(SPOT.ph) It feels as if it was just a few months ago that La casa de papel was taking the world by storm after its Netflix debut, but the steady flow of time has come to remind us that, nope, the series has given us the emotional closure we needed during its finale in December 20201. Which means one thing, mainly: Now’s the time for a new Money Heist crew to take over. The follow-up series, Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area is a Korean adaptation of the original’s first season, but set in a Korean Peninsula on the cusp of reunification.
Featuring the same characters, same storyline, but different setting and bigger heist, Money Heist: Korea will be packed with familiar faces from popular K-content, such as Yoo Ji-tae (Oldboy) as the Professor, Park Hae-soo (Squid Game) as Berlin, Park Myung-hoon (Parasite) as the Arturo character Jo Young-min, and Jeon Jong-seo (Burning) as Tokyo, among many others.
Hearing from these actors at the Global Press Conference on June 22, we got to find out what lies in store for us when this Korean re-telling drops on Netflix! Mark your calendars for Friday, June 24.
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Here’s what the cast and creators of Money Heist Korea had to say about adapting La casa de papel:
The director of the series, Kim Hong Sun starts by highlighting the difference between the two series: the setting of the political powder keg, a Joint Economic Area between North and South Korea. He states, “As I thought deeply about it, I thought maybe the inter-Korean relationship can be put into a near-future kind of time setting, and if you place it that way, then it can be accepted by many audiences, so the Joint Economic Area, a fictitious city, has been created for the show.”
Kim adds that he’d like to pose questions about the real-world future of the two countries as well, saying, “If this happens in the future, if we are on the cusp of reunification in the future, and if this is happening in reality, what would happen—I wanted to infuse that kind of sense of hope into the show as well.”
Also read: Meet The Star-Studded Cast Of Korea's Money Heist Adaptation
Another key difference brought about by the change in country would be the (in)famous mask worn by the Money Heist crew. While the Spain crew sported the Dali mask, the Korea crew will be sporting Hahoe masks. Park, who portrays the on-the-ground leader of the heist Berlin, describes the new Hahoe mask as culturally significant, saying:
“That is a mask that is sending a lot of message in the show. In Spain, the Dali mask was used to send the message of freedom. In Korea, we used the Hahoe mask from Andong area. It is embodying the criticism of the powerful, and it has the sense of humor in it as well. When the mask was first brought to me, I actually felt this sense of overwhelming power, [especially] when the mask is worn by every member of the cast.”
On bringing his own spin to Berlin, Park says that “Berlin is a character who actually is an embodiment of the pain and sorrow that the two Koreas are experiencing. I would say that is how I interpreted the character. He was serving in a forced labor camp in North Korea for a long time and he escaped. Within the confined space of the Mint, he is using different methods to control the hostages there, and he is a cold-hearted person.”
Having previously starred in Squid Game as Player 218 / Cho Sang-woo, Park says that he’s trading in the green jumpsuit for a red one but is still trapped in a singular location throughout the series. He jokingly compares his two characters, “I think it is like the lights on the streets, I think I can wear [a yellow jumpsuit] next time. In different shows, I played the characters who are in a confined space for some reason. When the characters are in a confined space, the tensions rise naturally, so that is probably why.”
The new Professor actor Yoo Ji Tae shares a similar sentiment, as he’s well-known for a filmography of villainous characters. He says, “Yes, I played the role of villains many times, but a strategist who is committing a crime and at the same time thinking that there should be no one getting hurt, I mean this is the first time for me to portray [this kind of character] as well. And the setting itself is so amazing, I thought.”
On the other hand, Jeon says that the series’ interpretation of Tokyo will be much different from the previous series, who’s infamous for being the rebellious character on the team. She says, “[Tokyo] is a Gen Z, she’s in her 20’s, and the realistic elements of those in her 20’s are reflected on the show. She is the purest, I would say, and she is so much into the conviction of the Professor so she doesn’t get distracted. She’s very stable and she is just focusing on one goal. She is trying to lead everybody to go to that goal, so she is not a troublemaker.”
Honestly, thank God. We don’t think we can deal with any more stress caused by Tokyo and her, uhm, less than logical reasoning. On the topic of adapting the characters from the previous series into a wholly new situation, series writer Ryu Yong Jae highlights that the series’ biggest strength is its characters, saying:
“The biggest charm of the original series is the lively and charming, attractive characters, so just mimicking that, or replicating that, [wouldn’t exactly be] a great idea, I thought. Naturally, we were able to see what kind of variations should be given to each individual character because they are set in a different time and space, so that is how I approached the characters. The Korean-specific characters and robbers were created after in-depth interviews with the actors. The actors gave me a lot of input and insight and what kind of interpretations they wanted to add on to the characters, so we actually developed the characters together, and naturally, that led us to more unique robber characters.”
Finally, director Kim Hong Sun lays down exactly what you can expect from this series both as an adaptation and a follow-up to the original, saying:
“Money Heist: Korea is set in the same genre, but the characters are really diverse and multi-layered, so it’s going to be quite fun to watch. For the fans of the original series, you’ll be able to find out which elements have changed and which elements have become more Korean-like. How the characters have incorporated some of the Korean aspects to them would be something fun to watch.”
Six episodes of Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area drop today, June 24.
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this strange new world.