On May 28, many articles exposing the poor treatment of the film crew of "When life gives you tangerines" towards supporting actors and mass actors caused a stir on social networks.
The poster accused the Netflix crew of abusing supporting actors during filming.
Although it is a Netflix project, there is no basic support. The production team seems to regret spending money on mass actors, they only focus on cutting costs to the maximum, he said.
Specifically, the songwriter said that many mass actors were forced by the film crew to shave their heads with the reason of "requiring roles". Some mass actresses even have to cut their long hair on the spot, because it is difficult to wear a fried hair.
In addition, another accusation says that, in the cold winter weather, older actors were left outside in the cold weather of -15 degrees Celsius, they were only allowed to eat for 30 minutes and did not have a single table.
They also criticized the team in charge of the costumes for not providing warm clothes to the mass actors, causing a 70-year-old actor to be hospitalized for hypothermia. But the crew refused to pay the hospital fees.
The poster questioned how manufacturers manage their investment budgets of up to 60 billion won, while they try to reduce staff hiring costs, pay low wages and avoid overtime pay.
A supporting actor affirmed: "This film is famous for being a hated project among the mass media." In particular, professional mass actors often avoid participating.
In addition, an employee of another cooperative criticized the manufacturer for the convenient use of rental items. According to the story, the manufacturer sprayed paint on the rented bus without permission.
When discovered, the manufacturer had an irresponsible attitude, saying that it was only necessary to use gasoline to erase them. But the truth is that gasoline cannot erase paint. This person was very disappointed by the lack of professionalism of the film crew.
It is not yet possible to verify whether the whistleblowers were actually employees participating in the project or not. But the incident is causing outrage on social media and online communities.
Because When Life Is for You is a film with a positive, healing message, the film crew is embroiled in controversy over the treatment of less famous actors and the mass cast.
On May 29, Netflix responded to the media that they were ance verifying the truth related to the situation at the time.
At the same time, it added: "We are working together with production partners in Korea to create a better production environment. For the confirmed information, we will take a close look to ensure that similar cases do not occur in the future.
When Life Is for You is one of the hottest Korean dramas of the first half of 2025. With the participation of the main cast including IU, Park Bo Gum, Moon So Ri, Park Hae Joon, and an impressive supporting cast, the film won the Best Television Series category at the 2025 Baeksang Arts Awards.
