Lee Jun-ki reveals ‘Scarlet Heart: Goryeo’ has an alternate ending, but it was left unreleased
Be still, our “scarlet hearts.”
Korean actor Lee Jun-ki said an alternate ending was filmed for the period drama Scarlet Heart: Goryeo, but it was chosen to not be released to viewers.
The original ending for Scarlet Heart: Goryeo showed Go Ha-jin (IU) returning to the present after her incarnation Hae Soo passed away. Ha-jin soon discovers that her memories as Hae Soo, which she thought were a dream, were real after visiting a museum. She cries over a portrait of fourth prince Wang So (Lee Jun-ki), saying sorry for “leaving you alone.”
Jun-ki revealed in an interview with variety show MMTG that they’ve filmed a scene where Wang So and Hae Soo meet again in the present.
“He approached her in a suit as a stranger and handed her a handkerchief. When she looked at him, he stood there like someone who didn’t know about what happened in Goryeo. He just smiled and turned away, then I think Hae Soo called him and he looked back. I think she smiled at him,” Jun-ki said, as per a translation by Soompi.
The actor opened up about his thoughts on the alternate ending, saying director Kim Kyu-tae must have been “in a dilemma until the very end.”
“Should we go for an ending that’s deeper and painful? Or should we go for an ending that gives a feeling of hope? No matter what he chose, I think there would have been regrets. I think he thought it would be good if it left a more poignant impression,” Jun-ki added.
Jun-ki thought the alternate ending would be included in Scarlet Heart: Goryeo’s DVD, but according to him, it was “blocked.”
The Korean actor also admitted that he hopes that Scarlet Heart: Goryeo would return for a second season.
“I also hope for season two. [The cast] talked a lot about that. [Should we have a reunion], it will be a party that day. Just with that, Hae Soo and the princes will meet again,” Jun-ki said.
Scarlet Heart: Goryeo is a remake of the Chinese novel Bu Bu Jing Xin by Tong Hua and the period drama of the same name. Scarlet Heart's star-studded cast includes Lee Jun-ki, IU, Kim Ha-neul, Kim San-ho, Hong Jong-hyun, Yoon Sun-woo, Ji Soo, Nam Joo-hyuk, EXO’s Baekhyun, and Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun.