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harper’s bazaar your instagram follower count is a good indicator, isn’t it? i saw you’ve already surpassed 1.3 million. and i was curious about the image on your profile picture.

choo youngwoo just give me a minute. the exact title is <just listen to the song>. it’s a short story by tatsuki fujimoto from three years ago. i often change my wallpaper or profile picture on a whim whilst watching manga or anime. i usually prefer the second male leads, but this character is the protagonist. (harper’s bazaar i thought it was fan art because it looks just like you.) thank you. he’s a really handsome, but i suppose it’s just that our hairstyles and the positions of our moles are similar.

harper’s bazaar following <the tale of lady ok>, <the trauma code: heroes on call> was also a huge hit. what factors do you consider most important when selecting projects? would you say you have a good instinct for choosing them?

choo youngwoo i rarely choose a project on my own. i discuss it a lot with my agency. in the past, my top priority was a project that seemed likely to help me grow as an actor. i don’t think there’s a clear line between a good project and a bad one. if the script is good, the acting just naturally follows. i have absolutely no instinct for picking box-office hits. i’m nowhere near that yet. (laughs)

harper’s bazaar we’ve identified the reasons why actor choo youngwoo is garnering attention. first, there’s undoubtedly the good looks and talent you inherited from your parents.

choo youngwoo my father is someone who doesn’t let his emotions run wild over every little thing. my grandfather often said that i was more mature than my peers from a young age, and i think my father’s calm demeanor is a big help when i’m working. when it comes to my career, rather than giving specific advice, they always tell me to be kind to those around me and to greet people properly.

harper’s bazaar above all, your acting. in <the tale of lady ok>, you tackled the complex challenges of a historical drama, portraying a marginalized character, and playing dual roles. even though you didn’t drastically change your appearance for the dual roles, the fact that you looked like a completely different person makes us look forward to your future performances even more.

choo youngwoo i’ve talked a lot about playing dual roles in other interviews, but i realized something else yesterday while discussing acting with a friend. the way people interact with others varies depending on the situation, right? you treat someone you like differently than someone you dislike. just as your tone and behavior change when you’re with someone you find difficult or with a cute child, i keep in mind the most basic fact that everyone has a different personality and identity.

harper’s bazaar i think your role as a trauma surgeon wearing a doctor coat and glasses in <the trauma code: heroes on call> showed another side of your natural self. your comedic performance, which never felt forced, also left a fresh impression.

choo youngwoo my character, yang jaewon, is professor baek kanghyuk’s first student. he tries his best to do everything the professor asks, but his inexperience inevitably comes through. i tried to portray those situations in a cartoonish way. after all, a netflix series is watched by audiences around the world. i thought that if i expressed things clearly and exaggeratedly, like in a cartoon, it would be easier for a diverse audience to relate to. since i had my own solid reasoning, i felt it was better to just go for it. you could say that jaewon compensates for the clumsy charm that the perfect character baek kanghyuk lacks. i tried to create a charm unique to jaewon.

harper’s bazaar while the success of these two projects stands out this year, i believe you’ve fulfilled your duty as an actor through a variety of roles up to now. looking back on your career, what would you most like to emphasize when talking about the actor choo youngwoo?

choo youngwoo i’ve received all kinds of feedback so far. ‘he seems mature, but he’s still so childlike. he seems to be a good actor, but he still feels a bit lacking.’ but strangely enough, it didn’t bother me. i guess that just means i’m an ambiguous person. since i’m someone with an ambiguous charm that others don’t possess, i hope you’ll continue to watch over me prettily until that charm becomes more defined.

harper’s bazaar what keeps choo youngwoo going?

choo youngwoo my family comes first. i have a desire to repay, in whatever way i can, the people who shower me with affection. also, there are bound to be people who dislike me. i hope that someday, even those people will come to love me.

harper’s bazaar you’ve mentioned that acting comes before love. why do you love acting so much?

choo youngwoo after the drama <oasis> wrapped up, during the promotional activity, i played a balance game where i had to choose between love and friendship, and i chose love. love is precious, of course, but the happiness acting brings is just so immense. and if i hadn’t acted, i don’t think i’d be who i am today. my personality, my voice, my way of speaking, even the way i walk—all of these are things i’ve honed through acting. i’m grateful that, thanks to acting, i’ve become the person i am today. (laughs)

harper’s bazaar what is your dream as an actor?

choo youngwoo i haven’t been able to tell my fellow actors and friends that i’d like to give them acting feedback. i hope the day comes soon when i can offer to help someone with their acting and see them respond with genuine enthusiasm.

harper’s bazaar back when you were a student, you declared on <yoo quiz> that you wanted to become ‘actor choo youngwoo.’ if you were to make a new declaration for <bazaar>, what would it be?

choo youngwoo i’m truly grateful to the fans who tell me, ‘it’s been a long time since i’ve seen a decent actor.’ at the same time, they always add, ‘i hope you keep doing this for a long, long time.’ i’ll do my best to keep going for a long, long time.

full interview:

how many instalments is ideal? (laughs)

full instalments! i spread it out as much as possible to avoid damage. the pre-production phase is everything. i truly believe it's everything. usually, before going on set, there's one full script reading and one meeting with the director, but i do it a dozen times or more. that way, i don't experience major stress on set.

the current system, which has more pre-production compared to the past, must suit you well. what did you focus on during the pre-production phase for <climax>?

is this story engaging? not just engaging, but does it hold plausibility? also, where can dramatic licence be applied, or where might it appear 'fake'? there's no single right answer, but we all gather for meetings to discuss this. it's a process of reaching consensus on whether something 'feels convincing or not'. ultimately, it's about whether the drama is moving in the desired direction.

given this work is described as having a 'climax' in every episode, that plausibility seems even more crucial.

absolutely. just as you need coffee beans to brew a double shot or a quad shot, you simply must have the beans (core/raw materials). if you were to steep barley tea to make it strong, that would be cheating. you mustn't deceive with your work. this is, quite literally, drama. a drama! crimes do occur daily in this world where people kill each other and wars break out, yet i still constantly agonise over whether this is going too far or if this much should be allowed.

the coffee analogy is rather amusing. what sort of coffee did you come out with this time?

if we're to continue the coffee metaphor, this work seems more about caffeine and its consumption. everyone knows while watching, 'that's not how it should be done, is it?' since we were told not to eat it, the forbidden fruit simply mustn't be eaten. yet, desiring it is human nature. that seems to be the essence of such desire. when ordering a chicken, there are only two drumsticks, yet some people want to eat both. ultimately, dramas inevitably tackle the universal story of 'how do we, living in society, resolve such desires?' i think this work delves more explicitly into that desire, focusing directly on its raw, unadulterated form.

what desire drives prosecutor taeseop's relentless pursuit?

it's the desire to climb higher. that's why it was fascinating both reading the script and performing it. but after racing towards that desire for so long, i too find myself asking, 'why am i pursuing this desire?' i don't know the answer either. regardless, i'm on the tracks now, and the train is already moving.

you have to deal with numerous characters. who is the most challenging opponent?

ultimately, it seems to be oneself. this holds true within the work, and i share a similar perspective: despite all the talk of this or that, it boils down to my own desire.

director lee jiwon described ju jihoon as having 'a face that already embodies desire'.

it's unfair. i didn't choose to be born with this face. (laughs)

haha, it's the kind of face every male actor would want. directors all harbour their own dreams of working with ju jihoon. are you still discovering new facets of your face?

i wouldn't know. i’ve been working for so long since my model days. to me, i look completely different now, but if others say they see no change, i guess they’re right. other times, i think, ‘is that really how i speak?’ yet if people say it’s different, i suppose it must be. so at some point, i stopped overthinking the difference between my own view and others’.

so judgement is left to the viewer, then.

exactly. i still find myself pondering how elements rooted in who i am can manifest in a character like this. today's pictorial shoot is probably no different.

this story unfolds as the desires of various characters collide. what is the desire ju jihoon harbours at this moment?

to be at peace. perhaps, in a way, that’s where my heart is now too. thinking back to after so long, i find myself wondering what on earth is taeseop striving so desperately for? (laughs)

when i was young, on sundays, my friends and i would each get 2,000 won pocket money. we'd pay 1,000 won for the bathhouse, then pool the remaining 1,000 won to go to the market. whether we bought something to eat or went to the internet cafe, it was so much fun. sometimes, even without money, just wandering around the neighborhood, sitting and chatting, we were really happy. what is that state of peace? it’s not about having great ambitions for anything; it’s closer to being like when you were young; meeting friends without any special reason or purpose, just chatting, walking, things like that. i think that kind of tranquility is what i need.

what was young ju jihoon's dream back then?

i didn't have any dreams. (laughs) i was a really happy kid. after school, i'd play basketball, sleep well, and when i got home, i'd eat the meals mom had prepared. if i had any desire back then, it was something like wanting to eat two delivery burgers. the food i ate back then tasted the best.

it's been twenty years since your acting debut. do you plan to commemorate it in any way?

it seems the world has changed, much like how people rarely hold sixtieth birthday celebrations these days. before, it was difficult for actors to last twenty years, but now it's less about anniversaries and more about whether one can continue as long as their own desires allow. i think the senior actors today are, in a sense, pioneers. is it called their 'twilight years'? yet they still play leading roles, connecting and resonating with audiences. as a junior following in their footsteps, i don't feel i've been around that long. my seniors are still actively performing right before my eyes. i'm still fetching water, you see. (laughs) clint eastwood is still working at 97, so i'd like to just go with the flow like that.

you’ve built such a rich and impressive filmography so far. do you think this work will find its place among them?

i certainly hope so. the original script was rated 19, but it ended up being rated 15. i actually preferred the 19 version. there’s a bit of regret there, but i trust the director worked her magic to make it work. so i’m looking forward to it too.

you said you want to be at peace, but isn't desire necessary to keep moving forward?

these days, it seems everyone is taking longer and longer to find that answer. i'm working really hard, yet i still feel the same. i'm in my mid-forties, and if someone asks, 'what kind of person are you?', i'm not quite sure. i'm still in the process of figuring it out too.

full interview:

in episode 16, the prison scene where yungyeom sacrifices himself by telling seunghwi, 'live happily in my place,’ it was the climax of the confrontation between the two men. as it was the final episode, the behind-the-scenes story of this scene wasn’t fully revealed. how did you approach it?

when portraying seunghwi, i tried not to hide the immense anger he felt towards yungyeom. after all, yungyeom had appeared far too late, despite his wife taeyoung (lim jiyeon) and family searching so desperately for him. yungyeom’s core emotions were shamelessness and desperation. i wanted to convey that he knew full well he was in the wrong yet found himself in a situation where he had no choice but to make this request of seunghwi for his family’s sake. actually, this scene received quite a lot of praise for being well done, but i personally felt some regret about it. even knowing that the set is a place where i can’t always do everything i’ve prepared, it’s not easy to let go of that desire. still, i try to do so. i often think that trusting your colleagues and knowing when to move swiftly on to the next scene is an important attitude for an actor. instead, i ask the director questions right up until we go in for the take just like a child curious about everything in the world. i felt sorry for being a bother, but the process yields so many ideas for improvisation so i can’t help it.

you’ve mentioned that the key to passing an audition is to appear like the character the moment you step into the room. was there something distinctly 'yang jaewon’ you prepared for the <the trauma code: heroes on call> audition?

i’m usually quite meticulous in my preparation, but this project was an exception. since jaewon and i share similar personalities, i thought showing my usual self would suffice yet even with many similarities, i wasn’t confident i’d get casted. i always have the thought that there must be an actor better suited to any character than me, and for jaewon, that worry was particularly strong. the anxiety faded bit by bit during filming, every time i felt the trust from director lee doyoon, who had chosen me.

in the latter part of the final episode, when jaewon decides to operate on baek kanghyuk (ju jihoon), you could see the face of a disciple who had come to resemble his mentor. the bewildered look from the beginning was gone, replaced by the gaze of a doctor with conviction.

for that scene, the director specifically requested i bring out baek kanghyuk’s character as fully as possible. i recall paying particular attention to it, as it marked a pivotal point for Jaewon. the director’s constant advice came to mind: “<the trauma code: heroes on call> is the story of yang jaewon’s growth. so give it your all.” those words served as a kind of compass for me, compelling me to act responsibly.

you must have spent quite some time observing actor ju jihoon to find baek kanghyuk’s characterisation.

i didn’t need to try hard to observe him. when you like someone, it just happens naturally! (laughs) on set, i just watched senior, followed him around, and asked countless questions.

the seventh episode’s, in the chairman’s office sequence where geumson faces off one-on-one against gijun (so jisub), is the final act and climax of geumson’s story, filled with guns and blood. the catharsis and pressure must have been immense.

i never set out to think i had to overpower senior so jisub. i was simply not up to the task, nor did geumson possess the calibre for such a feat. i prepared to portray geumson meeting gijun here like a child irritated at his mother barging in uninvited and i found a thrill in expressing that moment. since i first read the script, i wanted to carry that sense of ’ a puppy unaware of the tiger’s ferocity’ geumson exudes right through the end.

was it the acrobatics and modern dance you learned relentlessly while preparing for theatre and film school that gave you confidence in physical acting?

i stick to the principle that ‘actors must unconditionally use their bodies well’, which is why i continue training to this day. when watching other actors perform, i tend to watch their movements closely. the reason i focus more intensely on physical acting is that i feel eloquence and line delivery require far more time and accumulated skill. when i see senior actors’ act, i find myself unable to become fully immersed, even when they spend thirty minutes on stage merely exchanging lines. reaching that level seems distant, so i focus on what i can do now. creating distinct gaits for each character stems from this approach. if gyeonu walked with his body slightly tilted back, bongsu walked with his upper body leaning forward slightly. jaewon typically walked with his hands in his gown pockets. yungyeom walked stiffly, reflecting his character, while seunghwi strode with a wide gait, swaying slightly. geumson walked arrogantly, the key point being he appeared like a child pretending to be an adult.

looking back at choo youngwoo’s characters in 2025, they can be roughly grouped by the common thread of being 'practitioners of their craft’. artist seunghwi, martial artist yungyeom, doctor jaewon, heir geumson, and archery prodigy gyeonu, they all are characters who invest long hours for their goals, possessing tenacity and determination. do you think you possess such traits yourself?

yes. i’m not the type to grow passionate for something only to lose enthusiasm quickly. once i start something, i stick with it and don’t give up. that’s why i have many hobbies. drawing, watching films, dancing, singing, clothes shopping, studying fashion, cooking, boxing, working out… whenever i have time, i pick whatever takes interest at the moment.

the director of the new drama <love doctor> is ahn panseok. in this work, you play minjae, a doctoral student who gave up his dream of becoming a swimmer due to illness and struggled to find a new path in robotics. i imagine he carries pain comparable to gyeonu.

compared to the calm gyeonu, minjae experiences far greater emotional fluctuations. in my opinion, the late 20s to early 30s seem to be the turbulent period of change. as adults, we begin to feel fear while trying various things, and when we attempt to pursue what we desire, financial constraints hold us back, making self-control difficult. minjae is a character right in the midst of this.

by 2026, you’ll be entering your late twenties. at that age, leonardo dicaprio broadened his genre spectrum with <catch me if you can>, while actors gong yoo and hyun bin each created their signature works: <coffee prince> and <secret garden> respectively. what kind of work would you like to leave as your legacy for the remainder of your twenties?

those are some big names to compare myself to. (laughs) i’ve always wanted to do a proper, authentic melodrama. while i’m fulfilling that dream with <love doctor>, i’d welcome another opportunity. i also harbour a desire to do another historical drama. having gained experience through <the tale of lady ok>, i feel i could do well next time. to be honest, i don’t have some grand vision or strategy like, 'i must become this kind of actor, i must project this kind of image’. i’m more inclined to stay grounded in reality. i believe that if i live diligently in the present, one day i too might receive the kind of praise mentioned in those earlier examples. so, once this interview is over, i plan to read the script for <love doctor> one more time.

[10_23_58__6951d82ee9ee2[H800-].jpg (1600×800)] “i paid a lot of attention to bongsu’s dual voice. originally, he was set to have a heavy, demonic voice that sounded terrifying like an effect sound, but i thought a childlike tone and high pitch would suit him better. i wanted his willful nature to reveal a pure side. for the sly seunghwi, i set his voice much higher than my usual tone, matching his quick pace. jaewon, whose daily routine involves rushing around hospital corridors in a panic, also had his voice raised slightly to reinforce his character. conversely, yungyeom, who barely speaks even when necessary, had his tone lowered as much as possible to convey a sense that this character harbors some secretive quality.”

full interview:

do you often hear that you’re hard to get close to?

youngwoo i often hear that I’m hard to approach first. actors i’ve worked with before say that even though i look at them with really loving eyes, they say my eyes are scary.

sooyoung i think i’ve said that too!

to get close, someone has to make the first move, right? who did it first?

sooyoung youngwoo approached me first. actually, we're both introverts, but we’re a bit different. when we get direction from the director, i spend the whole day thinking about how to pull it off, but youngwoo is like, “oh, there aren’t many directions today, are there?” he helped to calm my nerves.

youngwoo i tend to think positively and try to separate work from life. i really thought that way.

the director’s comments at the press conference have been widely reported in the news.

sooyoung hahaha. he said he had preconceived notions about me as an idol. he actually said that. but when the director said to me at a team dinner, ‘hey, you did a great job,’ i felt like i was going to cry. it was a major turning point in my acting career.

youngwoo it’s been about a year and a half since i debuted, and i’m truly grateful to have been given such a major project and a great role. it was a huge pressure. to be told that i’ve found my place is the highest compliment. i think i’ve developed a love-hate relationship with the director now. (laughs) i can tell he’s trying to stifle a laugh when he looks at me.

what’s most essential for portraying romance well in a drama?

sooyoung when acting, i have to truly be in love, that feeling of as though they’re the person i love most in the world and being utterly smitten. even when resting or taking breaks, i kept repeating to myself, “this is someone i adore so much, this is the person i love,” like a mantra. as i did that, i found myself taking even better care of them.

youngwoo i’m not a mosol (a person who has never been in a relationship) but i’m not good at dating. (laughs) i couldn’t really remember the different stages of emotions when i was dating. that’s something else that seems similar to jiyul. sooyoung nuna is just so lovely as a person. so, i had absolutely no difficulty acting with her.

sooyoung i appreciated how easygoing youngwoo was. it allowed me to comfortably suggest things like, “let’s try it this way, or that way.” actually, the two of them (their characters) have a backstory. you’ll see it in the drama, the story of their past.

who would you recommend this work to?

sooyoung to someone who wants to feel the excitement they’ve forgotten.

youngwoo i hope all Red Velvet fans watch it. it's delicate, deeply thoughtful

sooyoung i feel that youngwoo will grow even more, you know? i keep telling him not to forget me when he becomes famous.

choo youngwoo, regarding the TMI about joy that he learned, said, “she wears acupressure slippers to wake herself up in the morning. i found that intriguing. so, i bought a pair too,” eliciting laughter.

full interview:

you’re currently spending the days as an emperor, aren’t you? the role name was a bit difficult, ‘sovieshu’. could you give some hints about <the remarried empress>?

i just got back from a month-long overseas shoot and i’m currently filming domestically. it’s difficult to say anything specific yet, but given the setting of the drama, and the character i’m playing, which quite different from what i’ve done before, i think it will bring a fresh dose of dopamine in many ways.

<W>’s ‘Best Performance’ is a spectacular project, both in terms of the scale of the photoshoot and the caliber of individuals involved. <the trauma code: heroes on call> is the starting point for this project in many ways. it was netflix’s first series to kick off 2025, and the response was enthusiastic from the moment it was released. do you remember the first time you saw the finished work?

actors can watch the work in advance before it’s released since we need to participate in the promotion. i watched it at home, and i remember feeling relieved because the parts i was worried about while preparing were turned out well. i think i watched about four episodes in one sitting.

what physical and emotional preparation was necessary to portray baek kanghyuk, a surgeon who displays superhuman abilities even in emergency situations?

the original work itself has a lot of fantasy elements. while the base is medical, but when you look closely, it’s a superhero story. in the drama, baek kanghyuk performs things that are almost impossible to pull in reality, and i put a lot of thought into how to make those elements convincing. we went through intense study and discussion.

i heard you spent a lot of time doing studies with other actors. choo youngwoo, who played yang jaewon, the first trauma surgery disciple called ‘anus’ by baek kanghyuk, hayoung, who played the spirited nurse cheon jangmi, and jung jaekwang, who played the solid and reliable anesthesiology resident park kyungwon, were all impressive.

jaekwang had relatively more experience, while youngwoo and hayoung had less experience in comparison. everyone was very proactive in their approach to studying. even though they must have come prepared with their own ideas, when the director or a senior actor suggested a slightly different perspective on interpreting a scene, the kids fearlessly absorbed it like sponges, ‘swoosh, swoosh, swoosh’. that was really appreciated and it made the study sessions we had together deeply meaningful. everyone was really absorbing everything so well throughout the filming as if they were truly growing along with the flow of the story. i was the one who felt even more grateful.

it seems the relationship between you and director lee doyoon is quite special. the memories from making the movie <confession> must have been really fond ones. in what ways do you two connect so well?

we’re currently in our tenth year of being cinematic comrades. oh, of course, <the trauma code: heroes on call> isn’t a movie but a series (laughs). director lee doyoon and i have a similar perspective on certain issues and he has an excellent ability to accurately capture the emotions a scene needs to convey. the project we passionately worked on together fell through, and having shared the unspoken ups and downs for a long time as comrades, it makes me even happier that we could laugh together with <the trauma code: heroes on call>. at the blue dragon series awards not long ago, i was much happier about this series winning an award than my own. those who have seen the series love me a lot because baek kanghyuk’s performance stands out, but people in the industry know how much of director lee doyoon’s soul went into <the trauma code: heroes on call>. i was genuinely happy that director lee doyoon’s efforts were rewarded with the best picture award.

while doing interviews, you’ve probably often been asked to name a project that represents a ‘turning point.’ it might be similar to or it could be different from that ‘turning point’ but i’ve always been curious about when you started to feel the ‘joy of acting’. you mentioned that when you first debuted, you were scolded by the director while filming. i’d love to hear about the project that made you feel the joy of acting, the one that made you feel like a question mark was turning into an exclamation point.

in the early days of my acting career, i was so overwhelmed just trying to handle what was given to me that the pressure to ‘get it done’ was greater than to find joy in it. if the characters i played back then were mainly about exuding physical charm and led the story forward… starting with the movie <confession> i had the opportunity to portray emotions in a more complex way. it was the project that gave me the opportunity to expand my utility in the market. i think it was around that time i really began to find the joy of exploring characters.

beside the joy of working in an environment where you collaborate with good people, have you ever experienced the joy of someone discovering something about you that you didn’t even know yourself?

of course. working with good seniors always helps me discover new things about myself that i didn’t even know before. when i look at the monitor, i’m forced to witness an unexpected version of myself. those moments make me truly happy. fortunately, i’ve had many seniors in my life who have helped me become that way. not just the senior actors, but the directors too.

i like the movie <asura>. it’s a movie with an absolutely incredible amount of energy. i also really like ju jihoon in <asura>. i’m going to ask you the question that was asked to ‘senior hwang jungmin’ during that filming. how do you feel when you’re not satisfied with your juniors’ acting?

the answer i heard from jungmin hyung back then, i think it was a very good, accurate, and upright answer. what jungmin hyung told me was something like this. ‘no one is perfect. if a young and inexperienced friend who is still lacking is getting around a 70 points but is really giving it their all, we should be willing to help them out, because we’re colleagues. but if that friend is still getting 70 points and not even making an effort, you need to tell them, maybe even scold them.’ i believe that statement is the correct answer.

in an interview, you said, ‘there is no right answer in popular culture and art, but i think there are wrong ones.’ and that you make an effort to ‘understanding the current time/era in order not to be wrong’. what are some of the things that you consider wrong?

to begin with ‘wrong’ carries various meanings, but to give an example that’s easy to convey in words, if a project has an official ‘pre-production’ process and you don’t do your best to prepare during that pre-production time, i think it’s wrong. it’s simple, it’s about not doing your fair share. also, i think it’s essential to clearly understand the planning intention behind a project before interpreting it. trying to interpret a work in a way that deviates from its essential planning intent… well, it’s not something that can be changed just because an actor says, ‘i want to try it that way.’ i believe you can avoid mistakes only by properly reading the planning intent carefully and understanding it in line with the essence.

what are some of the efforts involved in understanding the current time/era?

if you mean effort… well, since i’m an actor, i naturally enjoy observing people. i still tend to enjoy just watching people in the market or other open spaces. we might exchange small talk when we pass each other. fortunately, my job involves constantly conversing with people much older or much younger than me, so i naturally pick up on things in that regard as well.

when making a choice, do you tend to consider the opinions of those around you, or do you trust your own judgment?

first, i try to understand my own feelings well, and then i ask those around me. i’m not perfect after all.

as you get more experience and years under your belt, you come to learn more. you also learn to read the environment. does having such a broadened ‘perspective’ ever make things uncomfortable or leave you feeling something is lacking?

back then, i was too busy looking out for myself to notice much else (laughs). now, as i gain experience, i can see a lot more. my radar for understanding the progress happening on-site, the condition of my colleagues, and the atmosphere naturally expanded and that’s a good thing because it gives me a better understanding of what i’m doing. but for example, in some scenes, even if i just want to immerse myself, there are times when i detect signals like ‘if it goes like this, it could be risky.’ when that happens, it weighs on me. i don’t express all of that outwardly or get involved in every situation and just generally choose to stay in my position and do my part. but internally, i’m very sensitive to it, and i try to incorporate/reflect that feeling into my next choice or performance.

tha’ts very wise of you. i’ve seen quite a few male actors in their 20s and 30s, who are mostly focused on paving their own way, say things like ‘i’m looking forward to my 40s.’ it’s probably because they expect their acting to become more refined by that age. what kind of man did ju jihoon think was cool in his 20s?

it’s jung woosung. then and now, i still feel the same way. i consider kind and well-mannered people to be the strongest. in that sense, woosung hyung is the coolest person.

is being friendly a natural trait? could it be because the influence of growing up in a large family?

i think it’s a bit of both. it’s partly just my nature, and perhaps growing up in a bustling extended family had something to do with it. and in the era i grew up in, neighborhood friends would gather together every day and play outside, so i think i’m a bit used to that kind of atmosphere.

what scene comes to mind when you think of your childhood?

i spent most of it reading books. when i was a child, there weren’t even computers… so the thing i remember most is just constantly reading the books at home that my father used to read.

could you introduce a book you particularly cherish?

i used to read a lot, but about 5 or 6 years ago, with so many scripts to read and movies to watch, i drifted away from books a bit. now i look at the script much more. i usually read books of all kinds/without being picky. i generally like the emotions that japanese literature conveys.

in the 90s, there were a lot of posters and bromides of all kinds, weren’t there? did you ever put movie posters or someone’s picture up on your room’s wall?

memories of laminated protective sheet (t/n: usually photo of a celebrity printed on it) would likely resonate with those born in the 1970s. for me it was <beat>. <swordsman II>, <a chinese ghost story>, and pretty much all of stephen chow’s movies.

do you remember the first movie you saw in a theater?

<thunderbird>!

ju jihoon, who experienced theater movies for the first time with <thunderbird>, grew up watching <beat> and stephen chow movies, and officially started his career with <princess hours>, has now come to baek kanghyuk. after about 20 years as an actor, what is the biggest lessons that remains with you now?

i’ve mentioned this a few times, but once i hit my forties, it feels like… well, like playing a game in hardcore mode. in my 20s, i could take on the role of someone in their 30s, and in my 30s, i could take on the role of someone in their 20s~30s, even someone in their 40s with some make up on. but from now on, as the years go by, the roles i can take on will be limited. if about ten years pass from here, it feels like i will come through with a completely different energy. so, i just think like this. ‘let’s live each day preciously.’ it’s less of a lesson and more of a thought i keep coming back to lately. ‘let’s live each day well.’

original article:

“interviews are difficult because i want to convey exactly what’s in my head, but expressing emotions through words and accurately representing them is also not an easy task. even a single word change can alter the meaning, so conveying my true feelings during an interview is extremely difficult. but on the other hand, if it weren’t for the interview, would i ever have the chance to have someone listen to my story with such sparkling eyes? when having a conversation, arguments are bound to arise, but interviews are more enjoyable because the other person just listen quietly. so, it can be stressful, but it also provides relief and sometimes feels like a confession.”

“magazine interviews are the most comfortable for me. other media outlets just go for the gossip and make up stories out of thin air. they serve an appetiser for the main course, but if they think the appetiser is tastier, they just discard the main course as they please. now, i don’t even get angry when i read ridiculous articles. if i start getting hurt, it never ends, so magazine interviews are interesting for that reason. later, when i read the article, i can tell whether the editor had a liking for the interviewee or not.”

“anyway, the magazine is like a home to me. it’s nice to be able to come back and talk comfortably after living so intensely in front of the camera. i’m grateful.”

full interview:

Q: what did choo youngwoo learn through his on-set experience?

the first thing i realized when i started going to auditions alone was how lonely i felt. during entrance exams or at uni, i had friends to share my burdens with, whether it was taking a test, doing homework, or getting scolded by the teacher, i could worry about it together with them. however, since i had to do the audition alone, it was very lonely. however, that loneliness actually helped me. the time i spent alone agonizing ‘what should i do?’ became some sort of nourishment.

Q: what was the most difficult part about going to auditions?

there were many difficult auditions. especially in the audition for my first work, “you make me dance” i showcased the contemporary dance i had learned during my entrance exams as my special skill. actually, my role was a swimmer, and since the work wasn’t even about contemporary dance, the director completely rewrote the script after seeing me dance. they changed the title, the plot, and even the character settings.

Q: you must’ve felt under a lot of pressure

i felt a tremendous sense of pressure and responsibility, so i dedicated myself to dance practice. actually, i’m not that good at controlling my body, but i was completely immersed in practice.

Q: what kind of roles would you like to challenge yourself with next?

i want to challenge myself with a role that deals with delicate emotions, like the romance in han jiyul’s character. when i first started acting, i was proud of it. i had the pride of being an aspiring actor, just like a student preparing for the theater and film department entrance exam. back then i wanted to do an acting where i was wailing or pushing my emotions to their limits. i liked noir and tried to look older. in my early 20s, i grew a beard even tho it didn’t suit me. but looking back, age is something that just comes naturally without such efforts. thinking that way, even my appearance last year seems cute when i look back now. there were things back then that i no longer have now . as time passes, there are characteristics unique to each age that you can't never get back. so now i just want to do work that captures the expressions i can convey/show at my current age.

Q: what made you choose acting?

i was a science student until my 2nd year of high school and wanted to become a biology teacher, but when i was nineteen, i suddenly discovered a passion for acting. no one around me suggested it, but when i thought about the things i’ve loved since i was young , like dancing, singing, and visiting new places, i realized that acting was something that allowed me to do all of those things. while looking into how to become an actor, i learned that i needed to enroll in an acting department, so i started preparing for the entrance exam.

Q: after experiencing the filming set, how different was it from what you expected when you first started acting?

it was different in a good way. i was very nerveous, so when i first went to acting school i was very surprised. it was the first time i’d seen people doing acrobatic moves, and also the first time i’d seen someone wearing leopard pattern clothing. they were singing musical numbers, and they were doing it so well and looked so cool to the point where i wonder if should just give up everything and focus on studying again. the entrance exam was a competition, and i felt overwhelmed because i didn’t think i could beat them. still, many people helped me, and the actual set is a much bigger world. it wasn’t as scary as i had feared.

Q: have you ever felt discouraged while acting?

i once felt discouraged after an audition. i attended the acting department at the K-Arts, and among actors, it’s known as a difficult school to get into. so, it seemed the judges looked at my profile and thought, “oh, since you’re from K-Arts, you must be able to act to some extent.” but after the audition ended, i heard comments like, “are you really from K-Arts?" and “you can stop here/i think we’ve seen enough here.” it was the most passionate time of my life, so the frustration was also great. of course, having gone through over 100 by now, i’ve had similar experiences quite often since then.

Q: how did you overcome it?

i haven’t completely overcome it. back then i went home crying. in an interview, actor timothee chalamet said, “separate acting from your daily life” and that statement has been a great mental help. although i was frustrated by my acting, i still met up with friends, ate meals, and the next day went to school, prepared assignments, or read scripts. i felt that dwelling on the issue would be bad for my mental health, so i practiced taking the problem out to think about it and then putting it back away.

Q: you are 25yo now. what will 35yo choo youngwoo look like?

ten years from now, when junior colleagues are asked who they want to be like as actors, i hope my name comes up at least once.

full interview:

which actor’s performance did youngju in ‘school 2021’ refer to?

i watched a lot of senior kim woobin’s acting in KBS’s ‘school 2013’. i think i’ve watched it at least seven times. of course, senior and i are very different and no matter how much i watch senior (kim) woobin’s acting, i don’t think it’d be easy to incorporate his acting into youngju. still i feel that if it’s only 0.1% of senior's charm comes through that’d be nice.

i’m curious about the reason why the student who studied hard because they had many things they wanted to do decided to pursue acting.

there wasn’t any grand reason, but when i thought about what would make me the happiest, it seemed like acting was the answer. at that time, i kept studying, thinking that i’d be in trouble if i didn’t get the grades i wanted but it turned out that even if the scores i wanted didn’t come out, nothing really happened. at that moment, my ideas about studying were greatly shattered. as that happened, i started to feel that i wanted to try doing what i really wanted to do. the moment i firmly decided to pursue acting was when i went to an entrance exam academy in seoul for a consultation and happened to see students practicing acting in a room. there were students reciting lines alone while facing the wall, and on the other side, there were students diligently moving their bodies. watching people so engrossed that the mirror in the that room fogged up made me want to live like that too and fill my days like those friends. that moment feels it was the turning point for me.

what do you think are choo youngwoo’s unique strengths as an actor?

i really like my eyes. even though they are slightly asymmetrical and often swollen, i think they have a unique charm that’s distinctly mine, so i want to consider them a strength. and i usually like to use my body and sweat. i often get injuredt, but since i’m not easily scared, i can do action scenes and perform without holding back physically.

full interview:

my eyes are uneven. that became an advantage during <lucifer> but when i first went to the broadcasting station, people said, ‘you can’t be an actor because your eyes are uneven.’ ‘you’re too tall. how are you going to act?’ ‘why are your skin so dark?’ i’ve heard all sorts of comments. i lived fiercely and worked hard to get to this point. director hwang casted me knowing i was a newcomer. there was no leniency, not even 0.1%. this is the professional world, and i’m getting paid to work while the director must maintain his professionalism as a director. if i mess up even one thing, everything falls apart.

what do you think about the expression “to be lucky”?

i don’t think being called lucky is a bad thing. we only live once, so having good luck is a very special privilege. a very big privilege. every situation has its pros and cons. if luck comes, the same amount of pain and misfortune will follow. if you ride that wave (pain and misfortune) well, another big wave of happiness will come. the way to get through it could be by diving, enjoying it while riding a surfboard, or it could be that you swallowed water and passed out, only to wake up and find it was already over. i think that’s a personal choice/up to every person (t/n: how to handle being ‘lucky’).

full interview:

“i want to become an actor. i have been working as a model for three years, and i have never once called myself a model. i’ve always wanted to become an actor someday. literally an actor, not a celebrity, a real actor. i watched <man on fire> on dvd this morning (he brought his laptop on the trip). denzel washington has a personal trailer that looks he wasn in a campervan. there, he spends a lot of time discussing the movie with the director and the moment denzel washington steps out of that campervan, he becomes chris (his character in the film). isn’t that what acting is all about? in a way, it’s going crazy, becoming someone who isn’t yourself, and delving into the depths of that character.”

“when i’m sinking into sadness, i think it’s like going all the way to the bottom and then coming back up again. usually, when we’re sad, we try to get out of it, but just like how struggling when we’re drowning in water makes us swallow more water, it’s better to just stay still and feel the sadness.”

“i really like skinship. i’m really into physical affection. when i was young, my mother used to touch and caress me a lot. in the morning, when she woke me up, she would say, ‘son, wake up.’ and then lift me up, hug me, and pat me. so i have no aversion to physical touch at all. even among friends, regardless of gender, i just hug them when i greet them.”

ju jihoon is deep in thought about his next project. a decision will be made soon, but if he could wish for one thing, it would be that the time he spent resting after finishing the drama, and the eight months he dedicated to it, would somehow be reflected into his next work. “it’s a depth that comes with a year’s worth of experience, and i hope that shows in my next project. rven nails and toenails grow without conscious effort so how could i not grow? and someday, i want to deliver performances where even if i just stay still, things within me will flow out and be seen and felt. but how much time must pass, and how much agonizing pain is required to achieve that? still, growth without scars holds no meaning. growing pains are always necessary.”

full interview:

[ ◉¯] → pictorial only

2006

singles

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2007

singles aug. issue [ ◉¯] / singles dec. issue [ ◉¯]

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2008

cine21 / vogue girl

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2009

cine21 / scene playbill / ceci / vogue

2012

GQ korea jan. issue [ ◉¯] / cine21 / GQ korea aug. issue / harper’s bazaar [ ◉¯]

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2013

l’officiel hommes

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2014

elle / cine21 / vogue — with lee kwangsoo & jisung / arena [ ◉¯]

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2015

instyle [ ◉¯] / cine21 / vogue / maxmovie / arena (pictorial)

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2016

cine21

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2017

high cut / cine21

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2018

arena (pictorial) / cine21 no. 1165-1166 / harper’s bazaar / singles ([ ◉¯] 1) ([ ◉¯] 2) / cine21 no. 1774 / esquire / marie claire

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2019

arena

2020

sudsapda / esquire / harper’s bazaar [ ◉¯] / GQ korea [ ◉¯]

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2021

arena / esquire / icon

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2022

vogue / dazed / GQ korea ([ ◉¯] 1) ([ ◉¯] 2)

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2023

cine21 / vogue

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2024

vogue — with han hyojoo / marie claire / cine21

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2025

[ ◉¯] → pictorial only

2021

@ STYLE

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2022

ALLURE — with jjuku & jjusun / CINE21 / @ STYLE — with BAEK SUNGCHUL / ALLURE — with JOY

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2023

THE GALLERIA

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2024

THE STAR / SINGLES / ESQUIRE — with LIM JIYEON (full translation)

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2025

HARPER'S BAZAAR — with JU JIHOON & HAYOUNG (full translation) / HARPER'S BAZAAR / ARENA / dazed / elle / esquire / @ style / MARIE CLAIRE — with CHO YIHYUN (full translation) / vogue [ ◉¯] / ESQUIRE (full translation) / GQ korea (full translation)

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2026