"I thought Seolhyun was just a young actress in her 20s, but I was surprised by her on-site acting."
Kang Pool (50, real name Kang Do-young), the original creator and screenwriter of Disney Plus's 'Lighting Store', did not hold back in praising the cast. He met with us on the 24th at a cafe located in Anguk-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
'Lighting Store' is Kang Pool's second work for Disney content and his second hit following the success of 'Moving'. 'Lighting Store' has been gaining word-of-mouth, ranking first on the integrated ranking of the OTT integrated search platform Kino Rights, and recording the second highest viewership among Korean originals released this year, following 'Moving'.
The cast of 'Lighting Store' includes trusted actors such as Ju Ji-hoon, Seolhyun, Park Bo-young, Eom Tae-goo, Bae Seung-woo, and Lee Jung-eun, who delivered high-quality performances.
Among them, Seolhyun (Kim Seol-hyun) plays the mysterious woman 'Ji-young'. She appears as a ghost, portraying a cold and chilling sorrow. Kang Pool praised Seolhyun, saying, "I only thought of her as a strong young actress in her 20s, but I was surprised to see her acting on set. The character itself was sitting right there on set. I was impressed by her focus on the role and felt she is a good actress."
He also praised Eom Tae-goo, who plays 'Hyun-min', Seolhyun's love interest. Kang Pool said, "He is a character who experiences a painful love. Without him, the drama would have felt completely disconnected, but his role grounded the drama in reality." He continued, "He really absorbed the role well. Without him, it would have turned into a fantasy. I am grateful for him."
Bae Seung-woo, who plays a detective in the drama, became a topic of controversy due to a previous drunk driving incident before joining the drama. In response, Kang Pool expressed a cautious stance, saying, "These days, I search for news related to 'Lighting Store' as soon as I wake up. It upsets me when negative issues about Bae Seung-woo come up."
Kang Pool also expressed satisfaction with actor Park Hyuk-kwon, who played the bus driver, saying, "He was an actor I recommended for casting. I really liked his wrinkles. There are many scenes in which he apologizes in the drama, and I thought he was an actor who could convey that feeling well," expressing satisfaction with the character's synchronicity.
'Lighting Store' tells the story of mysterious customers with some secret visiting the only lighting store that brightens the dark alley, based on Kang Pool's fifth installment of the 'Mystery Psychological Thriller' series, the webtoon of the same name. Following the success of the work, the original webtoon saw its views and sales increase by 187 times and 159 times, respectively.
[Ji Seung-hoon, Star Today Reporter]
