After nearly two decades in the entertainment industry, actor Ji Chang-wook remains determined to evolve and take on new roles, driven by a desire to break out of his comfort zone.

The actor, who has expressed a desire to avoid "remaining the same person he was in his younger years," recently appeared in the Disney+ series “Gangnam B-Side” as Gil-ho, a mysterious broker in the Gangnam nightclub scene. Ji's character is unhinged and rough in the series, a not-so -often-seen look for the actor.


“I thought that if I kept showcasing the same types of roles and repeating the same choices simply because I’m comfortable with it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that 10 years from now, I’ll end up looking rather bleak,” Ji said to local reporters at a cafe in Jongno District, central Seoul, last week.

The series, released on Nov. 6, is directed by Park Noo-ri and takes place in one of Korea’s busiest and most famous nightlife areas in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

It follows a detective, a prosecutor and a mysterious broker, each with their own motives, as they pursue Jae-hee, a key figure from a club in Gangnam who has disappeared. This leads them deep into a hidden dark side of the city.

The action series features actor Ji, alongside Jo Woo-jin, Ha Yoon-kyung and Kim Hyeong-seo, also known as singer BIBI.

The series slowly gained global attention and recently sat at No. 1 on Disney+'s global top TV shows list on Nov. 25, according to data analytics company FlixPatrol. It is currently at No. 2 worldwide and ranked No. 1 in four regions — Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong — as of Dec. 1.

The actor expressed never expecting to receive such love, referring to it as a “gift.”

“Even now, I can't fully grasp the fact that the series is doing so well," he said.

In recent years, the actor has appeared in several noir projects, such as Disney+'s 2023 series “The Worst of Evil” and film “Revolver,” which is a different path from what he has usually taken before, like romance series "Welcome to Samdal-ri" (2023-24), "Lovestruck in the City" (2020) and period romance piece "Empress Ki" (2013-14). However, the actor said that the noir genre was something that he had always been interested in.

“It wasn’t like I didn’t want to do the genre when I was young, but rather that I didn’t have many opportunities that offered such a genre,” the actor said. “And even if I did have the chance, I sometimes wonder if I would have been able to express it thoroughly [like I can do now].”

“But now, as I’ve gotten older, I feel like I’ve become capable of expressing myself in the genre, and I have reached an age where performing in such a genre doesn’t feel awkward anymore," he said.

In fact, the actor says he is receiving recognition for his work in the series due to playing the role at a more mature age, later on in his career. Ji is now 37 years old and debuted in independent film "Sleeping Beauty" in 2008.

“Honestly, if I played this role when I was younger, I think I wouldn’t have been able to give the same impact,” Ji said.

In the series, Gil-ho shows a strong desire to protect Jae-hee, played by actor Kim. However, the series doesn't reveal much about their narrative and relationship, which Ji said was necessary for the drama.

"In the initial script, there was a stronger romantic vibe between the two, which was later taken out," he said. "The more the love story intensified, the more the overall message of the series got blurred."

Though much of the narrative explaining their relationship was deleted, a scene that stayed was when the two sat down to have a drink, which was one the most memorable and meaningful scenes for the actor himself — and the most important scene in developing his character, Gil-ho. The whole scene was shot twice, which is rare, especially on a tight schedule.

"When we first filmed that scene, I wasn’t feeling well and the situation on set wasn't ideal either, so we had to rush through the shoot,” he said. “Ever since then, the scene was weighing on my mind.”

“I couldn’t get the thought off my mind even though several days had passed,” he added. “So, I asked the director to consider reshooting the scene, which the director actually really liked."

As the series delves into the dark nightlife of Gangnam, many say that it reminds them of cases that actually happen in real life, which the actor thought was the charm of the series.

“I started to think that maybe these could be based on real events, and I realized that might actually be one of the charms of our work,” Ji said.

“I believe it makes the show more appealing, as it sparks viewers’ imagination, making them wonder whether what they're watching is real or fictional.”


BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]