Why Gong Yoo Explores Space Travel And A New Genre In ‘The Silent Sea’

Gong Yoo originally thought his future lay behind the camera, as he wanted to create advertising content. The first time he faced the camera lens was in college, when he got a part-time job as a VJ for a music show

“From that point on, I found myself wanting to express my emotions through the camera lens,” said Gong. “It was fascinating to influence people’s emotions with my eyes, voice, and the subtle changes in my facial expressions.”

That led to a desire to experience life through different characters.

“I think the part-time job might have been a turning point in my life. That is how I eventually started acting and it has been more than 20 years since I started to share different emotions with audiences and live vicariously through various characters.” 

It has been an impressive 20-year career. Gong landed his first leading roles in the TV dramas Hello My Teacher and One Fine Day and after his role in Coffee Prince quickly became an international star. He appeared in the film Silenced, a story so powerful it prompted legislative change in Korea. He played a supportive husband in the award-winning film Kim Ji-young: Born 1982, fought zombies in the international hit Train to Busan and guarded a clone in the sci-fi film Seo Bok. He played the title role in Guardian: The Great and Lonely God, aka Goblin, which became the fifth highest rated drama in Korean cable television history. A wider audience met him through his cameo as a recruiter in Squid Game and he’s now taking k-dramas to space with the NetflixNFLX production The Silent Sea.

Gong has a gift for choosing successful projects. 

“I believe that a good script holds all the answers for a good story, which is why I am cautious when selecting/reviewing a script,” he said. “When it comes to the veiled parts of a script—for instance, the hidden intentions of the director—I first review them in detail with the director to make sure that we are on the same page. After that, I add my own imagination to bring the character to life. That is how I build the core of a character. Nonetheless, there are other aspects I potentially may add as I interact with other cast members; however, only to an extent that these new additions do not undermine the essence of the character.” 

He was attracted to The Silent Sea because his character Han Yun-jae is an experienced leader, who has a strong sense of responsibility and is calm under difficult circumstances.

 “Not everyone can become a leader and it is a lonely title that comes with great responsibility. I sympathize with him to a certain extent. But Yun-jae is also an ordinary dad who worries about the well-being of his child. To be honest, I selected The Silent Sea not only because I was drawn to my character, but because I was drawn to the creative theme and how the story portrays its universe. I wanted to challenge myself in a genre that has never been tried out in Korea. As someone who always looks to broaden his spectrum into various genres, I wanted to be a part of this amazing journey to the moon. This aligns with the reasons why I chose Train to Busan.” 

His characters tend to exude a sense of inner calm, which reflects his own efforts to maintain an even keel. 

“Personally, I tend to try to stay calm under pressure,” said Gong.” Of course, it doesn’t always work, but I think disciplining myself to remain calm can be very helpful in life. I believe that mental strength is pivotal in terms of physical health. If you allow your emotions to overwhelm you, you may not always make the best choices. And in any game, whoever loses their temper is most likely to lose.” 

While traveling to space might seem like an appealing idea, Gong suggests the story of The Silent Sea should prompt renewed concerns for this planet. 

“As wonderful as space travel is, being forced to migrate to another planet for survival as portrayed in The Silent Sea—due to desertification or in the face of extinction—would be a tragedy. I try to remind myself that I need to stay alert and do better to protect our planet. Yun-jae ultimately takes risks and heads to the moon for survival. He is a selfless father who would sacrifice himself for his daughter. I don’t have a child yet, but I think I would make the same choice as Yun-jae did. In the big picture, it also can translate into the sacrifice made by this generation for the welfare of the next generation to come.”

Space travel is a new genre for Asia so The Silent Sea can be seen as a giant step forward for k-content. The story, which also stars Bae Doona and Lee Joon, focuses on a perilous 24-hour mission on the moon. Gong and his team must retrieve samples from an abandoned research facility steeped in classified secrets.

“Similar to zombie content, space travel sci-fi is a ubiquitous theme in Hollywood, which has set audience standards,” said Gong. “After Train to Busan, I gained the assurance that great content has less to do with the amount of production budget, but more to do with the clever use of it. Creative themes, premise, along with the design of a story are the crucial factors. The creativeness and refreshing themes are what absorb the audience.”

Filming The Silent Sea involved many physical challenges. To film an elevator fall, Gong wore about 10 to 12 wires. 

“I have had my fair share of wirework for action films, but it was challenging nonetheless. Wirework stunts not only inversely bend your back, but also it’s almost impossible to sustain a balanced position while hanging upside-down. I had to take short breaks after every take because blood would circulate to my head. Therefore, it was physically tiring for both myself as an actor and the film crew. “

There were scenes where he ran through narrow, low-height passages while wearing a heavy outfit. “This damaged my knees, but I’m fully recovered now.” 

The weightlessness in the spacecraft and the low gravity on the surface of the moon were challenging to portray, but Gong found it fun because he’d never done it before. 

“I did use the wires for support, but for scenes where I only needed to bend down my torso, it was easier to naturally demonstrate the movement than to depend on wires. For these scenes wirework was a severe challenge, because if my coordination with the crew slightly went off, the movements started to look awkward. Generally for these scenes, we had to take multiple takes for each scene.” 

Gong was already an international star before his cameo in Squid Game, but he notes a bump in interest. 

“Even though I wasn’t a part of the main cast for Squid Game, I think a lot of viewers have been checking out my other works after watching the series. That interest continued to extend to The Silent Sea, which I’m very grateful for.”

He worked with Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk on the film Silenced and they are still good friends. 

“I knew about Squid Game from its very initial phase of production and we had some brief chats about it. I found the story engaging from the very beginning and anticipated its success; however, I never knew to what extent it would succeed. I made a cameo appearance to support director Hwang, but it turned out that I ended up benefiting a lot more from Squid Game. I was so happy for him. Director Hwang is a great filmmaker that I have always believed in, but now I’m even more excited for his next steps. I hope he can continue to focus on creating the many stories that he likes. “

Gong sees the popularity of Squid Game as a positive sign, introducing international viewers to the wider world of Korean content. 

“I think it will open new doors to bigger opportunities for creators and actors in Korea. We will have to be smart about effectively leveraging those opportunities. We live in an era where content produced in different countries can be accessed globally as long as you have a TV or a phone, for various platforms. As an actor, I’m both very grateful and fascinated to be alive in a time like this.”

Acting has led to some soul searching and taught him a lot about himself.  

“Kim Shin in Goblin is one example. The character gave me an opportunity to take a step back and reflect upon myself before turning 40. It also helped me to realize how valuable I am and that I needed to love myself more. The process was tough, but ultimately, it helped me to find myself again.”

Being an actor also gave him the gift of bringing comfort to others. 

“I am not sure if this is the right comparison, but back when I was going through an emotionally tough phase, a film and the characters it portrayed offered me great comfort,” said Gong. “The film was titled Manchester by the Sea. Ironically, the protagonist was portrayed in a very dry and understated tone and intriguingly it was a sad story.” 

To Gong, that is what films are all about. 

“Sometimes a film makes me laugh, or cry, but sometimes it just embraces me with a silent hug. And I sincerely hope my performances and films/series do the same for other people. I am still in the middle of that journey and plan to continue on that path. I want to remain an actor who can offer great comfort to people.”