When asked why viewers should see his new series Moving, Zo In-sung summed it up in a few words. “It’s about all of us,” he said.
But doesn’t a superhero story focus on a few exceptional people with unusual powers? The young protagonists of Moving have powers, but they also have people who want to protect them from being exploited or harmed. At least until their powers are fully developed and under control. Zo related to the complex emotional aspects of the story.
“I feel like when it comes to the superhero genre it’s just saturated already,” he said. “So I thought to myself, what is new about this one? And I think that our drama series comes in a wrapping, where the outside is wrapped in the genre of it being a superhero show. However, when you get to the bottom of it, it is a story about becoming parents and also a slice of our daily lives. And I thought that makes this a new and refreshing kind of superhero drama series, which is one of the reasons why I chose this work.”
Moving is Zo’s first Korean TV drama in seven years. Before that he appeared in a succession of successful dramas, including Something Happened in Bali, That Winter The Wind Blows and It’s Okay That’s Love. For a few years he has focused primarily on films, appearing in The Great Battle, Escape From Mogadishu and the recently released Smugglers. Moving was hard to resist.
“The script was so good, he said. “When you meet a script that good, there’s no reason not to do it.”
In general Zo is not drawn to projects that are too unreal or absurd.
“I like stories that are grounded and that feel real,” he said. “I don’t like stories that are too abstract either. I prefer things that feel very grounded and, first and foremost, the story has to be convincing to me personally.”
Moving also stars Ryu Seung-ryoung, Han Hyo Joo, Ryu Seung-bum and Cha Tae-hyun. Last year Zo and Cha co-starred in the reality series Unexpected Business where they unexpectedly became the bosses of a countryside grocery store, taking over operations and serving simple meals. Working with Cha on the reality show was so much fun it provided more motivation for Zo to join the drama.
“He and I are very good friends,” said Zo. “You know, we are very close and we had never coincidentally worked on a project together, so I have to say yes. That did come to mind where I thought it’s going to be really fun to be on this with him.”
In Moving they both play superheroes whose lives have been defined—for better or worse—by their powers. Moving, which is based on the webtoon by Kang Full, follows three high school students and their parents as the parents try to protect their teens from those eager to harness their developing powers. Zo plays Kim Doo-sik, an NIS agent who can fly. He’s also the father of a teen boy, Bong-seok, played by Lee Jeong-ha. Bong-seok has a tendency to float away. He might also be able to fly, but without his father around to teach him, he must limit himself to fighting gravity. Although Zo and Lee do not appear together for multiple episodes the actors did a great job of mirroring each other as father and son. Sharing mannerisms and expressions was the result of some planning, but also serendipity.
“Partly, I did observe him and I tried to express it similarly with him, and I think also probably Jeong-ha did the same with me,” said Zo. “Also there was the element of coincidence as well. I feel like it’s not every day where coincidence and planning works very well together. However, this was a lucky case where that happened.”
While Zo’s character will have a lot to teach Bong-seok about flying, actually flying in the drama involved a lot of wire work.
“Every morning I would have to go to the set and put on my harness for the wires,” he said. “And I have to tell you, when you’re up there on the wire, it hurts so much. Everything kind of goes against your skin and it really hurts. So I feel like it’s not just me, but for any actor out there who had to fly on wires, it’s a huge challenge.”
It was his first time flying for a role. “So, that was when I realized, okay, I should have been very thankful about being able to act on the ground,” he said with a laugh.
Would he like to fly in real life? Maybe just for a day? “Yeah, I think that would be great.”
Zo is also currently promoting his film Smugglers, which co-stars Kim Hye-soo and Yum Jung-ah. It’s directed by Ryu Seung-wan, who also directed Zo’s last film Escape From Mogadishu. Set in the 1970s, Smugglers is a story about deep sea divers that become involved in a smuggling ring.
“I play the role of Korea’s most famous smuggler,” said Zo. “And my character is someone who is very cruel, but also extremely loyal to those who he feels are part of his family.”
Zo will appear in his first Hollywood production, the sci-fi film Hope, which co-stars Hwang Jung-min, Jung Ho-yeon and Michael Fassbinder. Moving airs on Disney+ in some countries and on Hulu in the US.
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