'Scandal' Ji Chang-wook on the Intent Behind Bed Scenes with Nana: "Intentionally Excluded Muscle Building"[Interview ②]

*This content was translated by AI.

Actor Ji Chang-wook opened up about his concerns regarding the bold bed scenes and nudity in 'Scandal'.

On the 22nd, we met with Ji Chang-wook, an actor in the Netflix series 'Scandal', at a café on Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, to discuss the work.

'Scandal' tells the story of 'Lady Jo' (played by Son Ye-jin), a talented woman confined to life as a woman in the Joseon era; 'Jo Won' (played by Ji Chang-wook), the greatest lover of the Joseon dynasty, who engages in a reckless and dangerous love bet; and 'Hee-yeon' (played by Nana), a woman entangled in that bet.

On this day, Ji Chang-wook also spoke frankly about the work's level of explicitness and its bed scenes.

Ji Chang-wook said, "Even after hearing the director say 'You can expect it' when asked about the level of explicitness at the press conference, I had many thoughts. It seems he was somewhat burdened by even discussing the work's level of explicitness."

He continued, "Since the work itself has that nature, there could be no nudity at all, and bed scenes were included, so I couldn't help but feel nervous. Still, I think I mustered the courage because the original work is a classic and I trusted Director Jung Ji-woo's directing style."

Before filming, he had sufficient conversations with Director Jung Ji-woo about the meaning and intent of those scenes. Ji Chang-wook stated, "It wasn't just a scene to show explicitness for its own sake; we discussed extensively what meaning bed scenes hold within relationships."

He added, "I intentionally excluded going to the gym to exercise more or building muscles. I wanted to avoid emphasizing only visual aspects and instead focus more on the directorial meaning of the scenes."

Filming the bed scenes themselves remained a significant burden. Ji Chang-wook said, "It seems bed scenes are inevitably burdensome for actors. That's why I recall most of the bed scene filming was concentrated toward the latter part of production."

He continued, "With Nana, we had already built some rapport and chemistry through earlier filming. However, that doesn't make it an easy scene. Filming takes place under the watch of numerous staff members, so it's hard to feel completely at ease. Still, having established a relationship where we could rely on each other before filming was helpful."

He added, "The director also thought very sensitively about these aspects and showed great consideration."

When asked about Jo Won's feelings toward Hee-yeon, Ji Chang-wook brought up the word "warmth." He said, "I thought it was a huge shock that Jo Won felt warmth toward Hee-yeon. I believe the line 'It is warm' well portrays the character of Jo Won."

He continued, "Jo Won believed since childhood that his feelings for Lady Jo were love, but he was hurt within that relationship and later became a rogue after living a dissolute life. In that process, I think he never once felt true warmth."

He explained, "I believe many thoughts began from the moment Jo Won first felt warmth from Hee-yeon. While there was certainly a desire to save her, I don't think this work clearly defines it as love. Emotionally, however, he definitely felt warmth from Hee-yeon."

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.