Yoon Kye Sang is continuing his acting challenge by playing a clumsy and weak-hearted kidnapper in the ENA drama The Kidnapping Day, which has been airing since September 13th.
The Kidnapping Day is a comical thriller about the special cooperation between a clumsy kidnapper, Yoon Kye Sang, and an 11-year-old genius girl, Yuna.
It started with a viewer rating of 1.8% (Nielsen Korea nationwide) and rose to 4.0% in the last 7 episodes. This is thanks to the work’s unique charm and word of mouth.
In particular, lead actor Yoon Kye Sang is at the center of this word of mouth. He has been loved as an intelligent professional character or a tough villain, but he showed a completely different face in this work.
Even though he is a kidnapper, he is pure and naive. Even though he is a villain, you cannot hate him. His lovely charm colors his character, and he is loved by viewers.
In a media interview, the actor shared his thoughts about his latest work.
He acknowledged how people around him are praising him for his portrayal.
“People watching seem to be having fun. I go to the sauna regularly, and when I meet people there, they seem to have fun.”
On Role Preparations
Showing a lot of his comfortable side in The Kidnapping Day, Yoon relayed that his fans assert that his character is so close to who he really was. He adds how people liked his energy when he was young. It is as if his old self came back for the character.
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“I felt really comfortable while acting. When I first saw the script, I had a lot of concerns such as how to express my mental inadequacy. Rather than being a person with low knowledge, I tried to come up with a simple and pure setting. I have some of those aspects. I thought about it. I maximized that. Now that I’m older, I’ve become more serious and cautious, but it’s the same for everyone. Even though I’m getting older, my nature wants to be that way. I expressed those things naturally.”
Talking about his role as a criminal in the series, Yoon Kye Sang is happy that viewers appreciate the hard work he poured.
“It started as a crime. It started off as a bad thing, but I thought that the likability of the main character of the drama should be maintained. I came with a pure side to continue to highlight that the essence is not like that. I worked hard, and I am glad that people see it that way.”
Regarding the action scenes for his character, Myeong-jun, the actor admitted the action was difficult and it was not easy
“It was written beautifully in the script. The point is that the main character must be cool when it comes to action with angles. They kept creating situations where they were like, ‘What? How did they win?’.”
In the drama, Yoon Kye Sang portrays Myeong-jun as a desperate father in need of money for his daughter. When asked how he channeled fatherly love, he responded that getting older makes him feel his parents’ feelings. The thought of having a sick child is familiar to him as well since he had three dogs when he was 11 years which he treated as his children.
Revealing his preparation for his first father role, Yoon Kye Sang responded with how he accepted a new acting challenge.
“I want to go naturally. I’m approaching 50. I wonder if there are roles I can play at that age. It seems like actors go through 10 years, up and down. I go back and forth between them. I think it’s really fun. Fortunately, I am grateful that I have been able to continue my career until now. I am now at an age where I can talk about the life I have lived rather than playing a young role and playing a role of competing with visuals. I think so.”
Lauding Yuna’s performance, he shared how most children follow their parents’ dreams, but Yuna said she wanted to become an actress herself. That’s why she’s a little different. She’s very motivated and tries to learn quickly.
“I told my manager, ‘Out of all the people I’ve met, she was the purest and listened to my story well and had fun. It can only be good. She said the jelly was delicious, so I bought her a box of jelly.”
Answering the question if he made an effort to become closer to the young actress, Yoon Kye Sang confessed he liked her from the first time they met.
“I just really liked her from the beginning. She’s smart. She speaks fluently. She’s not the type to be intimidated or anything like that. I liked her from the first time we met. I’m the same age as Yuna’s father.”
On Fans’ Support and Marriage
Asked about the fans’ unwavering love for them, Yoon Kye Sang knows he has to repay it.
“I always think that I have to live well. I have to live well without causing trouble. I don’t leave the house. I’m afraid that if I do, something will happen.”
Since getting married he also affirmed the changes he had to take.
“Because I have a wife, I take care of her life as well. I am more careful. I feel stronger because I have a reliable partner in life. Because I am a celebrity and a public figure, I am worried that I will be harmed. Since my wife runs a business, I am more worried. I don’t leave the house.”
Aspiring to challenge new projects, he remarked how the work that interests him has to be just right.
“I want to try a variety of things. My greed is endless. Something similar to a work that was a hit in my previous work comes in. As I try to avoid that, it gets delayed.”
Celebrating his 20th anniversary as an actor, he shared how he has always set goals but he does not always follow them. Still, he is doing great.
The Kidnapping Day starring Yoon Kye Sang can be watched on Prime Video.
Source: JTBC News
