[Herald Interview] Park Sang-young aims to break taboos through his works

Novelist Park Sang-young is now a screenwriter, following the release of the television adaptation of his 2019 novel, “Love in the Big City.“

Park wrote the script for all eight episodes of the drama which explores the romantic and personal life of a young gay man in Seoul. The series was released in full on the local streaming platform Tving on Oct. 21.

“As you may have guessed, it took some time to cast the actors and confirm the platform on which it will air due to the uniqueness of the story’s elements,” Park told reporters during an interview in Seoul on Oct. 23.

While the movie version and TV drama of the same title based on his novel came out in the same month — the film starring Kim Go-eun and Noh Sang-hyun opened in theaters on Oct. 1 — Park said he was half worried and half relieved.

“I never expected the two works to open at a similar time, but I was a little worried whether they may end up negatively influencing each other. But thankfully, both works were able to meet the audience and gain relatively positive feedback,” said Park.

For the writer of the original novel “Love in the Big City,” the film and TV drama versions complement each other by showcasing different aspects of the source material.

“The movie deals with young Seoulites’ agony, soul-searching and finding the ‘real me,’ through Jae-hee (Kim Go-eun) and Heung-soo (Noh Sang-hyun), while the TV drama vividly portrays the queer life of a young gay man Go-young (Nam Yoon-soo),” Park said. He added that the film maximizes the fun factor of the plot whereas the drama is a romance drama with a gay protagonist instead of the typical heterosexual lead.

Park, a leading writer of LGBTQ+ themes in the country, said he wishes to break taboos through his works, whether they be novels or dramas.

“There were many difficulties in getting the drama ‘Love in the Big City’ to air, but it was released in the end. I want to become a screenwriter that tells a story that isn't actively told in the existing market,” said Park.

In fact, Park debuted as a novelist in 2016 but won a competition for a web drama scenario with another novel the same year.

“I’ve been writing both drama scenarios and novel versions since I was a young writer. I knew that I would be the perfect fit when it comes to the role of a screenwriter in visualizing my novels,” said Park who is currently working on his second drama based on his novel.

All eight “Love in the Big City” episodes are available on Tving.