‘Second Shot At Love’ Cast Discusses Drama’s Fun Yet Serious Premise

The playful title of the drama A Second Shot At Love relates to the character Geum-ju, a woman whose relationships suffer because of her drinking. The Korean title, Geumjuleul Butaghae, is also a play on words. It can either mean Take Care of Geum-ja or Please Stop Drinking Alcohol, since the name Geum-ju is a homonym for the Korean phrase “stop drinking.” Korean dramas usually portray drinking events as a way to bring people closer together or to let characters say things they might ordinarily lack the courage to voice. The consequences of k-drama drinking are rarely serious. That’s not the case for Geum-ju, the character played by actress and Girls Generation member Choi Sooyoung aka Sooyoung. She has become too dependent on alcohol to successfully deal with her problems.

At a recent Seoul press conference the drama’s cast and director spoke about the story’s fun yet serious look at drinking culture.

“I don’t think alcohol is absolutely bad,” said director Chang You-jeong (Honest Candidate, Finding Mr. Destiny). "But I do believe it clearly has risk factors. When we’re seeking comfort or feeling empty, don’t we tend to depend on something? Some people turn to books, others to exercise, or maybe to watching videos—but the dangers of becoming obsessed with alcohol are quite serious. I felt there was a need to address that.”

The drama deals with those risk factors, sometimes cheerfully and sometimes more seriously, without becoming too preachy.

“Just as we turn to alcohol when we need comfort or when we’re happy, this drama also includes stories about healing and recovery—about people who are overly fixated on something or buried in pain, and how they heal and recover with their family or partner,” said Chang.

Sooyoung (Not Others, If You Wish Upon Me, Run On) plays a car mechanic, whose struggle to survive in a male-dominated industry has led to long hours and lots of stress.

“As a result, her drinking increased and she ended up becoming an alcoholic,” said Sooyoung. "She can’t fall asleep without alcohol—she enjoys drinking, but she also depends on it.”

Geum-ju returns to Bochun, her hometown, and tries to quit drinking.

“At first, I had many conversations with the director about how to portray and set the level of alcoholism,” said Sooyoung. "When you look around, there are people who don’t seem like it at all, but upon closer observation, they are alcoholics. By watching those people or recalling them, I tried to portray a realistic depiction of alcoholism—something that could truly exist in the people around us.”

Gong Myoung, plays Seo Ui-jun, a doctor at the public health clinic in Bochun Village. He still has feelings for his first love Geum-ju. She has no idea she was his first love. Its too difficult for him to express his emotions, so he never confessed.

“In terms of his emotional line with Geum-ju, Ui-jun is not someone who easily reveals his true feelings or expresses himself directly,” said Gong (Way Back Love, Lovers of the Red Sky, Be Melodramatic). And because the words ‘first love’ carry a lot of weight, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to best convey Ui-jun’s feelings for Geum-ju and the emotional flow to the viewers.”

Gong says he has a lot in common with Ui-jun. In this situation, however, he would behave differently.

“It’s half and half,” said Gong.” Ui-jun’s personality — how he approaches people comfortably, stays calm, and gives off a sense of trust — is similar to mine. But the way he hides and holds back his feelings for Geum-ju is quite different from me. I’m the type who goes straight ahead when I like someone, so playing Ui-jun in that regard was a bit difficult. When he holds back or rejects Geum-ju’s advances, I had to work on understanding him more deeply, because if it were me, I would’ve been much more direct.”

As the story progresses Ui-jun has plenty of emotional scenes.

"Toward the later episodes, the inner pain of Ui-jun really starts to unravel,” said Gong. “And that storyline is just so sad. Even when I wasn’t monitoring my own scenes, watching the other characters in those moments really hit me emotionally. I hope viewers also look forward to those parts of the story.”

Like his character Gong doesn’t really enjoy drinking.

“So, I don’t have many people around me who drink,” he said. “Even my Extreme Job senior actors don’t drink. Still, I really hope they watch Second Shot at Love.”

Sooyoung wanted to realistically portray a character who really loves alcohol.

“There was a scene where Geum-ju searches for water the morning after heavy drinking," said Sooyoung. "But from what I’ve observed, real heavy drinkers often cure their hangover with more alcohol — not water. So I suggested to the director, ‘Can I change it to alcohol instead of water?’ and she loved the idea. So we shot it with her drinking more alcohol, and I even thought watching it, ‘She really needs to quit drinking.’ I tried to include those kinds of detailed observations to realistically depict dependency.”

“Sooyoung is really good at portraying those nuances,” said Chang. “Even though I know she actually doesn’t drink well. Each drink — soju, beer, wine, tequila — has a different aftertaste, and so the sound or expression someone makes after drinking it is different too. But she captured all of that so well, and I really appreciated that detail. That’s why I said she gives the best portrayal of drinking in Korea.”

While filming this drama, Sooyoung considered what she might be addicted to.

“It’s not just about alcohol — there may be addictions inside us that we don’t even recognize,” she said.”This project made me reflect on those things we keep reaching for, almost like reapplying a bandage to a wound we can’t face directly. In my case, it might be overworking — feeling anxious when I rest could be my own form of addiction. So I really hope a lot of people, especially my colleagues in the entertainment industry, watch Second Shot at Love and find some healing from it.”

Sooyong had fun filming a romance that allowed her to wear a school uniform again.

“In our story, we meet in high school, again in college, and then reconnect in our 30s,” she said. “I feel grateful for the chance to wear a school uniform, a college outfit, and also portray an adult — all in one project. To do that alongside Gong Myoung as a co-actor made it even more meaningful. Honestly, I feel like this might be the last time I ever wear a school uniform on screen, so I’m especially thankful for the chance to play a character who is the embodiment of first love through all those stages of life.”

The Studio Dragon drama airs on Viki.com in the U.S.

A Second Shot At Love also features funny performances by Kim Sung-ryung (A Virtuous Business, Mrs. Cop), Kim Sang-ho (The Haunted Palace, Hide, The Kidnapping Day), and Jo Yoon-hee (The Escape of the Seven).