Actor Ji Chang-wook. Courtesy of Walt Disney Korea

‘The Worst of Evil’, ‘Gangnam B-Side’, and even ‘Fragment City’. Actor Ji Chang-wook has recently solidified his place as the top action star in Korea by consecutively appearing in heavyweight genre titles on the OTT platform Disney+. He even unveiled a motorcycle chase unlike anything seen before in ‘Fragment City’, earning the nickname ‘K-Tom Cruise’. Yet he joked, saying, “This really is my last action.”

Ji Chang-wook met Sports Kyunghyang in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on December 11 and shared his thoughts after wrapping the Disney+ series ‘Fragment City’ (Script Oh Sang-ho·Directors Park Sin-woo, Kim Chang-ju).

■“K-Tom Cruise? In fact, I do not really watch action”

Although he has been active in multiple action projects and is recognized as an ‘action artisan’, he made an unexpected confession. He not only does not often watch the action genre, he does not even like it.

“I have liked using my body since I was young. I am trained at action schools and the like, and as I kept doing it I became accustomed to it, so it turned into something I can do well. I think action is also an expression of emotion with the body, so although it is hard, it is fun.”

He also shared behind-the-scenes details about the tunnel motorcycle chase, cited as a signature scene of this ‘Fragment City’. He said, “The split for performing action is fifty-fifty. If the emotion only comes alive when the actor does it, I do it; when it is more effective to use a double, I rely on the action team,” adding, “The tunnel motorcycle run scene was actually full CG. We filmed it on set with the motorcycle suspended, and it was a technically fresh experience.”

Regarding why he has recently appeared one after another in works steeped in masculinity, he said it “was not intentional.” He was drawn to the melodrama of relationships within the noir of ‘The Worst of Evil’, and to the character itself in ‘Gangnam B-Side’. However, with the successive success of action titles, he has come to be viewed as an actor who fits ‘tough characters’ well.

“I cannot keep using my body like this when I am fifty, so I approach it thinking, ‘this is the last action of my life.’ For the time being, I want to stop. A producer I am close with offered me another action project, so I deliberately turned it down, saying, ‘I do not want to do it for the time being.’ (laughs)”

Actor Ji Chang-wook. Courtesy of Walt Disney Korea

■“Among strongly featured actors, I am the cutest”

He expressed more affection for humanism and melodrama than for the action projects in his filmography, citing titles like ‘The Love Law of City Men and Women’ and ‘Welcome to Samdal-ri’. He also introduced ‘Fragment City’ as a work in which ‘humanity’ is alive.

“In ‘Fragment City’, Tae-jung is a person who touches earth. The writer said, ‘I wish Tae-jung would become a tree, a person who saves others.’ Yohan (Do Kyung-soo) finds people around him gradually disappearing, while Tae-jung keeps receiving help from others. Tae-jung survives thanks to the help of those around him. The point that people save people felt warm.”

Among fans, affectionate grumbling abounds, such as “Ji Chang-wook has a face for melodrama, so why does he keep taking the rough road?” and “Now, instead of blood-soaked makeup, we want to see him in a crisp suit playing a happy role.” On the other hand, some jokingly said that his features are too ‘real~ly intense’, which might be burdensome for melodramas.

“Among actors with real~ly intense features like me, am I not the most plain? I even joke to (Lee) Min-ho, ‘Among actors with intense features like us, am I not the cutest?’ Ha ha. I am looking forward to plenty of opportunities for melodrama going forward.”

After the blood-and-sweat action, his next steps are awaited as the ‘understated and cute’ Ji Chang-wook returns.