In the coming-of-age K-drama Twenty Five, Twenty One, actress Kim Tae-ri plays Na Hee-do, a passionate fencer who goes to great lengths to be part of her high school fencing team.
Hee-do is especially excited that one of her teammates is also a member of the national fencing team, and someone she admires greatly. Unfortunately, her accomplished teammate – Ko Yu-rim (Kim Ji-yeon, aka Bona) – refuses to acknowledge Hee-do's presence or her abilities as a fencer.
Hence, their duels begin on the mat.
Apparently, not only did Kim and Bona had matches as their characters but they also had practice matches when they were mastering the sport to play their respective roles.
Kim learned fencing for about six months before the production of the series started, including getting lessons from an Olympics gold medallist.
“Fencing is a tough sport," said Kim, 31, during a video interview.
"I always pour my heart and soul into everything I do, so learning fencing was the most fun and the most challenging thing for me doing this series.
"I went through a lot of hardship and physical pain to learn how to fence."
Kim shared that she was especially frustrated whenever she had practice matches with her co-star Bona (of K-pop group WJSN) as she can never win.
“I lost so many times against Bona, and that made me even more determined to practise harder,” informed Kim.
“I took lessons every day, and I kept a diary about fencing practices. And that diary that I wrote with all my heart ended up in the series as Hee-do’s diary!”
Meanwhile, Bona recalled that she was really surprised to see how diligent Kim was when it came to practising fencing during their lessons together.
The 26-year-old Bona revealed at a virtual press conference that took place on Feb 9: “I actually trained at fencing for three months only. When I saw Tae-ri go for lessons every morning, I felt like I should do the same and put in as much effort as Tae-ri.
“Both of us are really competitive, and we actually have scheduled another match between us next week.”
Kim added: “I won against Bona all of one time, and I actually cried because I was so happy to win.”
Constantly finding ways to increase her stamina and strength, Kim started jogging with weights around her ankle – just like her character in the show.
And it included that time when Bona invited Kim to her house.
“That was shocking,” remembered Bona of Kim’s visit. “She was completely soaked when she came. She was sweating so much because our houses are quite far apart, and she had run the distance with weights around her ankle.
“That’s just so telling of Kim’s dedication towards her work.”
Twenty Five, Twenty One is available on Netflix. New episodes are out every Saturday and Sunday.
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