Big Bet Director And Actors Lee Donghwi, Heo Sungtae Peel The Layers Behind The Show

Disney Plus’ K-drama Big Bet is shot in the Philippines and it was a new experience for the actors.

Credit: Disney

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Disney Plus’s new K-drama ‘Big Bet’ tells the unforgettable tale of a man, Cha Moosik, who had to build himself up from nothing as an underdog to become a casino mogul in the Phillippines.

As the story progresses, he finds himself at rock bottom again when he’s accused of murdering someone and is under investigation by the local authorities.

Determined not to let life beat him down again, Cha will risk everything he has, including his own life, to get himself back in the game.

Choi Minsik plays the titular character Cha Moosik in Big Bet. Image: Disney

The film stars the legendary Choi Minsik as the titular character, Lee Donghwi (Extreme Job, New Year Blues, Method Acting, Reply 1988), Heo Sungtae (Squid Game, Adamas, Hunt) and Sohn Seokgu (My Liberation Notes, Romance Without Love, and D.P.)

TRP sat down with director Kang Yoonsung and actors Lee Donghwi and Heo Sungtae to talk about the making of Big Bet.

The first episode is scheduled to release on 21 December 2022 on Disney Plus Hotstar (the interview has been edited for length clarity).

When you first got to know about the show, did you already have the actors you wanted in mind?

Kang Yoonsung: In our series, we have a wide range of characters so after Choi Minsik was cast for the show, I thought about who would go along well with the characters. I think we have a good group of characters to tell the story.

Donghwi, you’ve been known to play funny and entertaining characters and this is sort of a serious character for you. How did you prepare yourself for this character?

Lee Donghwi: The character is not too serious so it’s not an entirely new type of character that I’m portraying in the show. In fact, I love it when one character can show various aspects of resolve in the show and this character has a very wide spectrum to be portrayed. You’ll see this side of the character as the enemy at first. This could be an enemy to someone or in a love-hate relationship with another character. Towards the latter part of the show, this character becomes multifaceted so I looked forward to playing the character.

Sungtae, you’ve played villainous roles before. How did you bring something different to each character you’ve played?

Heo Sungtae: I’ve played quite a bit of the villain roles in Korean titles but all those previous roles were the more unconditional types of villains. This character in Big Bet is more delicate and more emotionally complicated and complex.

Were there any challenges filming in the Philippines?

Heo Sungtae: I was in the Philippines for three nights and four days. When I checked my weight after coming back to Korea, I lost five kilogrammes due to the heat and because I had quite a bit of action scenes.

How did you build the dynamic or bond between the characters?

Lee Donghwi: All of the cast and crew would be in one location and stay there for an entire duration and just work on the project. It was the first time for me to work in that way but I think it was an approach that brought great synergy because of the fact that we were also immersed in the project and we didn’t have enough time for any other hobbies. There were no distractions. We would just shoot and have meetings about the project. It was a very new approach but I think it was a great way to do it.