During a press interview on December 2 in Jongno, Seoul, Ha Jung Woo spoke out The people upstairs‘ upcoming release and I’ve been reflecting on some behind-the-scenes stories. The film, which premieres on December 3, is a 19+ comedy that explores an unpredictable evening shared between two couples: the noisy upstairs neighbors (played by Ha Jung Woo and Lee Ha Nee) and the downstairs couple (Gong Hyo Jin and Kim Dong Wook) who are forced to have dinner together due to constant noise disputes.
He openly discussed a past incident in which he jokingly referred to a fan as “aphrodisiac” in a social media comment, which quickly turned into controversy. “I left a careless comment on Instagram and I was insulted for days” he recalled. As a result, he decided to revisit a line from the film, realizing, “Some words simply shouldn’t be used.”
In the film, Ha plays an eccentric Chinese character teacher named Mr. Kim, who whimsically calls himself “Pikachu.” He admitted that this idea initially didn’t go over well on set. “People thought it wasn’t funny and weren’t sure if we could use ‘Pikachu’ because of copyright issues,” he said. However, he trusted his instincts. “The credits even list me as ‘Director Pikachu.’ We screened it at the Busan International Film Festival and the audience laughed because it worked. I knew it would be fun.” Regarding copyright concerns, he confirmed, “It’s okay. We checked everything before using it.”
Although rated 19+, The people upstairs It does not feature nudity. He explained, “It just wasn’t necessary.” He joked, “There was a scene with Gong Hyo Jin in the sunlight where I wondered, ‘What if she was naked?’ But I knew I couldn’t convince her, and even without nudity, we still got a 19+ rating.
When asked if he feels pressured by the film’s success, Ha responded philosophically: “It’s up to heaven. No matter how many stage greetings or interviews I do, I can’t force people to like it. I only give my best in making and promoting the film. The rest is out of my control.”
The people upstairs will debut on December 3 in theaters across Korea.
Sources: born
