Why Coupang Play's 'Bonjour Bakery' Bet on Slow Storytelling Over Spectacle

In a Korean variety landscape crowded with high-concept formats and louder stunts, Coupang Play's Bonjour Bakery has gone the opposite way. The show pairs actors Cha Seung-won, Kim Hee-ae and Kim Seon-ho with elderly residents of a small countryside town, building each episode around slow conversations and shared meals rather than spectacle.

Producer Park Geun-hyung and writer Kim Ran-ju sat down for an interview at a cafe in the Samcheong-dong area of Seoul to discuss the show. Billed as Korea's first "senior dessert cafe," Bonjour Bakery is set in a quiet village in Gochang, where the cast actually runs a working bakery. Cha Seung-won and Lee Ki-taek lead the kitchen team, while Kim Hee-ae and Kim Seon-ho work the front of house.

Kim explained that the casting started with the roles, not the names. "We decided on the chef team and the hall team first, then thought about which actors would fit best," she said. "For the chef role, which was the most important, Cha Seung-won was the first person who came to mind. He's someone who can stick with something patiently until it's done."

The other roles came together along similar lines. "Kim Hee-ae has a familiar quality that even people in the countryside would recognize," Kim said. "For Kim Seon-ho, I'd heard from the 2 Days & 1 Night staff that he was a really good person, so we sent him the proposal. Lee Ki-taek also came up because so many people described him as a good person."

Both producers stressed how much preparation the cast put in. Real baking, Kim said, turned out to be harder than the team expected. "We met with the chefs before filming and talked it through. Weighing ingredients, sourcing them, the fermentation, the baking. All of it takes time, so the cast really put the work in."

Park singled out Cha for praise. "Cha Seung-won practiced whenever he had a free moment," he said. "He had fluid in his knee and was going to the hospital for treatment, and he was still practicing. Watching him finish treatment and come right back to set, I just thought, this is incredible."

Rather than leaning on big production tricks, Bonjour Bakery bets on small moments and a steady mood. Kim said she knew that approach would take time to land. "I thought the response might be slow at first. But I believed that even if it took a while, a lot of people would understand it eventually."

Park said early test viewers reacted in a way that reassured him. "Everyone who worked on it said it made them think of their own family," he said. "I figured the reaction might be slow, but in the end, a lot of viewers would arrive at a similar feeling." He added that the writers moved into the village two months before filming began so the team could blend in naturally. "That's why saying goodbye was so hard. The elderly residents were really sad when filming wrapped, too."

Asked to pitch the show to new viewers, both stayed in the same key. "Bonjour Bakery is the kind of variety show that hits harder with each episode," Park said with a smile. "When you finish watching, your heart feels a little warmer, and you understand other people a little better. I hope a lot of people will tune in."

Kim pointed to the cast chemistry as the show's slow-burn payoff. "Early on we focused on the grandmothers and grandfathers, but as the show goes on, the cast's sense of humor really comes through," she said. "Kim Seon-ho stopping passing grandmothers to chat with them, kind of like Hong Ban-jang, is genuinely funny. Please watch."

Bonjour Bakery streams on Coupang Play every Friday at 4 p.m. KST.