“Lovely Runner” writer “Byeon Woo-seok, it felt like Seon-jae was walking in slow motion”
tvN’s Monday-Tuesday drama “Lovely Runner” follows Ryu Seon-jae (Byeon Woo-seok), a famous idol who passed away under suspicious circumstances, purportedly by suicide, and Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon), a fervent fan thrown into a serious crisis by his death. The latter is inadvertently given the chance to go back to the past to save Seon-jae and herself.
Writer Lee Shi-eun talked about casting Byeon Woo-seok, “We needed an actor who fit the character well. While searching, I watched ‘20th Century Girl’ and saw Byeon Woo-seok. I thought he had the perfect image for the role. He was in a school uniform and talking about the past, and I wondered why I hadn’t known about such an actor before. From that moment, Byeon Woo-seok was already Seon-jae.”
She continued, “When we first met at a café, it felt like Seon-jae was walking in slow motion. I told Woo-seok, ‘Thank you for becoming Seon-jae.’ It felt like destiny that he came to me just as I had imagined.”
Regarding actress Kim Hye-yoon, writer Lee said, “Sol is a very difficult character. She has a bright tone but harbors inner sadness. I saw Kim Hye-yoon in ‘The Girl on a Bulldozer’ and felt a lot of emotions from her cold expressions. I thought she could portray both Sol’s bright side and pain. When she readily accepted the casting offer, I shouted for joy. I thanked Hye-yoon, saying, ‘I could write the script thanks to you.’”
Meanwhile, “Lovely Runner” concluded on May 28th, recording the highest viewership rating of 5.8% (Nielsen Korea, nationwide) in its final episode.
