A warrant of arrest should be served on Woo Do-hwan. He’s guilty of consistently stealing scenes in the drama “The King: Eternal Monarch” (TKEM).
He plays Jo Yeong “The Unbreakable Sword” or the king’s bodyguard. He was supposed to be just the best friend in the background, sternly protecting King Lee Gon, played by Lee Min-ho, but he has been memorable from the first moment he appeared on screen. He warned royal court staff not to touch the king in his deep, husky voice. We’ve been looking forward to more of his scenes ever since.
One could argue that the suit makes the man. When he’s always wearing one, it’s easy to appreciate the span of Jo Yeong’s shoulders. He took our breath away when he appeared in full battle regalia to protect the sea of the fictitious kingdom of Corea.
But we’ve also seen his goofy side as Eun-seob, his alter ego in the parallel universe. He’s managed to be funny and still endearing. Woo said that this character is different from the roles he’s played.
“In Eun-seob, the viewers will be able to see a new side of the actor Woo Do-hwan. This could be a turning point for me because the viewers can see me take on something different,” he said during the video conference with Super K and other local press last month.
Woo’s last drama is “My Country: The New Age.” He played Sun-ho, a military officer who goes to war against his best friend. The historical drama was excellently written and showcases Woo’s acting talent.
However, Sun-ho is almost the same as Jo Yeong. Stern, strict, intelligent and humorless. This is why we understand his affinity to Eun-seob and his happy-go-lucky attitude.
Woo said that he did not have to physically train for his role in TKEM, thanks to “My Country.” The constant sword fighting trained him to be ready for this drama.
“In terms of action, I didn’t have to prepare separately for this particular role. I worked on the heavy action drama for about a year. That’s why I feel quite confident,” he said. “I could say that I had done something extra for this role. I could say that I worked a little more on the posture and the attitude and the tone of the character because he is the chief imperial bodyguard.”
Another challenge that he had to rise up to is playing two characters. Jo Yeong as an imperial guard speaks in formal language. Eun-seob is swimming in his Busan satoori (accent). Woo said that there are times he had to play the two characters in one day. The most comical scene in the series so far is when Jo Yeong meets Eun-seob for the first time.
“I didn’t realize until now, but I’m pretty handsome,” Eun-seob cries, holding his cheeks.
“You really didn’t know? How could you not know?” a bewildered Jo Yeong reacts stoically. Everybody, at this point, just died laughing.
Woo said that the difficulty of playing a dual role is that the dialect or accent flows from one character into the other unwittingly. Ensuring that the two characters are distinct is most challenging for him.
Woo gets to work with Min-ho most of the time. He has a few scenes with Kim Kyung-nam who plays Shin-jae, and Jung Eun-chae who plays Prime Minister Koo.
He described working with his fellow cast members as “delightful” and he said that they were able to become closer as the shoot progressed.
“There will be an event that the characters are going to solve. It could actually result in conflict. And when we try to resolve those conflicts, we’ll be able to get closer to one another,” he said.
New episodes of “The King: Eternal Monarch” are streamed on Netflix every Friday and Saturday, 10:30 p.m.
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