Jung Ji-hoon, also known as Rain, has delivered a captivating performance in Disney+’s “Red Swan,” returning to the small screen with a powerhouse performance. The singer-actor expressed both surprise and gratitude at the global appeal of the drama, which, despite being laden with Korean-style clichés, has resonated widely with international audiences.
The action romance series “Red Swan” finished its 10-part run with great fanfare, Wednesday, topping the ranks in the platform’s TV show category for four countries including Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, according to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks viewing rankings.
“Given the heavily Korean clichés, I wasn’t sure if it would be relatable to international audiences. It’s a spicy mix of noir, melodrama and chaebol stories, with plenty of action. I was shocked to find that foreign fans loved it. It exceeded my expectations,” he said during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Friday.
The drama follows Oh Wan-soo (Kim Ha-neul), a world-class golfer married to the heir of Korean chaebol Hwain Group. Oh, who runs the group’s charity foundation, narrowly escapes an assassination attempt with the help of Seo Do-yoon (Jung) during the foundation’s event in Manilla, the Philippines. Teaming with Seo, who is hired as her bodyguard, Oh discovers the chaebol family’s dark secrets and the two develop feelings for one another in the process.
While it has succeeded in grabbing the attention of viewers, the drama from the onset has been accused of being billed as a scandalous tale of a chaebol family — a plot that feels overly familiar with murder plots, affairs and inheritance wars, which are all cliches repeated in many K-dramas.
Calling it “a fun, popcorn movie-like drama,” Jung acknowledged that it didn’t aim to stand out artistically, instead being intended as pure entertainment.
“I thought there would be mixed opinions. But I thought this drama had a variety of flavors. It was much more fun than I expected. I think I was satisfied with my character, as much as I researched and thought about it,” he said.
“There are plenty of over-the-top dramas like this one in other countries. This drama is full of cheesy clichés, but it’s incredibly popular. To be honest, it lacks artistic merit to some extent, but I think it is designed to appeal to the masses.”
When he choose projects, Jung said he regards both the artistic value and potential mass appeal.
“Personally, I think a work should have both artistic merit and popularity. When I think, ‘There’s a cool character and a role I can do in this 스포츠 situation,’ I proceed with the project. I respect the writer’s artistic vision for the plot development, but the target of this work was the general public and I’m satisfied that it ended with all the ratings ranking No. 1.”
He faced challenges with his bodyguard role in “Red Swan,” including portraying a character with limited facial expressions and delivering dialogue in a cliched K-drama style.
“I was worried that my character’s well-worn expressions like ‘I will protect you,’ might be misinterpreted as my poor acting. Overly cheesy lines like ‘Do you want to sleep with me?,’ ‘Will you be my woman?’ and ‘Be my man from now,’ were a challenge as well,” he said.
“I wondered how such lines could be used in a drama in 2024. However, respecting the writer’s vision, I delivered the lines as accurately as possible.”
To compensate, he rehearsed extensively with co-star Kim, constantly checking whether his lines fit the context appropriately and whether or not his performance came across as laying it on too thick.
“Through many rehearsals and discussions, we were able to create a situation where even though something might seem unpleasant, it could be perceived as something like craving a spicy dish even though you know it might upset your stomach,” the singer-actor said.