With a cast full of seasoned and critically acclaimed veteran actors, Goddess of Fire continues to defy all logic of production quality because the elders are overacting like they were in on some joke together. This is also a cast with fantastic young leads and they have become the engine powering this broke ass train forward. Moon Geun Young, Lee Sang Yoon, Kim Bum, Seo Hyun Jin, and Park Gun Hyung are all rock solid here, and I might even go as far as to say Moon Geun Young is the weak link and not showing off her A-game but that’s mostly because her character is an imbecile and she’s being directed to act like her face was play doh. But even then, she pulls it all together and never falters. The main cast gathered at MBC studios last week for a mid-drama press conference and it was a lighthearted affair. When asked about the upcoming 5-way he loves her-she loves him crossed love lines coming up, Kim Bum teased that they were sitting in the order of their characters love lines. But because the table curved and Park Gun Hyung at the end circled back to Lee Sang Yoon at the front, those two teased that Imhaegun was needed here because there was a man-man loveline developing between them. The cast discussed how the kid actors did a great job (I really beg to differ on Jin Ji Hee but the others were fab) and how the transition was seamless.

Kim Bum was told his character was being received as similar to Lee Jung Jae’s classic role in Sandglass and he joked that its new for him to play such a reticent role and have to act mostly through physical rather than vocal means. Though he does love that Tae Do’s voice is his real voice, whereas for his last two dramas he had to modulate his voice higher by two octaves to play these characters. I love Tae Do’s voice, yuuuuum. Lee Sang Yoon confessed his real life personality is more serious than Gwanghaegun’s tendency to joke around. Moon Geun Young said that there was very little in recorded history about Baek Pa Sun, the real life female potter this story is based on, other than she was Mrs. Kim Tae Do and lived in Japan. So this drama attempts to dramatize and fill in the blanks liberally. Ahahaha, “Mrs. Kim Tae Do”, as spoken from Geun Young’s own lips. She can fiddle around with Gwanghaegun for the majority of the drama for all I care, I’m set knowing the end gets me right where I want it. MBC released a new BTS video of Bummie and Geun Young filming the rescue scene in episode 12. It’s adorable because he’s always grinning around her and she is totally like an in-charge but aegyo noona. She also seems fantastic to work with considering all her co-stars rave about her.

Kim Bum-Moon Geun Young BTS from episode 12: