When it comes to protecting their own, nothing can stand in the way of this unconventional family, who are not bound by blood, but by something perhaps even stronger — the desire to form a true family bond.

This intriguing dynamic drew actors Bae Doo-na and Ryoo Seung-bum to Coupang Play's latest series, “Family Matters,” which delves into the lives of extraordinary people navigating the world as a family.


Directed by twin creators Kim Gok and Kim Sun and written by Kim Jung-min, the story follows five people who are drawn together as a "family." The story centers around Young-soo, who has a special ability called "brain hacking," enabling her to edit the memories of people. Under Young-soo's lead, they team up to punish the city’s villains, bringing them “hell.”

The series features actor Bae playing Young-soo, who is the mother in the family, and Ryoo as father Cheol-hee, alongside Baek Yoon-sik as grandfather Kang-sung, with newcomers Lomon and Lee Soo-hyun respectively playing Ji-hoon and Ji-woo.

Actors Bae and Ryoo separately sat down with local reporters on Friday at a cafe in Jongno District, central Seoul, to talk about the series and their thoughts as actors.

The family bond depicted in the series starts off quite different from what viewers usually see in a typical family drama. This unique bond grows as the series goes on, according to the actors, and for Bae, this uniqueness was what led her to decide to participate in this “bitterly humorous black comedy.”

“What resonated with me was the idea that family doesn’t necessarily have to be bound by blood — as someone who strongly supports and believes in alternative family structures,” Bae said.

"I couldn't help but wonder what kind of flaws these people have, making them fiercely protect their family — not exactly doing it in a bad way, but in a somewhat cruel way. It made me think about why they would want a family so badly, which also made me feel bad for them."

“Another part that was interesting for me was that they are not superheroes driven by justice, but they take down the villains one by one simply to protect their family. They are afraid of seeing their loved ones get hurt,” she continued. “So, it was fun seeing them moved by personal matters, not by some grand cause.”

Actor Bae is also known for appearing in numerous genre roles, playing a warrior in Netflix's “Rebel Moon” film series (2023-24) and a doctor in the period piece “Kingdom” (2019-20). But the makeup for her "everyday mother" character in "Family Matters" surprisingly took more time than her other roles, according to Bae.

“I really wanted to mention this. In this project, I spent the longest amount of time putting on makeup,” Bae said. "I usually take less time than the male actors, spending about 15 to 20 minutes for makeup."

“An hour and 10 minutes were spent every morning to do my makeup, as it had to look natural,” she added. “Also while shooting, the microvessels on my face actually burst, which the team liked, so I had to wear another layer of makeup mimicking my microvessels to align with the previous shoots.”

While actor Bae has been actively working for the past five years, actor Ryoo is now gaining career momentum since appearing in Disney+'s “Moving” (2023). The actor had a four-year hiatus after the 2019 film “Tazza: One Eyed Jack." Since that movie, he had only made a guest appearance in the film “Hostage: Missing Celebrity” (2021).

What made him return to the scene was that “now he feels like he has made his own choice to be an actor.” The actor kicked off his career in 2000 after being cast by his brother, director Ryoo Seung-wan, for the film "Die Bad."

“I was constantly in conflict,” he said. “I kept searching, wandering and wondering if there was something else I could do on the other side of the road, something that could be my destiny.”

“[In the end,] I found out that this was what I like to do,” he added.

For Ryoo, the reason he decided to join the series was its central message of family, which made him feel grateful for his own. The actor got married in 2020 and has a daughter with his wife.

“These people aren’t bound by blood, yet they want to form a family, and for Young-soo, this family is everything, as if it were her salvation after escaping from hell,” Ryoo said. “Looking back, I felt grateful and blessed to have a family that just came naturally and settled in place.”

“It came to me that the ordinary things we pass through in life can, in fact, be blessings and things that we should be thankful for. And this work reminds us of those things we often forget,” he added.

The series shows a lot of blood while also touching a deeply emotional subject regarding family. Ryoo wanted to soften the tone of cruelty in the series with his role, brightening the serious, dark and somewhat brutal vibe.

“Personally, to be honest, I felt a little uncomfortable and started to dislike the blood-spilling scenes,” Ryoo said. “So, I tried to give it a twist [with my character], thinking of ways to lighten the tone and how I could offer the audience a bit of a pause or make them feel more at ease.”

As the actor is now fueling the engine of his acting career once again, he is looking forward to his next chapter.

“I am open to anything,” said Ryoo.

There are six episodes in "Family Matters." The first two episodes were released Friday. The episodes will be released in groups of two this Friday and next Friday.

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]