Jumping into water and going 10 metres deep: Kwone Sang-woo on filming action scenes for K-drama Han River Police

From getting wired up for hours in the air to repeatedly bleaching their hair for months, sometimes actors go through a lot for their roles on set.

It was no different for veteran actor Kwone Sang-woo for his new drama.

At a press conference held yesterday (Sept 12), the 47-year-old as well as the director and other cast members of Disney+ K-drama Han River Police spoke about the work that went behind the show.

Director Kim Sang-chul shared that he got the idea for the show after he saw an incident happen near the Han River: "I witnessed the police rescuing someone who tried to commit suicide. I learned that there is a special team working at the Han River, known as the Han River police."

He also mentioned that while the river is well-known, the police specialised in working on cases there aren't, which inspired him to "tell more stories about these heroes".

Sang-woo plays the lead character Han Du-jin, one of the police officers in the Han River team.

He brought up fellow veteran actor Zo In-sung, who plays Kim Doo-shik in the ongoing Disney+ superhero K-drama Moving, which releases new episodes on the same day as Han River Police, adding jokingly he hopes to "replace" In-sung.

Sang-woo, who rose to fame in the early 2000s in dramas such as My Tutor Friend and Stairway to Heaven, added that while Doo-shik literally flies into his superhero missions, his character Du-jin dives into them.

"There are many scenes where I would jump into the water but I trained to overcome the water pressure by going 10 metres deep," recalled Sang-woo.

"It was difficult to shoot the scenes filmed underwater but I enjoyed it because it was a new challenge."

Lee Sang-yi (playing river cruise director Go Gi-seok) however, found his task of getting a yacht licence with co-star Kim Hie-won (playing policewoman Lee Chun-seok) to be simple.

"It was easier to drive a boat on the Han River than I thought, but parking was difficult," said Sang-yi.

Han River Police is an action comedy series that follows the rescue team as they face emergencies happening near the river.

It premieres today on Disney+.

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syarifahsn@asiaone.com