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EXCLUSIVE: Kim Nam Gil dishes on becoming a ‘weapon’ and fierce action scenes in K-drama Island
Kim Nam Gil spoke to Pinkvilla in an exclusive chat about his role of Van in the latest fantasy action drama ‘Island’. Here’s what he delved.
K-drama ‘Island’ has become the talk of the town after the release of its first few episodes. A storyline based on the popular webtoon of the same name written by Youn Inwan, it brings together fantasy, action, thrill and a bit of horror to the fans’ screens as they see it come to life.
Island Cast
With such a fabulous story already in place, a commendable cast lineup was sought and the team delivered. Actor Kim Nam Gil, known for his roles in ‘The Fiery Priest’ chose the other side as he was cast in the role of Van, a half-human, half-demon character who has been alive for a long time. Actress Lee Da Hee who has impressed audiences with her characters in shows like ‘The Beauty Inside’, ‘Search: WWW’ and more recently, ‘Love Is for Suckers’ was chosen for the role of Won Mi Ho, the woman who stands at the centre of the show. A reincarnation of someone who was connected with Van, she brings beauty, chaos, mystery and fun to the table. ASTRO member and actor Cha Eun Woo became Priest Yohan (or Kang Chan Hyeok), a young boy who has become a well-known priest, famous all over the world thanks to his exceptional exorcism skills. Actor Sung Joon who is known for his roles in ‘Flower Band’, ‘I Need Romance 3’ and more embodied Gungtan, a longtime friend turned foe of Van who returns with suspicious intentions. Senior actress Go Doo Shim was cast in the role of Geum Baek Joo, a lady who is aware of the lore and lives on the mountains with a young girl named Boo Yeom Ji (played by Hur Jung Hee).
Kim Nam Gil's career
Actor Kim Nam Gil has been in the industry for more than a couple of decades and has dipped his toes into roles of various kinds, embracing them and highlighting his versatility through his sincere acting. While he started out with minor roles and brief appearances, his supporting character in the saeguk ‘Queen Seondeok’ made him a famed name in the industry. His television fame in recent years has come from tackling the role of Michael Kim in ‘The Fiery Priest’ which earned him praise for embodying a priest with anger issues. He has surpassed expectations with his fabulous picks and ensured that he stayed true to his characters while portraying them.
Kim Nam Gil’s character Van
In ‘Island’, Kim Nam GIl stars as the stoic character named Van. With the power of a lust demon inside him threatening to break out through the humane feelings at any moment, he lives his life quietly, until his past comes knocking at his door. As fear struck the residents of old Tamar, they sought for young blood to sacrifice and turn them into their protectors. By forcefully giving them the lava-like blood of the lust demons and letting their body choose or reject it, these young boys were set out for death. After many such incidents, it was Van’s turn whose body accepted the changes and he was turned into a half-human, half-demon.
Van kills lust demons and is after them, being one of the only two people to be able to get rid of them. His history with Won Mi Ho dates back to when she was Wonjeong, the girl who tried to help Van and Gungtan and has now been reincarnated with the same face. Though she has no memory of when they were young, Van carries a guilt inside his heart. Van killed Wonjeong in his demonic form and regrets his action to this day, trying to repair them by protecting Won Mi Ho.
In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, we asked actor Kim Nam Gil about what he thinks of the character of Van which he decided to portray. The actor seeming satisfied with his pick responded with, “The character ‘Van’ is a half-human, half-demon who has been alive for a long time. He carries the law of causality and his karma, living with that meaning until the present day.”
As for his skills and his character who was trained as a weapon, in order to get rid of the lust demons and save mankind, he carries a special dagger that allows him to tear through the evil and come out on top, stronger. The actor credited a lot of his impressive action scenes which have been praised by the viewers to VFX and his personal research saying, “There are scenes where I needed a lot of help from VFX. So in order to match with the original webtoon as much as possible I tried to do research. Whenever I had to use my weapon more efficiently, I tried to wield it so you can differentiate it from the action you've seen so far.”
Actor Kim Nam Gil was ever the sweetest during our interview, so check out the full video below.
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ALSO READ: Island Ep 3-4 Review: Kim Nam Gil attempts to kill Lee Da Hee and Cha Eun Woo?
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