The story of Typhoon Family takes place during South Korea’s IMF Crisis, when the nation experienced multiple bankruptcies and widespread unemployment. One of the best things about this Studio Dragon drama is the way director Lee Na-jeong conveys the financial and emotional shock waves of the 1997 crisis through the very personal story of Tae-poong. He’s a pampered rich kid who fights to save his late father’s business and, to do so, he must grow up in a hurry. Lee’s storytelling not only makes the crisis personal, but celebrates the fighting spirit of those who faced it. For Lee it was important to underscore the courage and warmth of the people who overcame that difficult period.
“Even setting aside the financial crisis,” said Lee. “Seeing the various pains the Korean society is currently experiencing, I felt we needed a warm drama that people could cry and laugh with.”
It seemed important to compare that era with the current day.
“I also thought about whether our society, myself included, has been living too competitively and under too much strain,” said Lee. “I changed myself first. Filming this drama made me laugh, cry, and gain courage. The power to feel positive emotions and to change one’s life by watching a drama—I wanted to create that together with the audience. Furthermore, as a director, I had a creative desire to challenge myself with aperiod drama, wanting to express the spirit of that era through rich set design and historical verification.”
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Lee’s resume includes dramas in a variety of genres from the upbeat Fight For My Way, starring Park Seo-joon and Kim Ji-won; to the harrowing stories of comfort women in Snowy Road, starring Kim Sae-ron and Kim Hyang-hi; from the fantasy romance See You In My 19th Life, starring Ahn Bo-hyun and Shin Hye-Sun, to the glossy melodrama of Mine, starring Lee bo-young and Kim Seo-hyung. Filming each of these dramas influenced what genre Lee might next take on.
“The most important factor for me is whether or not the script moves my heart,” said Lee. “As the first viewer, if a script has both fun and depth. I’ll start the project. I also heavily follow the rhythm between my previous and current works. For example, if my previous work was Snowy Road, which dealt with the painful history of comfort women, a rhythm would emerge where I wanted to pursue something bright and fun, leading me to choose Fight for My Way. Similarly, if my previous work was the refreshing Love Alarm, I might choose a deeply dramatic and intense melodrama like Mine, following the rhythm of wanting a strong storyline.”
Typhoon Family offers equal helpings of drama and comedy. Tae-poong’s enthusiasm, while admirable, repeatedly lands him in troubling and sometimes comical situations. Playing Tae-poong really illustrates the range of Lee Jun-ho’s acting abilities. He shines in previous dramas, such as the historical drama The Red Sleeve and the rom com King The Land, but his role in Typhoon Family shows more sides of him.
“Typhoon Family is fundamentally a drama centered on a single main protagonist, making the actor’s diverse range and charm—capable of leading a 16-episode series—absolutely crucial,” said Lee.”
According to the director, Lee Jun-ho’s character alone is the beginning and the end of the drama.
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“I had long considered Lee Jun-ho to be one of the best actors among his peers,” said the director. “However, while his previous works—whether romantic comedy or historical drama—focused on highlighting one specific charm, I wondered if we could show every side of Lee Jun-ho in Typhoon Family. I wanted to showcase his incredible acting spectrum to the public, as that would serve as the most crucial pillar supporting the Typhoon Family narrative.”
Lee Jun-ho does not just act in Typhoon Family. He sings and dances, which seems fitting since he’s a member of the k-pop group 2 PM.
“During the preparation for the project, I was surprised (though I realized this a bit late) by Lee Jun-ho’s skills in dancing and singing, and the elegance in all his physical movements,” said Lee “I wanted those aspects to be fully expressed in the lovableness of Kang Tae-poong in Typhoon Family. Because with such a charming character, our story could become even more magnificent.”
Tae-poong can’t save his father’s company by himself. He enlists the company’s very smart employee, Mi-seon, played by Kim Min-ha, best known for her role in Pachinko.
“Mi-seon, the proper and responsible ‘Korean Eldest Daughter,’ could be perceived as a somewhat upright and honest—and perhaps unexciting—character,” said Lee. “However, I felt that if Kim Min-ha played her, we could create an interesting and three-dimensional female character that all viewers would love. I also had a strong feeling that many entertaining scenes would emerge. That’s why I strongly wanted to cast her.”
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During filming Lee was surprised by the way Kim Min-ha uses her entire body when she acts.
“Because of this, her facial expressions are humorous and dynamic, which was very enjoyable,” said Lee. “While we often talk about naturalistic acting, she is a captivating actor who can also perfectly pull off powerful tough-girl roles, runs incredibly fast, and delivers genuinely funny comic scenes.”
Lee co-directed the drama with Kim Dong-hwi, who also directed The Tale of Nokdu and Hide.
“I had previously worked with director Kim Dong-hwi on Fight for My Way, and a great sense of trust was established during that process,” said Lee. “We divided the filming into two teams, Team A and Team B. The energetic scenes directed by director Kim Dong-hwi provided me with even greater momentum. It was a very happy and cooperative process.”
One of the challenges in realizing the drama was recreating the look of 1997 Seoul. Before starting every project, Lee dedicates several months to pre-visualization work with the art, CG, and cinematography teams. She finds it genuinely enjoyable and fun.
“For this drama, our aim was not just to simply reproduce 1997, but to make viewers genuinely feel the warmth of human life of that time,” said Lee. “When people think of digitally recreating 1997 Seoul streets, they usually imagine Gwanghwamun or Seoul Plaza. I approached this drama differently, spending months meticulously using CG and art direction to bring to life areas rich with human stories: the Cheonggye elevated highway in Euljiro, the bustling scene of export businesses at Busan Station, and crowded 1997 rush-hour and Subway Line 1 scenes.”
Mi-seon’s neighborhood was filmed right before demolition
“Even in passing shots, we filmed children, grandmothers, and dogs who lived in the neighborhood all running and moving around together to convey a sense of genuine community vitality,” said Lee. “It was challenging to film with both dogs and babies running around! Ultimately, this is a drama that aims to convey that kind of vitality and warmth.”
Setting a drama in 1997 was a challenging task. For period dramas set in earlier times, there are often designated sets. For dramas set in the 1950s–1970s sets may be built.
“But 1997 is too close to the present to build an open set,” said Lee. “We had to shoot in actual locations, and every time we went, we had to do extensive dressing of the entire area and use a lot of CG for the surrounding landscape. I felt this required significantly more time and effort than other period dramas that shoot only on dedicated sets.”
The result is a drama with a very compelling sense of time and place.
Typhoon Family airs on Netflix. The drama was produced by Studio Dragon, which has produced many popular Korean dramas including Crash Landing on You, Vincenzo, Under the Queen’s Umbrella, The Glory, Crash Course in Romance, Marry My Husband, Queen of Tears, Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born, Our Unwritten Seoul, and Bon Appétit, Your Majesty.
This story was originally published on Forbes.com.