Lee Min-ho stages a ‘royal’ comeback

South Korean superstar Lee Min-ho enjoys a comeback fit for a (K-drama) king.

After a three-year absence from acting due to his mandatory military service, Min-ho is back on TV via the romantic-fantasy series The King: Eternal Monarch.

In a video call with Philippine and Singaporean press ahead of the show’s premiere last weekend, the 32-year-old actor hinted as much that being back on the set felt like he hadn’t left at all.

“After the three-year break, on my first day of shooting, I really didn’t feel unfamiliar to the set at all. In fact, I had this one feeling that I was right at home. I felt like I was where I was supposed to be. But soon after that, I think I was more focused on how I really wanted to make this even better than what I have done previously. So, I have been working really hard to make that into a reality,” Min-ho shared.

It didn’t mean though that he was totally worry-free. “Now that I sit here talking to you and also as we wait for the drama to launch tomorrow (April 17), I think you know that a lot really goes through my mind. I’m also worried, excited and a lot is going in my mind right now.”

Kim Hee June for Netflix

In The King: Eternal Monarch, which is accessible to Filipino viewers via Netflix, Lee Min-ho portrays Lee Gon, the ruler of the Kingdom of Corea, the parallel universe of the present-day Republic of Korea. Though he is deemed the “perfect” ruler, he views the palace as a “deadly battleground” after witnessing as a child the assasination of his own father, the King, and barely making it out of the tragedy alive. His years-long search for his mysterious “savior” accidentally brings him to the alternate universe and there he meets the feisty detective Jung Tae Eul (Goblin star Kim Go-eun).

Min-ho said of his first-time leading lady: “As for working with Kim Go-eun, I knew that I always wanted to have the chance to work with her onscreen because I saw her play out many different characters in various works in the past. So, I was very happy to work with her and on set, she really has a variety of charms. Sometimes, she will be like an older sister to me but sometimes she can be a much younger sister. I really think and hope that through The King, all the viewers will be able to see more the charms that she has.”

During the virtual press interview, Min-ho also begged to disagree with the description of his character as “cold and aloof”.

“Rather than cold and aloof, I think it’s more about Lee Gon not being able to express himself freely, unless they were people very close to him. So, he wouldn’t be the type of person to really express himself without (a reason). So, rather than to describe him as being cold and aloof, I would say that he is more deliberate and thoughtful and mindful,” he explained.

“And also because the character goes through such an immense experience in his childhood, if he weren’t able to overcome that in a healthy and constructive way, I believe that he could have been somebody who was very difficult to be around when he was all grown up. However, luckily for Lee Gon, he had a lot of great good people by his side. And so I believe that my character was somebody who overcame that and grew into a very healthy-minded person,” he said.

Min-ho, who top-billed such hit Korean dramas as Boys Over Flowers, The Heirs and Legend of the Blue Sea (the very last series he did just before his hiatus), was also asked on what made him decide on this “royal” comeback.

He revealed that several scripts were offered to him but it was the unique opportunity of playing “an emperor” that won him over.

Kim Hee June for Netflix

“I did take a lot of time thinking about what kind of drama I wanted to make as my comeback after the military service. I looked at a lot of different scripts and I really had to think hard on this one,” he said.

“But the first thing was that when would I be given the chance to play the role of an emperor so I think I was first of all drawn to that and also the character that I was to play had such great power within him.”

Plus, he said, the show meant he was going to work again with writer Kim Eun-sook (the creative mind behind Lovers in Paris, Descendants of the Sun, Goblin, etc.) seven years after The Heirs.

“And, of course, being able to work with writer Kim Eun-sook again, I had a lot of trust in her and also we had mutual trust. Based on all of those things, I made the decision.”

The King: Eternal Monarch airs on Netflix on Friday and Saturday nights at 10:30.