Girl Group's Journey in "IDOL: The Coup" Now Streaming on iQiyi

iQiyi K-original IDOL: The Coup, which tells the tale of a girl group’s imminent disbandment, held its press conference last November 8. The conference was attended by Director Noh Jong-chan together with series stars including EXID’s “Hani” Ahn Hee-yeon, actor Kwak Si-yang, Produce X 101’s Kim Min-kyu, LABOUM’s Solbin, WJSN’s EXY, REDSQUARE’s Green and actress Han So-eun. The fictitious girl group Cotton Candy is made up of the four real-life K-pop idols who shared the empathy they felt for their characters and shed tears that were real.

“Hani” Ahn Hee-yeon confessed that the show’s plot had an uncanny resemblance to her life story. “I teared up every time I read the script. But I took comfort in the knowledge that if not for my struggles, and for EXID, I probably wouldn’t be able to portray this role well.” She also revealed that fellow EXID member Jeonghwa analysed the script with her. “I revisited my diary and variety shows to recall my memories and struggles, and tried presenting that on-screen to heal those with similar experiences.” 7-year idol Solbin’s character Hyun-ji loves drinking, and the actress joked that she was so much into the role that it felt she was drunk, and incorporated her personal experiences into her acting.

When asked to rate the chemistry within Cotton Candy out of 10, the members unanimously gave scores beyond the limit, ranging from hundreds to thousands and even millions. The only exception was Green, who gave a score of 99, tearing at the thought that she “deducted one point as Cotton Candy ended their run.” Fellow cast members sighed in response, while Kwak Si-yang, who plays the company’s CEO, joked, “Please let them make their debut!”

Other than her friendship with fellow Cotton Candy members, Hani also praised Kwak Si-yang and Kim Min-kyu for an extremely good working experience. “We worked well together. There was good tension when acting with Hani, and Min-kyu is like a younger brother to me. We teased each other and felt comfortable together,” said Kwak. Kim also revealed that “unlike his cool and aloof demeanour as CEO in the show, Kwak Si-yang has a really warm personality in real life. He even winks at me sometimes.”

iQiyi K-original IDOL: The Coup revolves around a passé idol group struggling to find success to avoid being disbanded. 

Starting November 8th, new episodes of the series will be available at 10PM every Monday and Tuesday, exclusively on the iQiyi International app or iQ.com.