Nam Joo-hyuk: "I Wanted to Act So Much in the Army... I Gave 120% to 'Donggung'" [Interview ①]

*This content was translated by AI.

'Donggung' actor Nam Joo-hyuk shared his thoughts on his first work after completing his military service.

On the 21st, Nam Joo-hyuk held an interview at a café in Seoul Jongno-gu regarding the Netflix series 'Donggung' (script by Jung So-ra, directed by Choi Jeong-gyu), which was released on the 17th.

'Donggung' is a fantasy mystery drama following Gucheon (played by Nam Joo-hyuk), who has the ability to travel between the world of humans and ghosts, and Saenggang (played by Noh Yun-seo), a palace maid hiding a secret, as they track down the cursed secrets surrounding the Crown Prince's residence under the king's order (played by Jo Seung-woo).

In the drama, Nam Joo-hyuk portrayed Gucheon, a character who possesses the special ability to move between the human and ghost worlds while carrying deep wounds and loneliness.

This 'Donggung' was Nam Joo-hyuk's first return project after his discharge. Nam Joo-hyuk said, "It's not just because I returned after my discharge; every time I work on a project, I always feel nervous. I tried to turn that nervousness into something positive to create good works. I aimed to make good use of that feeling."

He also explained why he chose 'Donggung' as his comeback project. He said, "In my 20s, I did a lot of romance genre projects, so choosing this genre felt like a new challenge. Since I enjoy taking on challenges, it didn't feel burdensome at all. This work came to me almost like fate. I also enjoy imagining things, and by imagining a lot while developing the character Gucheon, I thought it would be a new challenge for me as well, and through such challenges, I could show even more wonderful performances in terms of genre in the future."

Nam Joo-hyuk stated, "While I was in the army, I had a strong desire to go out and act. That feeling grew even stronger as my discharge date approached. I thought I needed to carry out my plans and imaginations well. While filming 'Donggung', I poured 120% of myself into it."

He also expressed great satisfaction with 'Donggung'. Nam Joo-hyuk said, "During filming, there were too many CG elements. We had to shoot in an environment that wasn't yet complete. So, I filmed while imagining a lot. When I saw the completed work, there were many scenes that matched my imagination and even exceeded it. It seems the director created excellent results during post-production. Although filming was difficult, I was satisfied after seeing the final product."

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*This content was translated by AI.