The Japan Times - 'The Remarried Empress' Cast Discusses Bringing Fantasy Royal Drama to Life

Disney+ has released its new royal court drama "The Remarried Empress" one day earlier than originally scheduled, offering a surprise early access to the series in South Korea. The launch was accompanied by a press conference at the Conrad Seoul, where the four lead actors discussed the unique challenges of adapting a beloved fantasy web novel into a live-action format.

The series, set in an entirely fictional world with lavish European-inspired backdrops, follows Empress Navier, played by Shin Min-a, as she navigates betrayal and seeks a second chance at love. The narrative begins when Emperor Sovieshu, portrayed by Ju Ji-hoon, brings Rashta, a runaway slave played by Lee Se-young, into the Eastern Empire’s palace. Captivated by Rashta, the emperor initiates an affair, straining his marriage to Navier, who has been unable to produce an heir.

Rather than remaining passive, Navier formulates her own strategy: she plans to marry Heinrey, a prince of the rival Western Kingdom, played by Lee Jong-suk. The drama stays "as faithful as possible" to the source material, a web novel serialized on Naver from November 2018 to March 2020 that accumulated 160 million views by July, according to director Cho Su-won.

Ju Ji-hoon, who plays Emperor Sovieshu, noted that the cast had to bridge the gap between a fictional setting and audience expectations shaped by traditional Korean historical dramas, or "sageuk." He explained that while the world of "The Remarried Empress" does not exist, viewers are familiar with the speech patterns and hierarchical relationships depicted in sageuk. This allowed the actors to leverage those preconceptions to ground their performances.

"For me as an actor, the key was figuring out how to use the audience’s preconceptions [about period dramas] to my advantage," Ju said at the Tuesday press conference. "Even though the world doesn’t exist, viewers are familiar with the speech patterns and relationships depicted in sageuk."

This attention to detail extended to royal etiquette, including specific protocols for addressing court members and permissible movements during conversations. Ju admitted that he initially hesitated to take the role due to a sense of unfamiliarity with the fantasy elements. He compared this feeling to calling Korean soup by its English name, which can make a familiar dish feel strange. "I realized that [my doubt] was just because of my own preconception," he said.

Shin Min-a, whose character’s perspective drives the narrative, described the challenge of balancing Navier’s stoic imperial exterior with her inner emotional life. As an empress, Navier cannot express her feelings openly, yet she is a woman navigating betrayal and choosing love again. Shin emphasized the need to reveal the character's human side despite the constraints of her rank.

Lee Jong-suk faced different technical hurdles in portraying Heinrey, a shape-shifting prince who can transform into a bird. The actor worked closely with the visual effects team to ensure the computer-generated bird, nicknamed Queen, resembled him physically and behaviorally. This included matching the shade of brown in the bird’s head tuft to his own hair color and mimicking his facial expressions.

"I already look like a bird," Lee joked regarding the resemblance. However, he acknowledged the pressure exerted by the novel’s descriptions of Heinrey’s beauty, which include scenes where people faint upon looking into his eyes or are captivated by his voice. Lee noted that he felt compelled to pay closer attention to his appearance for this role than for any previous project.

The most daunting aspect for Lee, he revealed, was a scene requiring him to appear completely naked during the transformation from bird to human. Meanwhile, Lee Se-young, who plays Rashta, focused on maintaining her character’s outward innocence and childlike appearance. Rashta refers to herself in the third person and is driven by a fierce survival instinct. Lee Se-young reasoned that if Rashta were not portrayed as beautiful, audiences might find her more difficult to sympathize with.

The series will release its first four episodes in the late afternoon Korean time on Tuesday, followed by two new episodes every Wednesday. While the original novel features a larger cast and more complex plotlines, the 10-episode adaptation focuses tightly on the four main characters to highlight dramatic elements, according to Shin Min-a.

H.Hayashi--JT