Actor Kim Seon-ho transforms into Joo Ho-jin, a multilingual interpreter defined by his precision, rationality and emotional restraint, in Netflix’s newly released romance series “Can This Love Be Translated?” While his performance appears effortless, Kim explained that every detail, down to the faint lift of an eyebrow, was meticulously calculated, as his character’s personality is quite different from his own.

“I wanted to stay very composed and express my emotions with as few physical reactions as possible [when playing Ho-jin],” said Kim during a roundtable interview at a cafe in central Seoul on Thursday. “Things such as the direction of a character’s gaze, the movement of their eyebrows or even a single hand gesture can carry much more weight when [the rest of the body] is still.”

He admitted the restrained performance was anything but easy. “I had to think through every little detail. Even if a movement didn’t really stand out, I put much thought and intention into it, just like I do with dialogue.”

Kim also shared that there were moments when he struggled to understand Ho-jin. Go Youn-jung, who plays Cha Mu-hee, was the one who bridged that gap for him.

“Ho-jin is such a [MBTI] T,” he said, referring to the Myers-Briggs personality trait indicator, in which “thinking,” or “T,” types are considered logical and rational thinkers.

He continued, “I’m an F, so I couldn’t quite understand some of Ho-jin’s dialogue because it felt hurtful to me. But Go, being a T, said that she could relate to him.” In MBTI, “feeling,” or “F,” types stand opposite to T and are more emotional.

As a result, Go would often explain the character’s perspective to Kim, and he, in turn, would do the same for her, as Mu-hee is undoubtedly an F on the MBTI scale. They even swapped roles and read each other’s lines during rehearsals.

“Can This Love Be Translated?” debuted on Jan. 16 and follows the unexpected romance between Ho-jin, a multilingual interpreter, and Mu-hee, a globally famous actor, whose communication styles, including how they approach love, are completely different.

The rom-com is penned by renowned screenwriters Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran, known as the Hong sisters, who have written numerous hit series, such as “Hotel del Luna” (2019). Yoo Young-eun directs the project.

The love story has quickly captured viewers’ hearts — landing at No. 2 on Netflix’s global top 10 list for non-English shows as of Thursday, less than a week after its release — mainly due to the chemistry between Kim and Go.

That chemistry, Kim said, was evident on set as well.

One of the scenes he remembers most fondly, describing it as the moment when Go was at her most “lovable,” was when Mu-hee playfully sings the word “aurora” in the third episode while trying to persuade Ho-jin to work with her on the same TV show.

“[Singing the word] wasn't in the script,” Kim said. “In that moment, I realized that because [Go] is such a naturally lovable person, Mu-hee becomes even more charming.”

He added, “Everyone, even the director, said, ‘Wow, she’s so lovable,’ and ‘There’s no way Ho-jin wouldn’t go with her.’”

Another fan-favorite moment is when Ho-jin bursts into laughter and bashfully stutters after Mu-hee rolls her eyes during his explanation of the science behind auroras. Due to how naturally the scene flowed, some viewers speculated that it was either a blooper or an improvised moment that made the final cut, and Kim revealed that they were right: It was an ad-lib by Go.

“I was thinking about how to portray a softer and more open Ho-jin to show the progress between [him and Mu-hee] when Go suddenly rolled her eyes, which I found so funny that I ended up stuttering,” he said.

Director Yoo liked the moment so much that she asked the actors to recreate it for the following shots. Kim added that Go told him the gesture came from her own initial reaction to that part of the script.

Kim debuted in 2009 as a theater actor and is often associated with a pure, kindhearted image — one that could limit opportunities for darker roles, such as villains. Despite this, Kim expressed the potential, stopping short of calling it confidence, to break away from that archetype through his performances.

“I remember having that kind of hunger [for shedding that image] in the past, but I think it’s eased a bit now,” he said.

“Even though I already possess a certain image [...] I’m starting to feel more certain that I can show something very different through a character.”

The actor is starting off 2026 on a strong note. He is already lined up for several projects, including Disney+’s series “Portraits of Delusion,” in which he stars alongside singer-actor Suzy. While being careful to avoid any spoilers, Kim hinted that his character will starkly contrast Ho-jin.

“It’s a period drama, so the way he speaks is different,” Kim said. “The character has an entirely different personality from Ho-jin’s, so I think once people see it, they’ll probably go, ‘Huh, he’s different.’”

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