MANILA, Philippines — Nam Joo-hyuk has made his long-awaited acting comeback by venturing outside the romantic roles that established him as a K-drama favorite.
The South Korean actor leads Netflix’s supernatural period series “The East Palace,” which rose to No. 1 on the platform’s daily series chart in the Philippines on July 24.
Released on July 17, the limited series also debuted at No. 2 on Netflix’s global chart for non-English shows after generating 4.9 million views and 32.9 million viewing hours during its first three days.
“The East Palace” marks Nam’s first drama project after completing his mandatory military service. The “Start-Up” and “Twenty-Five Twenty-One” star enlisted in March 2023 and was discharged on Sept. 19, 2024.
During a recent virtual interview with Philippine media, including The STAR, Nam said returning to a drama set after approximately a year and a half away did not require a major adjustment.
“I wouldn’t say that I needed to adjust as much because I don’t think a year and a half is that long a time. I was happy to find that everything was the same when I got back,” he responded to a STAR question through an interpreter.
What had changed, however, was how he approached his craft.
“I would say what has changed is the size of my imagination. I think it has only expanded. I felt like there was more that I could express within a particular scene using my imagination,” he added.
In “The East Palace,” Nam plays Gu-cheon, an irreverent spirit slayer who can see the dead, enter the supernatural Realm of Gwi (South Korean word for “spirit”) and eliminate malevolent spirits.
He is secretly summoned to the royal palace by the king, played by Cho Seung-woo, following a series of mysterious deaths linked to an old curse. Gu-cheon is then paired with Saeng-gang, portrayed by Roh Yoon-seo, a court lady born with the ability to hear the voices of the dead.
Together, they are ordered to uncover the palace’s secrets and take down the spirit threatening to wipe out the royal bloodline.
Nam said he was immediately drawn to the project because it combined several genres he had long wanted to explore.
“First of all, ‘The East Palace’ was a mix of genres that I’ve always loved. I also thought that this was a project that I could do really well in,” he shared.
Having spent much of his 20s playing romantic leads, the 32-year-old actor felt it was time to show audiences a different side of himself.
“I did a lot of rom-coms and romantic drama roles in my 20s, and I thought that I wanted to go in a different genre, a different direction, for me to be able to showcase a little bit more of myself,” he explained.
“Again, because I love the genre so much, when I first got the script for ‘The East Palace’ in my hands, I thought to myself, ‘This is it.’ It was an obvious choice.”
The series placed Nam in a physically demanding production that saw him engage in elaborate fight sequences, swordplay and underwater scenes as his character battles creatures inspired by traditional Korean mythology.
Asked to name the most memorable action sequence, Nam found it difficult to single one out because “everything was so memorable.”
His favorite moment, however, turned out not to be a fight scene.
“If I had to choose one, I wouldn’t choose an action sequence. The most memorable scene for me is when you see the first transition in the water to the Realm of Gwi,” he said.
“I thought that was very impressive and very memorable.”
Aside from testing him physically, Nam said that his character Gu-cheon also allowed him to gain greater confidence in his capabilities as an actor.
“As for how this role has contributed to my growth, it definitely has,” he said.
And with the supernatural series quickly becoming one of Netflix’s most-watched titles in the Philippines and other markets, his return has proven to be a spirited one in more ways than one.
“I thought about this a lot, where I now think to myself that if I survived and if I was able to pull off what I did in ‘The East Palace,’ there’s nothing that I can’t do going forward.”
“The East Palace” is streaming at No. 1 on Netflix Philippines.