Celebrity Travel: Go away with Park Inje

Filmmaker Park Inje made the most of his recent trip to the United States to attend the Critics Choice Awards, where his Disney+ K-drama “Moving” was nominated for Best Foreign Language Series. “After I arrived, I went to the Guitar Center in Hollywood,” the director said in an interview over Zoom. “I was really excited to see all the guitars used by legendary artists, including the guitar that Eddie Van Halen used to use. My wife and I are going to explore L.A. a bit and we are kind of interested in seeing Las Vegas and places like that. And the Grand Canyon. Then we’ll head back home to South Korea.” Prior to directing the superhero series, Park had helmed season two of the Netflix hit series “Kingdom.” This interview was conducted in Korean and translated into English.

Q: Is this your first trip to the United States?

A: Yes. My wife had actually lived in the U.S. before in Virginia. I’m a little bit scared of taking long-distance flights, so it’s my first time.

Q: As a young filmmaker, what did Hollywood represent to you?

A: When I was young, I wanted to go to Hollywood to shoot movies. I always learned from and studied Hollywood movies. But I think right now my dream is very simple. And it's just to keep working on projects.

Q: In “Moving,” Frank is a Korean adoptee who spent his early years in the U.S. being trained to be a killer. Why did you add this U.S. element?

A: He wasn’t meant to be a Korean adoptee at first. Frank was meant to be a white character from the U.S. But that turned out to be a little difficult to cast.

And because Frank is an original character in the TV series that didn’t appear in the webtoon [that the show is based on], we decided to take a little bit of creative liberty. “Moving” as a work kind of goes through Korean history. And we do feel that [adoption] is a part of Korean culture. Even though it was a painful past for Frank, we thought it’d be interesting to explore. We shot his story in Korea. But we thought that if we paid attention to the art and the aesthetics, we could convey that there is a training camp in the U.S. where he was sent [to become radicalized] that mirrored the narrative of what was happening to others in Korea.

Q: Was all of “Moving” shot in South Korea, then?

A: Except for one scene, the show was shot in Korea. We went to Latvia to shoot part of Episode 12. For the most part, we really did try to shoot in the actual locations that were being depicted in the show.

[deskmidart]

Q: Do you prefer to work on set or on location?

A: It depends on the kind of script I get. But if I have a choice, I prefer being out in nature rather than in the city. Shooting in the city can be a bit limited. I kind of wonder, is there any place in Korea where there wouldn’t be electricity poles that you have to erase with computer graphics later in post- production?

Q: What would be your dream location to shoot a film or TV show?

A: Somewhere expansive like the Grand Canyon. Or in the desert – basically something you wouldn't be able to see in Korea. But even in Hollywood, I heard that there's not that many places to shoot. So people go to Europe to shoot these major scenes. But yeah, I definitely want to shoot a really big nature scene sometime in the future.

Q: What is your favorite vacation spot?

A: I really like spending time in Bali. I would go there just to relax after I've wrapped a shoot. But having a younger child, it can be a little bit more difficult to travel. So I think when she grows up a little, we'll all go to Bali together.

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(Jae-Ha Kim is a New York Times bestselling author and travel writer. You can respond to this column by visiting her website at www.jaehakim.com. You may also follow “Go Away With…” on Twitter at @GoAwayWithJae where Jae-Ha Kim welcomes your questions and comments.)