The Moon That Embraces the Sun.
A virtual historical drama prepared by KMB, considered one of the three major broadcasting companies in South Korea.
A virtual historical drama is, simply put, a blend of general history with a fictional background—typically a fictional historical drama created to captivate both young and middle-aged audiences.
'That much, it needs to be well-made.'
The producer of The Moon That Embraces the Sun, Ha Tae-oh, was a veteran in the industry with experience directing several historical dramas.
This was his second virtual historical drama.
The first, 'Fox Dew,' wasn't a massive hit but was decent enough.
'If it's made half-heartedly, we'll lose both the young and middle-aged audience.'
That's why the cast was sharpened to the maximum.
The given budget was also twice that of a typical virtual historical drama!
From KMB's perspective, it meant this was a work that absolutely could not fail.
"Wow, the child actors are impressive too, truly impressive."
Casting Director Kim Ki-ung said to Ha Tae-oh as if in admiration.
"All the agencies and academies. Plus, it seems like almost every kid who's made a name for themselves in entertainment has come in?"
"Everyone probably knows. How much KMB has been sharpening its blade for this drama."
Even with child actors, there was no chance of failure.
Generally, the episodes featuring child actors are at the very beginning of a drama.
Short would be 1 episode, and if a bit longer, it could go up to 5 episodes.
So they're not important?
If asked, absolutely not.
Ultimately, since they determine the first impression of the drama, they are extremely important.
That's why recently, many productions omit the childhood portion entirely.
If a child actor with unstable acting skills makes a mistake, the drama's image becomes ambiguous as well.
"The role of young Yun Seo-il is practically already decided."
"Yes, that one has been famous since childhood, hasn't he?"
Ha Tae-oh, skimming through the male child actor profiles, nodded.
From starting acting at age five, his acting skills had been recognized—now in his 5th year.
The son of great actor Park Sun-woong, Park Jung-woo.
Ten-year-old Park Jung-woo was the child who fit the role of the male protagonist 'young Yun Seo-il' in this Moon That Embraces the Sun better than anyone else.
"This means we can't just pick anyone for young Lee Hye-wol, can we?"
"Park Jung-woo is a child with such great acting skills that if we're not careful, his counterpart will get swallowed up instantly."
A child who inherited the talents of great actor Park Sun-woong just as they were.
Against such a child, the one to play the female protagonist role had to be chosen with great care.
"Ah, this..."
At that moment, Kim Ki-ung let out a sigh.
In his hand was a profile of a certain girl, looking as if it had just been viewed.
"First drama appearance... and even then, a kid who's only done exactly two CFs, but they're included in this audition?"
"Ah, that child?"
Ha Tae-oh also glanced at the profile in Kim Ki-ung's hand.
"They say Director Jo Bang-woo recommended her. I heard she filmed a CF with his son or something."
"Phew. Did he slip her in because she appeared in his son's CF? If it goes well, maybe his son will get attention too."
"Come on, surely not."
They looked at the name 'Joo Seo-yeon' written on the profile and briefly clicked their tongues.
Looking at the photo alone, her face was quite good.
Age was six.
A bit young, but since the drama character young Lee Hye-wol's age was eight, it wasn't to the point where she couldn't act.
'Definitely has a good mask, though.'
What CF was it again? Right, it seemed to be a soy milk CF.
"Well, the appearance she showed in the soy milk CF wasn't bad, but..."
"That kind of lively child appearance can be done even without acting."
Plus, acting in a CF and a drama are completely different.
First of all, whether she could properly memorize lines was the problem.
"There should be limits to parachute drops too..."
Ha Tae-oh said that and casually tossed Seo-yeon's profile aside.
A kid who had only filmed two CFs wouldn't pass this audition anyway.
***
The Moon That Embraces the Sun.
The audition venue for what's also called 'Tae-sum-dal.'
'Wow, what is this.'
Seo-yeon wanted to ask if this was really an audition venue.
It felt more like a set for filming.
Upon entering, after confirming simple personal information, the staff gave a brief explanation about this audition. Then, they took out a document.
"For this audition, we ask for your understanding that the content may be broadcast in various formats such as making films or advertisements. If you agree to that part, please sign here."
"Ah, yes, yes."
Soo-ah calmly signed with trembling hands.
As Seo-yeon was still a minor, a guardian's consent was absolutely necessary for such matters.
"This audition is definitely something different..."
As they entered, Soo-ah muttered those words to herself.
Seo-yeon also agreed with Soo-ah's words.
Just as she said, the surroundings were full of children accompanied by managers or agency staff.
Since no child actors accompanied by parents like before were visible, Seo-yeon and Soo-ah felt like they were castaways on a deserted island.
"Who is that?"
"Did they come to the wrong place?"
Thanks to that, the attention drawn to them doubled.
There were kids putting on audition outfits or getting makeup done.
"Seo-yeon, what should we do?"
"I'm not sure."
What was she asking a six-year-old who had only shot exactly two CFs?
Of course, even if Seo-yeon were in Soo-ah's position, it would have been the same.
"Seo-yeon's mother, this way."
Just when the gazes directed at us began to increase, a savior appeared.
"Director Jo!"
When Soo-ah approached with an emotional face, holding Seo-yeon's hand, he smiled as if to say it's okay.
"I put in the recommendation, so I should help."
"Ah, thank you so much."
"And please just call me Mr. Jo Min-tae here."
To Seo-yeon who bowed deeply in a belly-button greeting, Director Jo said with a smile.
"I had my own greed too. I wanted to see what it would feel like if Miss Seo-yeon acted in a drama."
He said that, but Seo-yeon knew how special a case this was.
As a CF director, he had no reason to help Seo-yeon, an outsider, this much.
Just securing this audition spot was enough to make other child actors faint.
Seo-yeon glanced around at the stinging gazes.
'It's a parachute drop, this.'
With Jo Min-tae's appearance, some people were frowning as they looked at us.
It seemed they thought she was a child brought by an internal insider.
"But, are drama auditions usually like this?"
Seo-yeon asked Jo Min-tae in a small voice.
Then Jo Min-tae shook his head.
"There are cases where auditions are held, and cases where selections are made through the director or casting director. It's rare to have an audition this large. Probably for the promotional making film."
"Ah, I see."
Making film.
Seo-yeon suddenly recalled something from the past.
Come to think of it, The Moon That Embraces the Sun released various videos before airing and drew attention.
The child actor audition was definitely included there too.
"Alright, since everyone seems to be here, let's slowly begin."
At that moment, a man with a shaggy beard spoke in the audition venue.
"I'm the planning producer, Ha Tae-oh. First, let me briefly explain the audition content..."
The producer of this audition, as Jo Min-tae had mentioned, stepped forward.
The planning producer was, literally, the general planner of this drama.
A figure who leads the direction of the work, taking on the role of matching directors or leading casting.
Along with the drama writer, a person who guides the drama's direction in the right direction.
In a word, the existence holding the greatest power in this drama's casting.
"The audition will be in pairs of two. A male child actor and a female child actor will perform together. We'll hand out the scripts now... and we're thinking of giving approximately 2 hours for reading time."
2 hours was neither a long nor short time.
However, since scripts hadn't been given in advance, it felt quite overwhelming for the child actors.
"Not alone? What is this..."
"If it's 2 per group, the results change depending on the partner. This doesn't seem very fair."
There were people muttering in small voices around.
'I guess auditions aren't usually done this way.'
Maybe this was the reason The Moon That Embraces the Sun became a topic of conversation starting from the making film.
'Paired acting.'
It would definitely be different from CFs.
Plus, the script itself is different.
Compared to CF scripts with a stronger visual feel, the drama script was like a novel.
"This kind of acting requires a good partner, as others have said."
"I-is it a problem if the partner can't act well?"
At Jo Min-tae's words, Soo-ah asked with a trembling voice.
"Hmm. Right. To be precise, whether the partner is much worse or much better than you, both are problems."
"Isn't it good if they're good?"
"This isn't a CF, it's a drama. If your acting is lacking... your presence gets swallowed by your partner."
It's something an actor must absolutely avoid.
Especially for a 'lead role,' even more so.
If overwhelmed by the partner's acting and presence disappears, there's no qualification for the lead role.
"First, Miss Seo-yeon. Let's change your clothes. Reading time is 2 hours, so we need to hurry and prepare. You can change in the dressing room over there."
"Ah! Yes, yes!"
Soo-ah held Seo-yeon's hand and quickly headed to the prepared dressing room.
"Hmm? What?"
Upon entering the dressing room, a child who had just finished changing was coming out.
A pretty child with a chic eye expression.
Unlike the other children, her aura and presence were different.
'Ah, it's her.'
Seo-yeon recalled as soon as she saw this child.
'The child actress for the female protagonist Lee Hye-wol.'
She had memories of seeing her in the drama from her past life.
Despite her young age, she showed quite outstanding acting skills.
The name was probably 'Jo Seo-hee.'
'Though not as much as the child actor for Yun Seo-il's role.'
When alone, her acting was worthy of applause, but when together with the boy playing Yun Seo-il, her presence was strangely lacking.
Because of that, the child actor part only appeared for exactly 2 episodes, if she remembered correctly.
'Well, even with just that, she made her presence known enough.'
She did pretty well after that too...
Seo-yeon couldn't remember that part well.
"Ah, is that her?"
At that moment, Jo Seo-hee, who seemed to have heard something from her female manager, smirked.
"Parachute?"
The way she said that and smiled was exactly like a drama villain.
Seo-yeon admired that sight.
'This kid has high language ability.'
Is this why she's an actress?
She looked only a year or two older than herself, but to know words like 'parachute.'
"Well, do your best?"
The child said that and went outside with confidence.
In a way, she was like an upgraded version of Lee Ji-yeon.
Mainly in a bad sense.
"Ugh. Seo-yeon. You absolutely can't lose to her."
Of course, Soo-ah couldn't have imagined that the bratty kid who just passed by was a talented person originally selected as the protagonist of 'Tae-sum-dal.'
From her perspective, she was just a scoundrel who mocked her precious daughter.
"...I'll try my best."
To beat the female protagonist of Tae-sum-dal who had defeated numerous child actors.
It was too high a mountain for a novice child actor who had only shot exactly two CFs.