Actress Im Yoon-ah candidly expressed her feelings about issues such as the lead actor's departure from Bon Appetit, Your Majesty.
Im Yoon-ah gave a passionate performance as Yeon Ji-young in the tvN weekend drama Bon Appetit, Your Majesty (directed by Jang Tae-yu, written by fGRD, planned by Studio Dragon, produced by Filmgrida and Jung Universe), which ended on the 28th, perfectly anchoring the series and delivering strong acting, buzz and ratings all at once.
Bon Appetit, Your Majesty is a survival fantasy romantic comedy in which a chef who slips back in time from his peak meets the worst tyrant, a king with absolute taste. Bon Appetit, Your Majesty, which premiered on the 23rd of last month, captured viewers with the actors' passionate performances and flavorful cooking scenes, and recorded a peak rating of 17.1% (episode 12), concluding with episode 12 broadcast on the 28th.
Im Yoon-ah, who played Yeon Ji-young, used deadpan comic acting to portray her desperate struggle to survive the sudden time-slip situation, drawing laughs, and created a thrilling romance with the tyrant with absolute taste, Lee Heon (Lee Chae-min), through delicate emotional performances that excited viewers. To highlight the drama's focus on food, she performed 95% of all cooking scenes herself without a double, maximizing the show's immersion.
With Im Yoon-ah's efforts, Bon Appetit, Your Majesty surpassed a peak rating of 15.8% (Nielsen Korea) and topped Netflix's non-English TV shows chart, creating a domestic and international Bon Appetit, Your Majesty syndrome. Following Big Mouth and King the Land, Im Yoon-ah scored three consecutive hits with Bon Appetit, Your Majesty, ranking first for five consecutive weeks in the TV-OTT drama performer buzz category, solidifying her position as a box-office queen.
Im Yoon-ah took the title role in Bon Appetit, Your Majesty. It was also her return to the small screen about two years after King the Land, which brought pressure, but responsibility grew heavier when lead actor Park Sung-hoon, who had been chosen as a lead, withdrew amid AV controversy. Regarding the lead actor's departure, Im Yoon-ah said, "In any project, expressing the character well is my task and responsibility, so I worked hard to study the character. Since it was my first time facing a younger, junior co-star as the counterpart, I thought a lot about how the senior colleagues and partners I had worked with had done it. From those thoughts I picked out what was needed and tried many of those expressions this time. Especially Yeon Ji-young is connected to all the characters. She was at the center of the story to the point that there were no actors she didn't meet, and because everyone performed well, the energy came together and produced a good result, I think."
She added, "Although I had played leading roles before, taking on a work where I had to lead this much opened a different perspective. I developed a broader view and the ability to see the whole picture. Chemistry with co-stars who share the scene is the most important thing in any project, so in that respect nothing changed. Although he is a junior and younger partner, he has many mature qualities, prepared diligently and showed great focus on set, so even in scenes where the chemistry between Lee Heon and Yeon Ji-young needed to be emphasized, the interplay worked well. Seeing those points made me feel more strongly that it's important that everyone works together rather than one person leading alone."
Im Yoon-ah focused on creating her character rather than outside issues such as the lead actor's departure. She said, "Before filming, I put a lot of effort into and had a large preparation process for the cooking aspect, so getting comfortable was difficult. From the start of filming we shot through a very cold winter and a very hot summer; in winter I wore warm clothes, and in summer I wore the cook's uniform. There were hardships from enduring both cold and heat in terms of weather, and the filming schedule was mostly on location throughout. We stayed overnight a lot, so it was tiring in that regard, but the director used everything we shot and the completed scenes made me understand why people praise Jang Tae-yu. The director was able to bring up energy on set even when exhaustion seemed likely. The result was good and the performance strong, so it was a rewarding project in many ways."
Because her co-star was younger and a junior, she worked on their chemistry. Im Yoon-ah said, "I think matching the rhythm with a co-star on set is the most important thing. This situation arose before shooting began, and I also had a lot to prepare for my part, so I devoted much energy to completing Yeon Ji-young. Even while building it on set, there was a lot to prepare in a short time, but Lee Chae-min equipped himself well and showed up on set, which I found amazing. I'm grateful for that."
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