building their chemistry along the way.
“I personally loved working with Ye-jin here. I learned so much from her and we were both very wholeheartedly into our character so we could provide that gravity to the scene so that’s what I really like working with her,” says Kim Young-dae about his lovely co-star.
Pyo Ye-jin is all praises too for her partner. “Young-dae is very kind hearted and everyone just loved him on set.” On their chemistry, she adds, “With Young-dae, I didn’t try too hard to build that chemistry but because we both poured our hearts and souls into our characters, we just naturally built that chemistry and later on we really relied on each other and that’s how I think our chemistry came alive.”
The two share their TMI on the set. “We always say ‘We’re all here! We’re all done!’ It was our way of cheering us up and rooting for each other,” Pyo Ye-jin recalls.
“None of our scenes were easy to pull off so we wanted to give each other a pat on the back and cheer each other up so that’s why we said ‘We’re all here! We’re all done!,’” Kim Young-dae adds.
On reincarnation, love, and destiny
“Moon in the Day” on Viu was adapted from a popular webtoon about a Silla man whose spirit possesses a man in the present in order to take revenge against the reincarnation of his wife. As they play these characters in the drama, it’s interesting to know what Kim Young-dae and Pyo Ye-jin think their past lives could have been.
Kim Young-dae thinks it might be something close to his current role. “Personally, I don’t believe in past life. But if I were to believe in past life and reincarnation, because I’m from the lineage of Gimhae Kim, which is my family name, I think I would have been the king of Gaya, which is a clan that I demolished in the show and I think I might have been the king Kim Suro in my past life.”
Pyo Ye-jin, meanwhile, talks about her good karma. “If I were to believe that there’s a past life, I think I would have been a good person who did a lot of good deeds because I have such good karma. I get to do what I want in this present day. I have met this wonderful piece ‘Moon in the Day.’ So I think I might have been a very nice and good person.”
Working on such a romantic concept for the series, do the actors themselves believe in destiny when it comes to love?
Both have similar grounded yet still romantic views. “Yes, I do believe in destiny but I don’t think destiny comes to find you. You have to look out for destiny and if you think that this person is your destiny, you have to work hard to have that person,” says Kim Young-dae.
For Pyo Ye-jin, “fate and destiny is something that you make yourself.”
On Philippine mangoes and Boracay
The “Moon in the Day” lead stars have been to the Philippines in the past so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask about the things they enjoyed the most and which places they would love to visit in the country.
Kim Young-dae apparently is a big fan of Philippine mangoes. “I’ve been to the Philippines twice already but I would love to visit Cebu and also visit other places. I love the dried mangoes there and I think just raw mangoes are so good in the Philippines so I want to go there and eat a lot of mangoes.”
Meanwhile, Pyo Ye-jin would like to revisit the white shores of Boracay. “I’ve been to Boracay once on a family trip and I really loved it there so I want to revisit the island. I remember the water sparkling and it’s such a pretty blue color so I want to go and do some snorkeling,” she says.
Their Filipino fans will surely be delighted to welcome them back someday. For now they can enjoy their characters fall in love in “Moon in the Day” streaming on Viu Philippines.