A new romance K-drama from the director Lee Jung-hyo (Crashing Landing On You) is now on Netflix. Starring Bae Suzy (Start Up) as Lee Doo-na and Yang Se-jong (Mr. Romantic) as Lee Won-Jun, the pair meets an unconventional way as housemates in a co-ed shared housing.
Doo-na, an ex-idol with a mysterious past has stepped away from her career. When we first meet her in the series, she seems closed-off, wary, and a bit impulsive. As she and Jun-Won get to know one another, they develop feelings for one another, and sparks begin to fly. But in romance, it isn’t always so simple.
The Movie Couple attended the virtual press conference for “Doona”, and here are the 5 things we learned about the series:
“Doona” is based on a popular webtoon
The K-drama series is based on the 2019 webtoon “The Girl Downstiars” by Mi Song-a. It has over 40 million views on Webtoon, and due to it’s popularity, been published in eight different languages. There are over 150 episodes.
This is the first time director Lee Jung-hyo adapted a webtoon into a series.
What is Doona about?
Director Lee Jung-hyo says during the press conference, “Doona is about two people who live veryseparate lives and are learning how to come together, and process of blending into other.”
Director Lee says Doona could only be played by Bae Suzy
In the series, Doona is an ex-idol. She was a member of the fictional k-pop group Dream Sweet before mysterious events that led up to her departure from the idol life. In real life, Suzy is also a K-pop idol, debuting with the group Miss A under JYP Entertainment.
Due to her experience with singing and dance, director Lee said “the character of Doona could only be played by Suzy”. Others have also commented that the actress is perfectly fitted for the role.
Lee Jung-hyo had a similar feeling with Suzy’s co-star Yang Se-jong, who he say on a show that made him decide to cast him as Won-Jun.
The performance scene with Dream Sweet was actually filmed at KCON
In the series, the fictional K-pop group Dream Sweet has a stage performance. The director revealed that scene was in fact, filmed at the 2022 Japan KCON on the Prequel Stage. They only filmed two takes of the song – once for the performance, and once for Doona’s accident.
Suzy recounts filming on the day, saying it felt new because she hadn’t performed with members in a group in a long time.
Suzy would prank co-star Yang Se-jong on set
The character of Doona has a tendency poke and tease Won-jun. Suzy would do the same to her co-star when they’re not in the middle of a take, to keep the playful vibe of Doona going.
Viewers may misunderstan Doona at first, passing her off as offensive. Later, the audience will have a chance to learn more about her past, and have a better understanding of some of her behavior.
“Doona” is now streaming on Netflix. There are 9 episodes in the series.
