우재연
| 2023-10-24 17:09:34
TV series-actor
Actor Ji Chang-wook tries to depict damaged character in 'The Worst of Evil'
By Woo Jae-yeon
SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- Actor Ji Chang-wook did not take a moral stance against his character in the Disney+ series, "The Worst of Evil."
Ji plays undercover cop Park Jun-mo in the Korean crime thriller, who infiltrates into an international drug cartel while at the same time fighting for the safety of his wife, also a cop, assigned to the same mission.
"When I play a character, I don't morally judge it. There is no clear line that demarcates good from evil," Ji said at an interview with a group of reporters in Seoul on Tuesday.
"There are only choices, like we all make our own choices, whatever they are," the actor said.
Ji focused instead on convincingly portraying why Jun-mo makes the choices he makes and how he becomes mentally destroyed in the process.
Set in Seoul in the 1990s, the 12-episode series revolves around the dangerous and complex relationship among Jun-mo, his wife Yoo Eui-jung (Im Se-mi) and Jung Gi-cheol (Wi Ha-joon), the boss of a mega crime syndicate at the center of the drug trade among South Korea, China and Japan.
"Jun-mo does what he does because he can't stop himself, like by the law of inertia," Ji said. "I portrayed Jun-mo's mindset of constantly justifying and rationalizing his choices."
Since making his debut in 2008 with the indie movie "Sleeping Beauty," the 36-year-old actor has starred in a number of popular TV series, including "The K2" (2016) and "Suspicious Partner" (2017).
Ji said "The Worst of Evil" is a well-executed crime thriller built on a resounding narrative that effortlessly weaves through the interconnectedness and depth of each character.
The actor said he quickly built trust with the production team, Sanai Pictures, which made "New World," a 2013 South Korean epic crime film.
"I had high expectations of working with the team, as they have done similar projects before and proved they excel at this kind of genre," Ji said.
Unlike the film, the TV series goes deeper in expressing the intricate dynamics of the characters' relationships, the actor said, while keeping the core of the crime noir's characteristics intact and telling the story in its own original "mood and setting."
"I tried to portray Jun-mo as a dynamic, three-dimensional character and show the depth of how he changes and becomes ruined in the series," he said.
The Disney+ original series, which premiered on Sept. 27 with the first three episodes, is set to release the last three episodes Wednesday.
(END)
[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]