It's only natural that when you are playing love scenes in a drama, you may start to see your co-stars in a romantic light. But the fact that it happens is not usually something actresses talk about.
Gong Hyo Jin did. When interviewed recently on a Kim C's radio show, she confessed that it happens. She was asked whether, as an actress, she gets emotionally involved in her drama scenes, especially the romantic ones.
She said actresses were lying if they said they didn't feel anything for a male actor they are playing a romantic scene with.
"It's not like we meet each other once or twice," said Gong. "We work with them for months."
Which romantic scenes could the actress be talking about? Was it her romantic scenes in the delicious drama "Pasta" with Lee Sun Kyun as her restaurant chef boss? Or was it the love scenes in "Greatest Love" with co-star Cha Seung Won, playing the actor Dok Ko Jin? Or was it the scenes in "Thank You," that she had with Jang Hyuk playing Gi Suh, the arrogant surgeon.
But having feelings for your co-star while pretending to fall in love doesn't mean the relationship will grow into anything else once the cameras stop filming.
"It is true that feelings do form, but those feelings usually fade away in the span of a few weeks after the drama ends," said Gong.
One co-star the actress did go on to date was actor Ryu Seung Bum. She worked with him in the 2001 SBS drama "Beautiful Days" and the 2001 film, "No Manners." The couple dated off and on for more than a decade.
However, Ryu's lasting impression may be the exception to Gong's experience. As viewers sometimes fall in love with actors, only to find that they are nothing like their characters, actresses can also fall for the role. Meeting the actor later can be something of a shock.
"If you meet them in a public area, you realize they are completely different from the characters they play," she said.
After the radio show, netizens praised her honesty at revealing her true emotions about acting romantic scenes and said that the it would be impossible to convey such chemistry if the actors felt nothing at all.
The actress is currently rehearsing for a new drama, "Empire of the Sun," with co-star So Ji Sub. She will also play the part of a divorcee in the film "Old Family." More romances. More co-stars. It will be interesting to see what develops.
