The “All of Us Are Dead” Cast on How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse

Coming-of-age zombie dramas weren’t on our 2022 bingos card, but here we are. Since its premiere date on Jan. 28, “All of Us Are Dead” has skyrocketed to the top of Netflix, making it the second South Korean drama after “Squid Game” to reach number one on the streaming platform. Set during a zombie apocalypse that originates at Hyosan High School, the series follows a group of teenagers – led by Nam On-jo (Park Ji-hu), Lee Cheong-san (Yoon Chan-young), Choi Nam-ra (Cho Yi-hyun), and Lee Su-hyeok (Lomon) – as they fight for their survival and battle against bloodthirsty monsters to protect their friends.

“For those of us who did turn into zombies, we had a choreographer and they would give us zombie lessons beforehand,” Cho tells POPSUGAR. “We learned about the [facial] expressions, how we would move our fingers, how we would move our necks.” Yoon, whose character, Cheong-san transformed into a zombie in the penultimate episode of season one, added that the zombie makeup often took two to three hours to complete. “I think the makeup team was great – they put so much hard work into it and I’m very happy that it shows through,” he says.

Park, Yoon, Cho, and Lomon also reflected on season one’s heartbreaking ending and shared what they hope to see if Netflix greenlights the show for a second season. Check out the “All of Us Are Dead” cast’s top zombie apocalypse survival tips and hear more about what happened behind the scenes ahead.

POPSUGAR: What were some of your favorite memories in between takes?

Park Ji-hu: I remember the scene on the rooftop. We had this fake rain pouring from the trough and the director would be smiling at us, really happy that he’s pouring rain water on all of us. After the scene was done, it was actually really cold because we were all wet, so we would like huddle together and give a big hug to each other.

Yoon Chan-young: There’s a scene in the music room – I use this musical stand to hit Su-hyeok’s back. Then it broke and the head part [of the stand] kind of came off and it flew to the camera and it shielded the camera lens. So I kind of put an end to that scene because the camera lens was covered.

PS: What were some of the funniest and hardest scenes to film?

Lomon: We did have a lot of fun scenes and a lot of hard scenes to film. If I were to pick one of each, for a fun one, it would be the one where I pee in the classroom because I did it so realistically that people would burst into laughter. The one that was most difficult – I think every scene where we lost a friend was very emotionally difficult for all of us because we were really immersed into our roles and the setting was just so real.

Park: I think [the music room scene] was hard for the staff, especially because we had this big wall of chairs and desks. For every cut, it would be taken down so we would have to build it up again. That took a lot of work, so that was the hard part, but in the room, we all used musical instruments to shoo away the zombies, and that was the fun part.

PS: What is your number one tip for surviving an IRL zombie apocalypse?

Lomon: When there’s a zombie apocalypse, you have to run a lot. So I would recommend people go to the park and go to the gym. Make yourself more fit.
Cho Yi-hyun: I think what’s most important always is the food and water, so always have water and canned food nearby.
Park: One tip is that zombies are very keen on hearing, so I think you should use that to your advantage to survive.
Yoon: I think you should stock up on instant noodles in your house because if there are zombies nearby, then you can just stay alive in your house eating instant noodles. Even if the zombies don’t appear, instant noodles are really good, so it’s going to be good for you [either way].

PS: What do you hope happens if Netflix’s greenlights season two?

Cho: If there is a season two, I’d be really happy, and I hope Nam-ra got even stronger so she can protect her friends.
Yoon: Didn’t all the zombies explode?
Cho: If there are still some left, I think because we have experience, I think we’ll go on a hunt and it will be very adventurous.