Behind the Scenes of *When the Stars Gossip*: Gong Hyo-jin’s Remarkable Journey
Actress Gong Hyo-jin, famed for her role in the new Netflix series *When the Stars Gossip*, recently shared her experiences on set and the unique challenges encountered while filming. This series, a space romance drama, features a star-studded cast that includes Lee Min-ho, Oh Jung-se, Han Ji-eun, and Heo Nam-jun.
On April 20, 2025, Gong Hyo-jin engaged her fans with a candid YouTube video, where she prepared vegetables while discussing her experiences with the drama.
Challenges of Filming in Zero Gravity
One of the most notable filming techniques involved the cast portraying weightlessness, often suspended by wires to simulate zero gravity. This demanding process typically extended to over 15 hours a day, stretching for nearly a year.
Gong revealed that each episode required an extensive filming period of over two months due to the rigorous conditions, which unfortunately affected her health. She reflected:
“My blood circulation was so bad that I had to come down, saying, ‘Oh, please let me down now!’ It’s true that we filmed this for a year.”
Despite these difficulties, Gong Hyo-jin emphasized the invaluable nature of the experience, expressing pride in her and her colleagues’ dedication to the project:
“I think the actors, as well as the staff, really worked hard. Now that it’s all over, I feel like I really worked hard too.”
In a lighter moment, she humorously remarked:
“I think for a while, no one will be able to make a space drama.”
Concerns about Story Complexity and Audience Reaction
In *When the Stars Gossip*, Gong Hyo-jin takes on the character Eve Kim, the meticulous chief of a space station who finds her orderly world disrupted when an uninvited guest, Gong Ryong (portrayed by Lee Min-ho), arrives as a space tourist with a hidden agenda.
The series follows their unfolding romance amidst the challenges of space travel. As this was Gong Hyo-jin’s inaugural venture into a space-themed narrative, she expressed her worries regarding its complex structure and whether the audience would fully grasp and enjoy the storyline.
She stated in her video:
“Every process of filming the drama was new. I wondered if they really did this much pre-production. There were parts that required two years of post-production. The content is also very difficult, and I thought it would be difficult for viewers to understand.”
Divisive Ending and Audience Insights
The drama’s conclusion sparked engagement online, particularly surrounding the controversial death of Eve Kim after childbirth. Gong Hyo-jin recounted how even her mother struggled with this interpretation of the plot.
As reported by MSN Korea, she shared:
“There are always different opinions when the main character dies in the ending. My mother also had a hard time with it, and I thought it would be difficult for adults to digest.”
Production Scale and Viewership Challenges
With an impressive budget of approximately 50 billion KRW, *When the Stars Gossip* was highly anticipated, especially for pairing Gong Hyo-jin and Lee Min-ho for the first time. Despite the excitement surrounding this collaboration, early reports suggest that the show’s convoluted narrative structure has led to mixed reactions from viewers.
Critics have pointed out that the explicit scenes presented early on did not resonate well, overshadowing the intricacies of the storyline.
Fans can catch *When the Stars Gossip* live on Netflix, as it delves into the intersection of love and ambition against the backdrop of the cosmos.