Metro Exclusive: Kim Ji-Yeon and Park Seo-Ham Take Us Back to Their Time Filming ‘Dive Into You’

What if you could transcend time and space to go back and save the love of your life?                        

Dive Into You, a South Korean drama starring Kim Ji-yeon, 31 (also popularly known as Bona from the girl group WJSN), and Park Seo-ham, 32 (former member of K-pop group KNK), has been winning the audience over with its compelling story and the pair’s undeniable chemistry since its premiere last September 26.                        

As a fantasy-romance drama with comedic flair, it explores the possibility of travelling to the past to rewrite the future, using body-switching as its storytelling device. The character Yoon Ha-na, played by Ji-yeon, is a celebrated actress who harbors feelings for her bodyguard and first love, Jung Woo-jae (Seo-ham).

What begins as a festive event eventually turns tragic when Woo-jae dies while protecting Ha-na from an attack at the awards ceremony, leaving her with unspoken thoughts and lingering regrets. A love that never had a chance to blossom fully.                        

The story shifts to Ha-na and her twin brother Ha-ru, who switch bodies and defy the laws of physics, taking a mystical turn that blurs the lines between time, fate, and second chances.                        

With their characters facing such extraordinary circumstances, we could not help but wonder how the actors brought such mystical roles to life.          

In an exclusive email interview with Metro.Style, Ji-yeon recalled carefully calibrating her portrayal to capture Han-na’s evolution: the lively, energetic younger self who inhabits her older brother’s body and the emotionally transformed adult she eventually becomes.

“There are so many different versions of Ha-na in the drama, from her teenage years and college days to being a rookie actress and then a top star in the present. I paid a lot of attention to adjusting my tone of voice and styling so viewers could intuitively tell the different stages apart,” Ji-yeon told Metro.Style.

Ji-yeon mentioned that in scenes where she switches bodies with Ha-ru, she focused not only on the comedy aspect, but also on the emotional arc, as if playing Ha-ru’s character.                                                        

While the idea of bringing out a body-swap premise is deemed challenging, Ji-yeon emphasized that before filming, they had a lot of group readings and practiced reading each other’s lines, keeping in mind things like “How would Ha-na or Ha-ru act in this scene?”                        

For Ji-yeon, small details mattered in skillfully executing the mannerisms in the body exchange scenes with her co-actor Jang Se-hyuk, who played Yoon Ha-ru. She highlighted everything from the way they walked or sat down to the subtle gesture of wiping away tears.                        

Ji-yeon also shared that filming eventually became easier for her, to the point that they could hear each other’s line deliveries in their heads without having to discuss it beforehand.                        

In the interview, Ji-yeon likewise talked about having a strong synergy with Seo-ham, given that they debuted at the same time and witnessed the build-up of both their careers.

“Because we’ve gone through similar experiences over the years, we became close quickly, and I think that helped bring out the chemistry between Ha-na and Woo-jae, who have known each other since childhood,” Ji-yeon said. “The whole process of working together felt smooth and comfortable, so I’m especially grateful to Seo-ham.“

From being a judo athlete prodigy to becoming a personal bodyguard of Ha-na, Seo-ham took the physically demanding role seriously, even going to an action school and judo studio to learn detailed techniques.                        

“I also trained hard to build up my basic physical fitness. I continued preparing both before and during filming, but once we actually started shooting, it wasn’t easy to perform at 100%. Fortunately, actor Se-hyuk, who plays Ha-ru, had experience with judo, so I received a lot of help from him,” Seo-ham shared with Metro.Style.

Seo-ham expressed gratitude for Se-hyuk’s support, noting that while being busy focusing on his own performance, his co-star still paid attention to the smallest details and shared tips that helped hone his judo skills.                                                        

Furthermore, synonymous with Ha-na’s transformation, Seo-ham also explored the duality of Woo-jae’s character of being Ha-na’s strong shield and also being the one who needs to be saved by Ha-na as she defies time and space.                        

“From the perspective of someone who is protecting another person, I really wanted to protect them with all my heart. I wanted to portray Woo-jae’s feelings of wanting to be someone who could stand by Ha-na’s side and be a reliable source of support for her,” he said.              

Seo-ham reflected on what it felt like being saved during filming; he talked about being moved by the sincerity that Ha-na and Ha-ru brought to their desperate attempts to save Woo-jae’s life. He also mentioned how looking at his co-actors’ eyes helped make his portrayal more genuine and emotional.                                                            

“On the other hand, when I became the one being saved, I think I found myself wondering while filming, ‘Did I really have this many tears?’ When we moved on to the college student part of the story, I would get emotional just by looking into Ji-yeon’s eyes, and there were even many scenes where I wasn’t supposed to cry, but the tears would still come,” he added.                        

When Metro asked about his experience working with Ji-yeon, Seo-ham mentioned that their chemistry had a good foundation in the beginning and further bloomed along the way; that allowed him to perform Woo-jae’s character more effectively.                        

“For example, I had a lot of concerns and thoughts going into the emotional scenes, but once we actually started filming, I became so immersed that I forgot I had ever worried about them in the first place. I think that was thanks to Ji-yeon’s ability to make me fully feel Ha-na’s emotions, which allowed me to naturally bring out Woo-jae’s emotions as well,” he said.                        

Seo-ham also told Metro that Ji-yeon is a kind and considerate person, and someone he gets a lot of help from in so many ways. He added that they had a great time filming “in a really fun atmosphere filled with lots of laughter.“

As Kim Ji-yeon and Park Seo-ham reflected on their experiences in navigating their roles, it brought us back to the heart of the drama. It is a question of whether, if given the chance to know the future and time-travel to the past, they would want to rewrite anything or let fate unfold exactly as it does.

For Ji-yeon, the answer leans towards acceptance, as she stated that she does not regret the life she lived, yet if she were presented with a premise similar to Dive Into You, she might be intrigued to know the mystery of seeing the lottery numbers in advance. 

Meanwhile, Seo-ham sees fate as something that still finds its way back to us—that if something is meant to truly happen, it will present itself in different ways even when attempting to change it. “But if I actually had the opportunity to change it, I think I would still give it a try,“ he quipped.