Director Of "Bride of the Water God" Talks About Not Watching "Goblin" And Reasoning Behind Casting

On June 27, director Kim Byung Soo and the cast of “Bride of the Water God” attended a press conference and answered reporters’ questions about the upcoming drama.

The director said, “Many dramas flow in a direction that viewers can predict; however, the charm of ‘The Bride of Habaek’ is that the narrative will go in directions that viewers will not expect.”

When asked about differences between the drama and the source material, which is a popular Korean manhwa of the same title, the director responded, “It was hard to portray the water world. We took only the essentials from the narrative of the source material to create a spin-off. The water world is a significant part of the source material’s story so it does appear in the drama a little bit; however, we ask for your understanding. We will leave the portrayal of the water world to methods like film or animation, which are better suited for that.”

The director also addressed comparisons between “Bride of the Water God” and tvN’s “Goblin,” as both are fantasy dramas about romances between a human and a supernatural figure. He stated, “After ‘Goblin’ aired, we made many changes to the script. There are still inevitable similarities between the two even after our changes, as the overall narrative structures are similar.”

He continued, “I didn’t watch ‘Goblin’ after the first two episodes. Our writer watched ‘Goblin’ and told me to avoid watching it.”

The director also talked about the reasoning behind the casting of his actors for the drama. Director Kim explained, “When I was casting, I first went about looking for actors and actresses who had otherworldly beauty and who gave off a god-like vibe…I also wanted to work with actors who are still growing over actors who have a fixed image, as that could lead to prejudice and lack of believability.”

Meanwhile, actor Nam Joo Hyuk also addressed the similarities between his character and Gong Yoo‘s “Goblin” at the press conference as well.

“Bride of the Water God” is a fantasy romance about water god Habaek, who descends to earth to meet his human bride. Yoo So Ah, played by actress Shin Se Kyung, is a very pragmatic doctor whose family has been destined to serve the water god for generations, which is how she becomes the bride of the water god. The drama is set to begin airing on July 3 at 10:50 p.m. KST.

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