'Giriko' Lee Hyo-je: "I deeply immersed myself in actual anime and games; watching Baek Seon-ho's acting made me reflect" [Interview ②]

*This content was translated by AI.

Singer Lee Hyo-je left another powerful impression through 'Giriko'. He revealed that he deeply immersed himself in shaping his character by actually playing games and searching for Japanese anime.

On the 14th, at the StarNews building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, we spoke with actor Lee Hyo-je of the Netflix series 'Giriko' about the work.

'Giriko' tells the story of high school students who are warned of sudden death due to the curse of 'Giriko', an application that grants wishes, and who struggle desperately to escape that curse.

Lee Hyo-je portrayed Hyung-wook, a mischievous character who loves playing with his friends and is the first to become entangled with 'Giriko', leaving a strong mark.

Lee Hyo-je stated that he first focused on academic stress for the Hyung-wook character. He explained, "Hyung-wook carries the heaviest academic stress, and deep down, he also harbors stress regarding his friendships. The most visible pressure on the surface was the burden of studying."

He continued, "I also considered the setting of Hyung-wook taking ADHD medication as one way to explain the character. To create the otaku image that appears on the surface, I tried to imitate many actions that Hyung-wook would actually do."

To achieve this, he personally engaged in his actual hobbies. He said, "Since some of the lines included Japanese, I looked up what actions Japanese anime characters make. I watched works like 'Jujutsu Kaisen' and even went to manga cafes to immerse myself in that world." He added, "The game in the work is also a real game that exists, so I bought it and played it myself. Since it's a story-driven game, I thought I needed to play it directly to immerse myself in the character's narrative and love Hyung-wook more."

He admitted that immersing himself in the character brought changes to his daily life. Lee Hyo-je said, "I'm usually a careful speaker, but while portraying Hyung-wook, I naturally became more talkative. Because I kept thinking about the character even in my daily life, there were moments when Japanese slipped out during conversations with friends," he laughed.

He also spoke about his working process with director Park Yoon-seo. He recalled, "Before filming, the director always said, 'Just make Hyung-wook gain some weight.' At the time, I was really working hard to gain weight." He continued, "Looking back now, I think she gave me a lot of creative freedom. Until before filming, she trusted my portrayal of Hyung-wook and left many directions up to me."

However, he conveyed that constant deliberation and coordination continued on set. He explained, "I prepared multiple versions based on my analysis of Hyung-wook, and since it was different from characters I had played before, I felt anxious. There were also moments of uncertainty until I arrived on set, so I prepared various options and made decisions on location." He added, "The director had a clear vision, and she would either combine elements from what I prepared or directly tell me the feeling she wanted."

He also expressed special affection for his chemistry with fellow young actors. He said, "I had fun filming with child actors during the movie 'Hidden Time' and still keep in touch with them. It was my first time working closely with young actors since becoming an adult, so I was very excited."

He continued, "Even before joining the project, we did group readings and ate meals together, and we talked a lot about 'let's make this work well.' The atmosphere on set remained close, and there were many natural moments of chemistry. Especially, the scenes in Part 1 were filmed later in production, but since we had already become close, the chemistry likely showed even better."

In particular, Lee Hyo-je mentioned that watching Baek Seon-ho's acting made him feel regret. He said, "My performance was the best I could do at the time, but I can see areas for improvement. Watching Baek Seon-ho's scenes, I realized how well he acted and reflected on myself. In Part 1, I even thought, 'Should I have gone further?' I feel there were aspects where I could have been freer with the character. Seeing those regrets now means I have grown since then."

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*This content was translated by AI.