Song of Bandits stars Kim Nam-gil & Lee Hyun-wook were “disappointed” in the K-drama

Netflix’s Song of Bandits has received good praise from audiences, but Kim Nam-gil and Lee Hyun-wook have expressed their heartbreaking thoughts on why the K-drama ultimately disappointed them – and it’s for good reason.

Part of Netflix’s hefty expansion into K-dramas and K-content included the period K-drama Song of Bandits. The storyline takes place in the 1920s during the Japanese occupation – forcing Koreans to leave their homes. Now in a foreign land and hunted, those living in Gando fight to protect their land.

Actor Kim Nam-gil starred as Lee Yoon alongside Lee Hyun-wook as Lee Gwang-il. Kim’s character was a high-ranking soldier in the Japanese army. He left after getting sick of the atrocities toward his own people. He becomes a bandit in Gando to protect others. Lee’s character is a major in the army, devoted to the Japanese Empire.

Both actors put their blood sweat and tears into creating Song of Bandits. A supposedly much longer K-drama was cut short, with Kim and Lee expressing their anger toward how the storyline was handled.

Kim Nam-gil and Lee Hyun-wook disliked Song of Bandits fewer episodes

Both Kim and Lee expressed their distaste over Song of Bandits having originally meant to have 20 episodes but was cut to nine for Netflix.

In a recent interview, Lee explained, ” From the original 20 episodes, it was reduced to 9 episodes. The storytelling of each character wasn’t shown enough. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. There are definitely some regrets. The script was read and acted but it was shortened during editing. There was a missing chemistry in the performance that only we could see.”

The actors of the K-drama spent months filming the action-packed sequences. The characters were a mix of soldiers, gunslingers, bandits, and hired contract killers. A majority of the actors, including Kim, did their own stuntwork to bring the story to life for audiences.

Even Kim agreed with his co-star that the K-drama wasn’t appropriately handled when it came to cutting scenes, and ultimately characters that told a bigger story. In an interview with Top Star News, Kim said he would gladly make Song of Bandits Season 2 with another company if Netflix doesn’t greenlight it.

“If Netflix says they won’t do it, I want to do it on another platform,” He said in a rough translation of the original Korean article. “We couldn’t include all the actors in Season 1. The parts that were disappointing and the parts that couldn’t be included can be richly included in Season 2.”

Song of Bandits ended on a good cliffhanger that warrants a possible Season 2. The K-drama was not originally announced to have been created for more than one season. Both Lee and Kim are putting the facts on the table that the K-drama and its story deserve better.

You can read more K-drama content in our hub here, upcoming October K-dramas here, and details of Moving Season 2 here.