Since the two leading stars of the recently concluded “Descendants of the Sun” are not native English speakers, Song Joong-ki and Song Hye Kyo admitted in an interview they had difficulty speaking some of the English dialogues.
Because the producer of the 16-episode Hallyu was aiming for the international market, NEW had to ensure a bigger audience beyond South Korea and China would understand the dialogues, so some of the lines had to be in English language, in addition to the English subtitles. In an interview with VIU TV, the two Songs admit speaking English is not the easiest thing for them, so learning the conversations in English by heart was challenging which meant they had to practice the lines so many times.
Song Hye Kyo, who played a doctor, in addition, had to learn a lot of medical terms in English for which she had several doctors coaching her. “There were a lot of professional words and I didn’t know them. But the doctors instructed me a lot,” recalled the actress.
Song Joong-ki acknowledged, “There are some English conversations that I didn’t speak fluently, so I have to improvise.” He said he hopes the viewers still liked the part when he spoke English despite his shortcoming.
When asked by the host what their favorite scene was, Song Joong-ki said it was the scene between him and his best friend Lee Kwang Soo who was in a cameo role because it felt good acting with a real friend and not just a fellow actor. Similarly, Song Hye Kyo cited having a scene with junior Yoo Ah as the most memorable for her.
As for the scene showing the two women apparently enjoying watching Song Joong-ki and members of the Alpha team run, the actress revealed that scene was shot in winter. The actor added that his fellow soldiers in the scene who were topless have perfect bodies which he wants to achieve too.
Meanwhile, Asia One reported that Song Joong-ki is a nominee for the Best Actor award in the 52nd Baesksang Arts Award which would be held on June 3. He is competing against Yoo Ah-in for his role as Prince Yi Bang-won for the SBS show “Six Flying Dragons,” while Song Joong-ki was nominated for “Descendants of the Sun.”