“Seo Ye Ji was his boss” Kim Jung Hyun Refused Romance with Seo Hyun in ‘Time’ Because of Seo Ye Ji

In episode 5 of the series Time, Kim Jung Hyun and Seo Hyun are supposed to be hugging each other when they fall to the ground, according to the script. But on the screen, the two actors are separately lying on the floor.

In short, this is all thanks to Kim Jung Hyun. This actor refused to shoot romantic scenes in the series. Instead, he focused on so-called ‘true love’ in his real life. And the heroine of his love story was Seo Ye Ji.

MBC’s Time is a romance series. Even the synopsis clearly shows it: “It’s about a man who spends his last days giving everything to a woman who he has ruined her life.” The project was supposed to have a romance and revenge together within the screenplay. But in the end, the only thing left in the series was revenge. And it was Kim Jung Hyun’s “distancing” that created this chaos.

The actor personally refused to play all the romance scenes, including holding hands with Seo Hyun. He used “excessive absorption (into the character)” as an excuse and demanded revisions. In addition, he even used an eating disorder as his further excuse. The staff had no choice but to listen to him.

But why was Kim Jung Hyun so against all the romance scenes? That’s because Kim Jung Hyun only played by his girlfriend’s, Seo Ye Ji’s, rule.

Dispatch got a tip-off about Kim Jung Hyun’s life from three years ago. They even secured some of the texts between Kim and Seo.

“Seo: Mr. Kim Stiff. Get rid of all the intimate scenes.
Kim: Of course.
Seo: Why don’t you tell me what you did today?
Kim: I didn’t even say hello to the female staff today.
Kim: I told director Jang (‘Time’ director) that I won’t do romance.
Seo: lol good. Keep it up.
Kim: I saw the script for episode 9, and it needs revision.
Seo: Do a good job with revisions.”

Seo Ye Ji ordered “no romance,” and Kim Jung Hyun followed her. As a result, Seo Hyun repeatedly had to tell Kim Jung Hyun, who is drunk, to stand up, and that’s all. But the original script included three more scenes – �’� Seo Hyuk helps Kim Jun Hyun up, �’� she takes him into her house, and �’� lays him down on her couch.

How can you explain Kim’s absurd choices? This text the two shared on the day of shooting the teaser video (2018.06) gives us a hint.

“Kim: Only you can hold my hands.
Seo: Yes, be faithful. Good luck with the revision. Remember, no touching.
Kim: Of course.
Seo: No romance, no touching.
Kim: Seo Hyun’s filming now, so I’m talking to guys only.
Kim: I just asked the director to take out all the romance scenes. I was being quite reasonable.”

“He kept demanding changes in the script. He said spiritual love is important and asked us to remove all the intimate scenes. And if things didn’t go his way, he ran outside and started retching.” shared staff A.

At first, the production team was worried about the actor’s health. Soon, everything became suspicious, including Kim Jung Hyun’s addiction to his phone. Staff shared that he had never let go of his phone the entire time.

In fact, the actor took a video of the set and reported it to her. She frequently demanded more videos with his voice. And he secretly filmed it, pointing the camera at the floor.

“Seo: I’m in a terrible mood now. Record what’s going on and send it to me.
Kim: (he sends her the video)
Seo: This isn’t the filming site that you sent me before!
Kim: We are shooting now. I was in the studio set.”

On the set, Kim Jung Hyun was the actor suffering from an eating disorder. In real life, he was a “lovey-dovey” for his girlfriend.

“Kim: I’m reading the scripts now. I’m not doing anything else.
Seo: Don’t forget to scrub all the romance scenes.
Seo: You are happy because of me. So you need to make me happier.”

The staff vented their anger while talking to Dispatch.

“Writer Choi Ho Cheul had to get an appendectomy in the middle of the show and suffered from enteritis. He worked in the studio with a blood bag. Everyone’s risking their lives.” (Staff B)

“Whenever Seo Hyun tried to focus on her acting, he would disturb her. She went through a lot. She couldn’t stop crying.” (Staff C)

Kim Jung Hyun showed zero respect to staff, fellow actors, and viewers. Until he exited the production in episode 12, he only stayed as a “faithful boyfriend” to Seo Ye Ji.

After that, he went on an 11-month hiatus. And he made his comeback with Crash Landing On You. Now, he is considering moving his agency to Culture Depot, home to actors like Jun Ji Hyun and Seo Ji Hye.

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