Kentaro Sakaguchi navigates cross-cultural romance in 'What Comes After Love'

Japanese model-turned-actor Kentaro Sakaguchi poses before an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Coupang Play

Japanese model-turned-actor Kentaro Sakaguchi, best known for works such as "The Last 10 Years" (2022) and "Signal" (2018), shared insights into his first experience working in a Korean drama.

In Coupang Play's new series "What Comes After Love," based on the novel of the same title co-written by Korean author Gong Ji-young and Japanese author Hitonari Tsuji, the 33-year-old actor takes the role of Jungo, a Japanese man aspiring to become an author. He falls in love with Hong (Lee Se-young), a Korean student living in Japan, in a story portraying a romance bridging the cultural divide between Korea and Japan.

Japanese actor Anne Nakamura joins the cast as Kanna and Korean actor Hong Jong-hyun as Min-jun.

While filming the series, Saakaguchi explored the cultural nuances of expressing love between Korea and Japan. When he first read the script, he felt there were "too many aishiteru" ("I love you" in Japanese).

"I noticed there were a lot of 'I love you's, more than I expected, especially considering the cultural differences. I thought there would be a subtle difference between 'I love you' and 'I like you,' but the script was filled with 'I love you.' I wondered if it was necessary to convey so much emotion," he said during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Friday.

"However, the director and co-star Lee Se-young felt that Jungo needed to express himself more fully. It made me realize how different Korean and Japanese cultures can be in terms of expressing love."

Director Moon Hyun-sung, acknowledging Sakaguchi's concerns, adjusted the script to better align with the actor's understanding of his character, recognizing the authenticity Sakaguchi brought to the Japanese role, emphasizing the cultural disparities as a central theme of the series.

"I think this cultural difference is a crucial element of our series. It's why the two characters had to part ways. If they had expressed their love for each other, they wouldn't have broken up and this series wouldn't exist," the actor said, appreciating the director's decision.

A promotional poster for Coupang Play's upcoming series "What Comes After Love" / Courtesy of Coupang Play

On set, Sakaguchi was struck by the crew's attentiveness to every nuance of his expressions and movements. He noted that director Moon has a style of diving directly into shooting without much rehearsal, but while filming, the cinematographer shot from multiple angles.

"For instance, if I make a small adjustment to my gaze or posture, the cinematographer would ask me the reason behind it. When I mentioned feeling a bit awkward or tense around Hong, the cinematographer said that those feelings were actually part of my character and that we should capture them. He really went the extra mile," the actor explained.

In the drama, Hong, unable to bear the growing loneliness as their love deepens, eventually breaks up with Jungo and returns to Korea. Five years later, fate brings them together again when Jungo, visiting Korea as a novelist, and Hong, who was helping him with translations, cross paths and fall in love once more.

Sakaguchi said the most challenging part was the unexpected reunion after five years. In the past, Jungo and Hong were in love and there was a lot of emotional exchange and richness between them, but when they meet five years later, there's a wall and a distance between them. So he paid a lot of attention when acting this out.

"Actually, because there wasn't much dialogue, I couldn't rely on the lines. For example, I had to express a lot through a single glance toward Hong. There were many such moments and I realized that I had to act delicately to properly convey these nonverbal moments to the audience," he said.

The melodrama will premiere on Sept. 27 on Coupang Play.