On the 14th, we met with actor Lee Hyo-je of the Netflix series ‘Girigo’ at the Star News office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to talk about the project.
‘Girigo’ tells the story of high school students who struggle to escape a curse after being predicted to die suddenly by a wish-granting application called Girigo.
Lee Hyo-je made a strong impression as Hyung-wook, a prankster who loves hanging out with friends and is the first to get entangled with Girigo.
Lee Hyo-je revealed that he first focused on academic stress to build the character of Hyung-wook. He explained, “Hyung-wook is a character with significant academic stress and deep-seated stress regarding his friendships. On the surface, the pressure to study was the most prominent.”
He continued, “I thought the setting of Hyung-wook taking ADHD medication was another way to explain the character.” He added, “To create an otaku-like image, I tried to mimic many of the behaviors Hyung-wook would actually do.”
To achieve this, he dove headfirst into actual hobbies. “Since the lines included some Japanese, I looked up the movements of Japanese anime characters,” he shared. “I watched works like ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ and visited comic book stores to immerse myself in that world.” He further added, “The game in the series is a real one, so I bought and played it myself. Since it’s a story-driven game, I felt I needed to experience it firsthand to immerse myself in the character’s narrative and love Hyung-wook more.”
He confessed that immersing himself in the character brought changes to his daily life. Lee Hyo-je laughed, “I’m usually the type to be cautious with my words, but I naturally became more talkative while playing Hyung-wook. Since I’m always thinking about the character, there are moments when Japanese words just pop out while I’m talking to my friends.”
However, he shared that there was constant deliberation and adjustment on set. “Based on my analysis of Hyung-wook, I prepared several versions, but I felt anxious because the character was so different from the ones I’ve played before,” he explained. “There were parts I felt lost about until I got to the set, so I prepared various options and decided on the spot.” He added, “The director had a firm vision, so we combined some of the things I prepared, and the director also told me directly the feeling they wanted.”
He expressed special affection for working with actors his own age. “I had a great time filming ‘Vanishing Time: A Sh disappearing Time’ with child actors and we still keep in touch,” he revealed. “This is the first time since becoming an adult that I’ve worked with peers for a long period, so I was very excited.”
He continued, “Before starting the project, we did group readings and ate together, talking a lot about making the project great.” He said, “That close atmosphere continued on set, and a lot of the chemistry came out naturally.” He also mentioned, “The scenes for the first part were filmed toward the end of production, so I think the chemistry showed even better since we had already become close.”
Notably, Lee Hyo-je admitted to feeling some regret after seeing Baek Sun-ho’s acting. “My acting was my best at the time, but I can see some areas for improvement. Watching Baek Sun-ho’s scenes, I reflected because he was so good. I wondered if I should have ‘gone further’ in the first part, and I feel I could have been more free with the character. However, I believe that seeing these shortcomings now means I have grown since then.”
