'I don't even remember if I did well': Lee Je-hoon 'very nervous' meeting OG actor at table read for prequel of classic '70s K-drama

Remakes, sequels and prequels — they're always contentious issues, especially when it comes to classic TV shows and movies.

Chief Detective 1958 is a prequel to Chief Inspector, a K-drama that ran for 880 episodes from 1971 to 1989, and its actors — Lee Je-hoon, Lee Dong-hwi, Choi Woo-sung and Yoon Hyun-soo — have big shoes to fill.

In a regional press conference on April 18, Je-hoon, who acts as the titular Chief Detective Park Yeong-han earlier in his career, said he met the original actor Choi Bool-am during the table read for the drama.

"When we're doing a table read, I prepare a lot so usually I'm not very nervous," he said. "But in front of Mr Choi, and reading out the lines of the young detective Park Young-han, I was very, very nervous.

"I don't even remember if I did well for that table read because, you know, I was losing my mind. I was so nervous."

Je-hoon, 39, said that the 83-year-old who makes a cameo in Chief Detective 1958 gave him advice on his role afterwards, telling him his character "is a guy who has a lot of rage inside because he wants to tackle all the bad guys and protect the weak".

"So he talked to me about the human aspects of the show and the human aspects of Detective Park," Je-hoon said.

"So instead of trying to look like Mr. Choi, which is a difficult thing to do, I thought I wanted to really take after the inner feelings of the character, his personality and what he feels inside."

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Chief Detective 1958 follows the detectives in Jongnam Police Station. Alongside Yeong-han, we also have Kim Sang-sun (Dong-hwi), the "mad dog" who literally bites bad guys.

The younger detectives on the team include strong guy Jo Gyeong-hwan (Woo-sung, who gained 25kg to play the role) and Seo Ho-jeong (Hyun-soo), a man born with a silver spoon who wants to be Chief Investigator one day.

Lee Hyo-joo (Seo Eun-soo) is the owner of a nearby bookstore and Yeong-han's love interest.

Je-hoon won the Grand Prize at the SBS Drama Awards last year for his role in Taxi Driver 2, another crime drama, and was asked if he was expecting the same for the MBC Awards for Chief Detective 1958 this year.

Je-hoon remained humble, saying he didn't know if he was good enough for the top honours and would rather win an ensemble award with the cast instead, and Dong-hwi was then asked if he'd prefer an acting award or an ensemble one.

He said he'd prefer an acting award before saying he'd settle for anything as he had gone home empty-handed once before.

"Sirs, I would like any kind of award, I'm looking very much forward to it," the 38-year-old jokingly pleaded.

Chief Detective 1958 takes place in a time before the advent of modern forensic technology, but director Kim Sung-hoon said that it could allow the show to bring a fresh perspective to the genre.

"There weren't many things you could do in the 1950s about investigations. That means that detectives would have to sometimes just give up because there weren't any ways to go for it," he said.

"But despite those odds, these four people get together and they just keep going. And that's what's so charming about this show, that rage and passion inside Detective Park can be shown through these adverse conditions."

Chief Detective 1958 premieres on Disney+ tonight (April 19) and airs on Fridays and Saturdays.

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drimac@asiaone.com

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