When Lee Sung-kyung had to put on a few kilograms for her role as a weightlifting trainee in the drama Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, she admitted that she was “a little depressed” to find patches of dry skin and stretch marks on her body.
Yet, the toll of the extra weight was forgotten once she began filming the drama, said Lee in an interview with K-pop Herald.
“I found happiness in the innocence of the show. I felt like all of my complicated thoughts were filtered clean, and I was left only with the nicest feelings,” she added.
Lee plays as a university student named Bok-joo, whose daily routine consists of little more than eating and lifting weights until she falls in love for the first time. Unexpectedly, her object of affection is the lean-bodied swimmer Joon-hyung, played by Nam Joo-hyuk, who has a track record of dating only the skinniest, “most attractive” girls. But he, too, soon falls for the lovable, round-faced Bok-joo.
A youthful series about campus romance between two athletes in training — the series gained a lot of followers among viewers who are fond of puppy love. The sincerity of the dialogues penned by Yang Hee-seung and Kim Soo-jin also helped the team behind the drama to reach out to audience.
“(Writer Yang) did such a great job in capturing youth,” said Lee. “She herself is very gentle. That sensitivity shows through.”
In the Philippines, the memorable scene of Bok-joo using the pick-up line “Do you like Messi?” to her crush became viral with Filipinos using variations of it for their own confessions and #hugot.
Watch and relive the love story of Kim Bok Joo and Jung Joonhyung on Viu Philippines for free: inq.news/WFKBJ-Pop
By Clarisse Inao