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Lee Joon-gi back in summer thriller

By Jean Oh

Actor Lee Joon-gi is returning to the small screen this summer with a season-appropriate thriller.

After a year-long television hiatus, the hallyu star is back as a hero out to save his daughter.

Lee also released an album this January before jumping on board the upcoming drama, further cementing his pan-Asian star power as an acting-singing double threat.

“I am back after a long time,” said Lee, 31, at the drama’s press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. “I am touched that so many have showed up for this event.”

Of returning to set, Lee said, “I was very worried at first because I like to be playful on set and create a comfortable vibe but that might not work with my costars. Thankfully, it turns out that we are all on the same wavelength.”

“I am very happy and look forward to going to the set,” Lee added.

In a departure from last summer’s horror-comedy “Tale of Arang” in which he plays a spirit-seeing government official, Lee tackles a real-time-style action-melodrama in MBC’s aptly titled “Two Weeks.”

In the upcoming drama, Lee plays a down-and-out thug with little purpose in life until his old sweetheart -- played by actress Park Ha-sun -- pays him an unexpected visit, revealing to him that he not only has an 8-year-old daughter, but that his daughter is suffering from leukemia and he might be the key to saving her.

Faced with the chance to redeem himself, Lee’s hero Jang Tae-san discovers he is a match for a bone marrow transplant for his daughter. Poised to do something good for once, his plans are foiled when he becomes embroiled in political intrigue and framed for murder.

A fugitive on the run, Jang (Lee Joon-gi) must make it in time for his daughter’s surgery, which is scheduled to take place in two weeks.

As with any chase thriller, the protagonist must always be on the run, giving potential rise to speculation as to how this take on the fugitive genre might stand out from the crowd.

At the press event, Lee shied away from giving away too much, only saying, “Jang Tae-san finds a lot of different ways to hide from the authorities.”

One of those ways was to bury himself in dirt and mud, a scene that Lee revealed was a bit frightening to film.

“It was truly scary to feel, for a brief moment, what it might be like to die,” said Lee, jokingly adding, “But the staff seemed to be having a good time piling dirt over me.”

“Two Weeks” director Son Hyung-suk shed further light onto the upcoming series, saying, “It is shot in a two-week time frame so each episode will show a day’s worth of the story, and I think that might be novel.”

Joining director Son is scriptwriter So Hyon-gyeong, who wrote the smash hit series “My Daughter Seoyeong.”

“Two Weeks” starts airing Aug. 7 Wednesday and Thursday nights on MBC at 10 p.m.

(oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)