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On the morning of May 28, a press conference for Wavve's high school action K-drama One: High School Heroes was held. Actors Lee Jung Ha, Kim Do Wan, Kim Sang Ho, Kim Joo Ryoung, Yoo Hee Je, Yuk Jun Seo, Im Sung Kyun, and director Lee Sung Tae were in attendance.
One: High School Heroes follows the story of top student Eui Gyeom (Lee Jung Ha), who suffers under his father's oppression, and Yoon Gi (Kim Do Wan), who seeks to exploit Eui Gyeom's talent for fighting. The two form a masked group called "High School Heroes" and unleash their pent-up rage, overturning the school's power hierarchy.
The K-drama is based on the popular webtoon "ONE," which has garnered over 65 million views on Kakao Webtoon and won the 2020 Today's Our Manhwa Award.
In the K-drama, Lee Jung Ha plays Eui Gyeom, the top student in school who awakens to his hidden fighting instincts. The actor explained, "Eui Gyeom suffers under the oppression of his father Seok Tae (Kim Sang Ho). His only goal is to get into med school, but after transferring schools, he discovers that he has a natural talent for fighting. Yun Gi sees this and plans to overturn the school's power hierarchy."
The actor also shared, "Since I did a lot of action in the air [Moving], this time I wanted to try something on the ground. That shift in style felt really fresh, thrilling, and fun to shoot. It felt like a new challenge for me, and I really enjoyed it." "Eui Gyeom has a natural talent for fighting. He's the kind of character who can see a martial arts move once and imitate it effectively. I worked to employ various types of action, so there were a lot of action scenes. The set prioritized safety."
Kim Do Wan plays Yun Gi, who recognizes Eui Gyeom's fighting talent and forms High School Heroes. He shared, "Yun Gi has composure but is also unexpectedly sly at times. He views fights very objectively. To someone like Yun Gi, Eui Gyeom is like an unpolished gem. Together, they form the Heroes and go around teaching some serious lessons."
Kim Sang Ho plays Kim Seok Tae, Eui Gyeom's oppressive father. He said, "I play a character who grew up in a violent household and ends up getting that violence in his character." He added, "The director told me, 'Sunbae-nim, all you have to do is hold the center. The kids will do the flying, fighting, and action, so you and Kim Joo Ryoung just focus on being the anchors.' And that's what we did."
Kim Joo Ryoung, who plays Myung Da Bin, Eui Gyeom's mother, said, "This role is completely different from the ones I've played before, so I'm personally very excited, and I think viewers will be as well. I feel honored to play Jung Ha's mother." "My character, Da Bin, tries to protect her son Eui Gyeom from husband Seok Tae's oppression. At first, she appears somewhat powerless, but when she sees the changes in Eui Gyeom, she begins to transform. She becomes determined to protect her son no matter what. I hope viewers will follow and watch her transformation to the end."
Yoo Hee Je plays Choi Gi Su, the unbeatable top fighter in the area. The actor shared, "Choi Gi Su is someone who takes pleasure in violence. Violence is a play for him — meaningless and without purpose. I tried to portray him thinking about what kind of synergy would be sparked when he clashes with the Heroes, who use their strength purposefully and meaningfully."
Yuk Jun Seo plays the mysterious transfer student Lee Geol Jae. He said, "Lee is a character who made a strong impact in a connected to ONE. He already has a fan base and a very distinctive personality, so the director and I focused on preserving and faithfully recreating the character as much as possible without deviating from the original."
He continued, "Honestly, I felt a bit embarrassed to take the role since I still haven't fully established my image as an actor. I auditioned and got the role in that uncertainty. I think the director was probably quite worried. Although I have only a limited number of scenes and lines, I spent a lot of time trying to make the character mine."
Im Sung Kyun plays Kim Seung Jun, a bully who rules the school with his boxing. He said, "Seung Jun once dreamed of becoming a boxer, but he gave up on that dream and dominated the first-year students with boxing. Then, after fighting Eui Gyeom, he begins to experience a change. From then on, his story unfolds, and I put a lot of thought into how to portray that dramatically."
When asked about the differences between the webtoon and the drama, director Lee said, "The original is outstanding. Personally, I don't think it can simply be categorized as a school action genre. It's a work that delivers a high level of impact. So, I put a lot of effort into staying faithfully to the original narrative as closely as possible. The storytelling is almost identical to the original."
He continued, "The things we dramatized include elements that weren't well developed in the original, such as the protagonist's mother. We set up and added depth to the roles of the protagonist's mother and grandfather, and through that, added small devices to reinforce the family's legacy of violence, oppression, and the protagonist's trauma handed down since the father's time."
Recently, dramas based on webtoons dealing with school violence, such as Weak Hero and Study Group, have been trending both domestically and internationally.
When asked about what sets One: High School Heroes apart despite the similar theme, director Lee said, "There have been many dramas themed school violence. That in itself shows how important the issue of school violence is in Korean society. Since our work also deals with this issue, I believe we can't completely stray from what other works have already addressed."
He continued, "However, the original work's discourse on violence is excellent because it doesn't stay at a one-dimensional level. Not only the protagonist but also the father, mother, and villains all carry wounds and pain in their hearts. I had to shoot large-scale action scenes for every episode, but I saw them more as emotional scenes rather than just action scenes. Therefore, I believe the violence in our drama isn't glamorized or wrapped in its aesthetics but will convey a deeper, more emotional and intense feeling."
Regarding the highlights to watch for, he said, "Every episode introduces new characters, delivering a feast of action. It follows a 'dojo challenge' concept where every episode features battles against new villains, and each of these action scenes is designed with distinct characteristics tailored to each villain. Also, true to the webtoon's themes, the story doesn't stop at school violence. It includes domestic violence and also societal violence that forces academic achievement above everything."
He added, "You mentioned that the villain characters might receive a lot of hate, but that's absolutely not the case. After watching the show, they will get a huge fan base. People won't hate them. That, what I believe, sets our drama apart from others."
One: High School Heroes will be released on May 30. There is no news about the K-drama's global OTT.
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