[TRANS] HTTG Spends Less On Production Fees

MBC's Wednesday-Thursday drama 'Heading to the Ground' is profiting from the 'Jung Yunho effect'.

If one takes into consideration the fact that Jung Yunho is gaining big popularity in Japan due to his group TVXQ's activities there, one will be able to predict that his worth will correlate to this fact. However, Jung Yunho told the staff, "Since this is my first drama, I will receive the wages that most rookie actors receive when they star in dramas." Therefore, 'Heading to the Ground' was able to cut back on production costs.

This is not the only instance, on August 31st, 4000 TVXQ fans volunteered to be extras at the filming of the drama in the Seoul Sangam-dong World Cup Stadium. Usually, extras are paid 50,000~60,000 Won each which would mean that 'Heading to the Ground' was able to save the 200 million Won that they would have had to pay if TVXQ fans had not volunteered.

One representative of the drama said, "When we were casting, we had a lot of worries because he was a Hallyu star who was also part of an idol group. But Jung Yunho has been working so passionately and humbly that he has made all these worries seem absurd. He said that he would go back to his state of mind of when he was a rookie, and he spent a lot of time with the director and script writer to fully understand his character and receive critique on his acting. There have been a lot of issues these days such as the 'TVXQ' dispute, but he has been concentrating on acting only. Therefore, the set of 'MaenDdang' is always cheerful and full of energy."