Park Bo-gum “I Thought of Myself as a Love Farmer, All for IU” (When Life Gives You Tangerines)
On April 3, Netflix Korea’s YouTube channel released a behind-the-scenes commentary video for Netflix’s series “When Life Gives You Tangerines“, titled “We’ve Spilled All the TMI and Behind-the-Scenes Stories”.
In the video, IU, who played Ae-sun, said, “Ae-sun tends to be quite prickly. She lost her parents early and was actually mistreated a lot. I think she had a defensive wall up until she opened her heart to Gwan-sik in the canola flower field scene.” She added, “In episodes 1 and 2, she seemed coy and sulky. Even during those times, I reminded myself not to get lost in just one side of her. Ae-sun is a kind girl, she’s also strong, and Gwan-sik is always by her side. I repeated those three lines to myself to stay grounded in her true nature.”
Park Bo-gum, who played Gwan-sik, responded empathetically, “Ah, I see.” He reflected, “Thinking back, when the grown-up Gwan-sik and Ae-sun enter the canola flower field, she’s still prickly, but she puts her hand in his pocket. Just the simple act of putting her hand in his pocket somehow reflects all the time and history between them it says a lot.”
Moon So-ri also commented, “They weren’t even holding hands she just put her hand in his pocket and yet, it was so heart-fluttering. Maybe because I was waiting for that moment, it made my heart race even more.”
When asked what he focused on when portraying Gwan-sik, Park Bo-gum said, “I thought Ae-sun was Gwan-sik’s only compass in life.” He elaborated, “I imagined Gwan-sik as a love farmer who quietly plants flowers everywhere he looks. That image became more and more emotional as the story progressed, especially when Park Hae-joon took over the role. Later on, seeing the flower-patterned cardigan worn by Moon So-ri, I thought to myself, ‘Gwan-sik probably bought that for her.’”
Moon So-ri then revealed a fun behind-the-scenes fact, “You don’t see it often, but all of Ae-sun’s socks were flower socks. I bought 70 to 80 pairs of flower socks online in Korea and kept switching them out throughout filming.”
