Woo Do-hwan, Lee Sang-yi unite for action-packed ‘Bloodhounds’

Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi band together against ruthless loan sharks in the upcoming Netflix original series “Bloodhounds,” the first series project by director Jason Kim, who helmed “Midnight Runners” (2017) and “The Divine Fury” (2019).

In the eight-part series, Woo and Lee star as young boxers Gun-woo and Wop-jin, respectively, who seek to take down Myung-gil (Park Sung-woong). Myung-gil preys on the financially desperate, following an unfortunate incident involving Gun-woo's mother.

“Compared to ‘Midnight Runners,’ ‘Bloodhounds’ has at least six times more action scenes. While the movie running time is two hours, the series is eight hours long, so I have put in all kinds of chemistry between the characters that I could,” director Jason Kim told reporters at a press conference in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Wednesday.

Kim, known for his flagship bromance movies with dynamic plot lines, said “Bloodhounds” features brave young adults full of hopes and dreams searching for justice in a cruel world.

Based on a webtoon of the same title, Kim’s “Bloodhounds” is set against the background of a coronavirus-hit society, making life harsher for the financially desperate.

“I have continuously done extensive research on stories of good triumphing over evil since ‘Midnight Runners.’ During the pandemic, notorious loan sharks reemerged, so I was able to blend the stories with various action sequences of characters to take down evil,” Kim said.

Woo, who began shooting “Bloodhounds” the day after his discharge from the military on Jan. 6 last year, said he prepared to sculpt a boxer’s body for more than six months.

“When I was serving my military duty, all I had to focus on was to be prepared to look like a boxer, building muscles not through just working out, but extensive training, focusing on showing the muscles that professional boxers actually use,” Woo told reporters.

Woo reunites with director Kim again after “The Divine Fury” (2019).

Lee Sang-yi said he was attracted to the bromance story. “Bloodhounds” is also Lee’s first-ever action project.

“After shooting ‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha,’ I focused on building my body so my character could be easily recognized through my physique,” said Lee, who sports colorful fashion and hairstyles in the series to look like a real-life delinquent.

Park Sung-woong, who stars as moneylender Myung-gil, said this is the most evil character he has played to date.

“At first, I was asked to play the other moneylender who stands on virtue’s side, but I suggested to director Kim that I play Myung-gil, who seemed more powerful and suitable for me,” Park told reporters, adding that Myung-gil is a character who creates an air of discomfort just by appearing in a scene.

According to the director, he has minimized the role played by Kim Sae-ron, who was recently fined for drunk driving.

“So many people spent thousands of hours putting in all our efforts for this project. We could not just take out her part because that would harm the overall storyline,” Kim told reporters.

“Bloodhounds” will release on Netflix on Friday.