Joey King Is Left Blushing After Her We Were the Lucky Ones Co-Star Talks Their First Scene Together

The stars of Hulu’sWe Were the Lucky Ones were tasked with telling the true story of a Polish-Jewish family’s fight to survive World War II, quite an emotional and heartbreaking story to tell. Luckily for Joey King and Sam Woolf, who play love interests Halina and Adam, they had each other to lean on.

Talking to SheKnows about their first scene together, in which they’re seen kissing in a park in episode one, Woolf admits he was immediately impressed by King. “I was super nervous and then the moment we started it was like, ‘Oh I just have to look at this person and react to them and fall in love with them,'” Woolf tells SheKnows, adding “It was sort of the easiest thing in the world.”

The compliment, of course, had King absolutely blushing. “That is so nice,” she says. “Don’t look at me I’m being earnest,” he adds. “Oh my God he’s being so earnest, what do I do? What do I do with my hands?” King hilariously says.

King then continued, remembering how impressed she was with the British actor throughout the show. “I mean there are so many moments between us and this show,” she says. “That’s a great example, the first scene, I think we were both so nervous. It was our first scene and they were like ‘Go make out with each other’ and we’re like ‘Okay!'”

“That scene was amazing because it felt so great and so natural but then as the show went on and as we became closer, and our characters became closer, there were just so many moments – I almost felt like I had no right to feel this way – but there were so many moments where I was so proud of you,” she says of Woolf. “I just love watching you work.”

Now making him blush, King continued. “Every episode was just more and more of that and the more scenes we had together, the better it was, I just felt so enamored with your performance,” she says.

In the series, King plays a member of the Kurc family, a Jewish family from Radom, Poland, who ends up separating during the horrors of WWII. Talking about how meaningful the show was to them, King and Woolf explained how they both felt personally connected to the story.

“I had done 23 and Me years ago but I kinda forgot about it and when I went back to look back I discovered that I’m actually from Poland,” she says. “I didn’t know that, I thought my family was from Russia.”

Given that her heritage is the same as her character’s, King felt a “deeper connection” with the story. “I didn’t know that about myself, that that’s where my roots are,” she says.

For Woolf, while he knew his family was Polish, he did some more investigating before starting the show. “When I found out I got the job I went with my mom to a town where we’re from in Poland, which is called Łódź, and I found my grandfather’s birth certificate,” he says. “So now I’m applying for Polish citizenship.”

“Pierogis for everyone!” King jokes.

We Were the Lucky Ones has new episodes releasing every Thursday. Catch up today to follow Halina and Adam’s love story and their heartbreaking journey to survival.

Before you go, click here to see the best TV shows and movies about the Jewish experience.