Lee Je-hoon met with Tenasia at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on May 20th. During their meeting, he shared several behind-the-scenes stories about MBC’s Fri-Sat drama “Chief Detective 1958.”
“Taking place in 1958, “Chief Detective 1958″serves as a prequel to the well-known Korean investigative series, “Chief Inspector”. The show follows the journey of Detective Park Yeong-han (Lee Je-hoon) upon his arrival in Seoul. With his expertise in catching small-time criminals, Park Yeong-han uses his logical thinking to expose the corruption of those in power and transforms into a detective who fights for justice for the common people.”
In the drama, “Chief Inspector,”Lee Je-hoon portrayed the character of Park Young-han, who was originally played by Choi Bul-am. With his exceptional strength and keen perception, this role is unwavering in the face of any external challenges.
Reflecting on the production process, Lee Je-hoon shared, “We had been filming for 8 months since production started in July of last year. We were in the final month when I unexpectedly fell ill and had to stop filming,”he added. “It was the longest shoot I’ve ever been a part of. Yet, when I watched the final broadcast, it felt so short that I couldn’t believe it was only a 10-episode drama.”
Last October, Lee Je-hoon had to undergo emergency surgery for ischemic colitis.
He remarked, “There were numerous scenes that proved challenging to film. As I watched them being condensed into a one-hour broadcast, I couldn’t help but wonder where the time had gone. If the drama had spanned 16 episodes, we would have had the opportunity to showcase more. I firmly believe that we could have produced additional content and delved deeper into the cases.”
Despite being given the scripts for each episode, Lee Je-hoon faced challenges on set due to the delayed release of scripts for the later episodes in order to improve the overall quality of the drama. While the filming schedules were already set, the late arrival of the scripts caused some difficulties and required the cast and crew to work harder to keep up with the filming schedule. However, aside from this, there were no other obstacles during production.
The actor expressed his anticipation for Season 2, but acknowledged that the decision was not within his control. He also noted the presence of Choi Bul-am in both the beginning and end of the series, which he believes makes it a flawless prequel.
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