Spacesuit so heavy, 1 boot weighs 4.5kg: Bae Doona, Lee Joon on new Netflix K-drama The Silent Sea that stars Gong Yoo

A long slate of Korean dramas and films are in the pipeline at Netflix, and one series that piqued our interest stars hunky dreamboat Gong Yoo.

But that's totally not the only reason why we are lusting looking out for it.

The Silent Sea is a mystery thriller set in space and in the future where Earth is deforested and suffering from a shortage of food and water. Members of a special team are dispatched to the moon to collect samples from an abandoned research centre there, where, we were teased, a dark and deep secret will be revealed.

Netflix held a virtual presentation today (Feb 25) in South Korea where they talked more about the drama series that also stars Bae Doona and Lee Joon. Gong Yoo unfortunately was not present.

Doona plays an astrobiologist who's part of the team at the abandoned moon facility. She explained she was drawn to the role because of two secret aspects — that she cannot talk about. "This is a story that you may have seen before but this series has something that goes beyond that," she said.

Veteran actor Jung Woo-sung, who is the executive producer for the drama, said Doona's character is the key to solving the mystery. He said filming the series is especially exciting because "there are scenes filmed in a vacuum and involving zero gravity, things that we cannot draw from experience in the Korean industry".

Doona added: "Because it takes place on the moon, everything is up to our imagination: the set, the moon, and the interiors of the abandoned facility. They were enough to put us in awe of everything."

She also shared what it was like filming in the spacesuit.

"The spacesuit weighs really heavy on our body. We are now five months into the shooting process, and in the beginning, it was really difficult for me because it was so heavy. I panicked a little bit in the beginning. But because of these challenges, we were able to help each other a little bit, and that led to greater chemistry between the cast," she said.

"And later on, I didn't feel a thing wearing the suit because I got so used to it wearing it so much."

Lee Joon added: "I put on my spacesuit and it was so different from what I had expected. We weighed the suit and a single boot weighed about 10 pounds (4.5kg). I was surprised to see how heavy the suit is.

"Initially, I was so intimidated by that as a lot of the cast members have difficulties just breathing in the suit because of its weight. We are not lying or exaggerating to you when we say we don't feel anything anymore now. In the past when we were in the suit, it was hard for us to go to the bathroom, but now, believe it when we say we can even now dance in our suits."

After some egging from the event host, executive producer Woo-sung promised to get the entire cast to do a moonwalk dance in their suits when the series debuts.

The Silent Sea — a drama series based on director Choi Hang-yong's short film that was given a major spotlight at the 13th Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival in 2014 — is currently in production and no release date has been set.

ALSO READ: Sneak peek at all the Netflix original Korean dramas and films coming up in 2021 and after

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com