Actor Lee Chae-min shared his thoughts on successfully wrapping up Bon Appetit, Your Majesty despite a hectic schedule.
On the morning of the 30th, at a cafe in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, a wrap-up interview was held with tvN weekend drama Bon Appetit, Your Majesty lead actor Lee Chae-min. Based on the popular web novel Surviving as Yeonsan-gun's Chef, Bon Appetit, Your Majesty is a survival fantasy romantic comedy that unfolds when a chef who time-slips at his peak moment into the past meets a king who is the worst tyrant and possesses an absolute palate. In the drama, Lee Chae-min played Joseon's monarch, Yeonhuigun Lee Heon.
Ending on the 28th, Bon Appetit, Your Majesty recorded its own highest viewership rating of 17.1% (Nielsen Korea, nationwide paid households), finishing on a high note. In response, Lee Chae-min said, "It still doesn't feel like it's over, and the afterglow lingers. I always feel regretful and bittersweet when a project ends, but this time the show did especially well and received so much love that I felt incredibly proud, and many people I'm grateful for came to mind. Overall, I feel very happy. The project remains with me, but everyone who worked on it remains in my memory as precious people, so I think this is a project that left me with many things in many ways."
There were many twists and turns before Lee Chae-min joined Bon Appetit, Your Majesty. Park Sung-hoon, who was originally cast, stepped down about a month before filming due to controversy over an SNS post, and Lee Chae-min was urgently brought in as a replacement. He said, "I'm always thrilled to be cast in any project, but this one was especially big for me, and it would be a lie to say there was no pressure. Because of that, I tried to prepare as best I could in a short time, and I'm grateful and touched that many people recognized my effort and heart."
Asked why he decided to join despite the tight schedule, he said, "I'm actually a fan of director Jang Tae-yu, so there was even less reason not to do this project. I read the script and it was so fun and fit my taste well. I felt I really had to work hard at the role, so I went in with pressure, expectations and excitement." He said he became an even bigger fan of director Jang Tae-yu after finishing the project: "I came to love the director even more after the show ended. He is a director full of affection. As I felt it, he took good care of me like a son. I think I was showered with love while filming." When asked, "In what way did you feel the love?" he joked, "The way he looked at me?" and added, "I felt honey dripping from his gaze. He always checked in on me and showed a lot of interest. And while he wants everyone to look good, he especially wanted me to come out well, so he paid a lot of attention."
Co-star Lim Yoon-a's help was also significant. Since he was partnering with "Girls' Generation Yoon-a," he said, "It was an honor and amazing to be partners in the same project, and I thought I just needed to do well," adding, "At first, with limited time to lock in the character, I felt anxious and lacked confidence, but the senior gave me a lot of courage. She told me I was doing well enough and boosted my confidence, which was a big help to me early on."
Regarding his efforts for the character, he said, "I was given a month, so I tried to do my best within the time I had. I went to horseback riding and calligraphy classes several times a week to pick up as much as possible in a short time, and I asked a lot on set," adding, "There was a double for the Cheoyongmu dance, but I also danced it. I'm not originally good at dancing. I'm stiff. So I worked a bit harder on it compared to other things."
When asked if it wasn't difficult to prepare so much in such a short time, Lee Chae-min said, "I like learning, so I used this opportunity to learn horseback riding and do calligraphy. Calligraphy really helped with my inner peace. It cleared my mind well, and I wrote several pieces and put them up at home. I also learned archery posture, and there's no rule that I won't do another period piece. I worked hard thinking it might help later on."
Because it is set in an alternate history, the character is introduced as "Yeonhuigun" in the show, but as the original title suggests, the character Lee Chae-min plays is also inspired by Yeonsan-gun. Lee Chae-min said, "He's a figure who gets mentioned a lot, isn't he? So I felt a lot of pressure, and since there are seniors who have actually played (Yeonsan-gun), I referred to many of their videos. This figure is not portrayed as just a tyrant. It's an alternate history merely inspired by (Yeonsan-gun), so I thought a lot about how to show a different side even though he is a tyrant. I worried a lot, maybe too much, but the writer captured it well in the script, so I faithfully followed the script."
As a result of these efforts, Lee Chae-min drew major attention for a dramatic leap in acting compared to his previous work. He said, "I worked hard on every project, but because I had especially little time on this one, I felt a compulsion and responsibility to get it done within that window. I cut down on sleep, studied, and watched many reference videos when I could. I kept reading the script and tried various speech patterns. The director called me in often, so we did a lot of group readings. In the early stage of building the character, it wasn't just my effort; the director, senior Yoon-a, and other seniors and colleagues helped a lot. Thanks to that, I think I managed to shape a character I could film to some extent in a short period," adding, "As for vocalization, I've actually had a voice coach I've been seeing since four years ago. I kept going there, and given the genre and the role, I think many people recognized the points I'd learned."
He also shared behind-the-scenes stories about his eating scenes. Lee Chae-min said, "There was a plan for the eating cuts in the work itself to go in a cartoonish direction. So I tried to reference a lot of reactions from animation, and I watched other eating shows and mimicked them in the mirror." However, he said he sometimes felt "reality hitting" during filming. "It was tasty, yes. It was, but to be honest, it wasn't so delicious that you'd go 'Wow!' like you're about to fly away. There are points where you have to go a bit over the top. It's hard to find a way to make it excessive yet keep the character from seeming obnoxious and instead lovable, so I tried many approaches while filming. I tried going more over the top and less, and doing it multiple times, those (reality-hitting) feelings did come up," he said candidly.
In the final episode of Bon Appetit, Your Majesty, Lee Heon crosses over to the present day following Yeon Ji-young, and they get a happy ending. But because the process was omitted as "not important," viewers jokingly dubbed it an "avoidance ending." Lee Chae-min said, "It made me think there are many different perspectives. I thought it was beautiful. After all, he came to the present and met Ji-young, so I only thought it was very beautiful, but seeing people view it that way opened me up to different perspectives," he said with a laugh.
He added, "Since it's fantasy, I think there are parts you accept to some extent. I just thought he came by the power of love. It was that desperate. To be honest, in that moment, it felt natural to us. We believed that a page of Mangunrok falling was made possible by the power of love, and from an acting standpoint, it was convincing in its own way."
He also spoke about the two characters after the ending: "Doesn't Lee Heon make bibimbap? I thought maybe Lee Heon knows how to cook to some extent and is interested, and I hope he lives happily with Ji-young, learns to cook, and works as an assistant. I hope they work together and live happily." When asked about the possibility of a season 2, he said, "Judging by the response, I heard people asking, 'Isn't there going to be a season 2?' It made me think they really enjoyed it. I am curious how it would turn out if we did a season 2. We talked about it among ourselves. If there is a season 2, is it Lee Heon adapting to modern times? I thought about that, but I also feel Lee Heon should probably end in the period setting."
Surpassing Crash Course in Romance and ranking fifth all-time among tvN weekend dramas, Bon Appetit, Your Majesty also left a meaningful mark on global OTT platform Netflix. In just three weeks, it surpassed 100 million cumulative viewing hours, setting the fastest record among Netflix non-original Korean dramas, and it topped the non-English TV category for two consecutive weeks. Lee Chae-min said of this, "I couldn't believe it. Since so many people shed blood, sweat and tears to make this project, I felt happy thinking we were receiving that much in return."
Asked why the work received global love, he said, "I think it has various charms. There's light humor and deep storytelling. And beyond Lee Heon–Ji-young, there are various chemistries like Lee Heon–Song Jae-deun and Su-hyeok–Gong-gil, and none of those chemistries were boring; they were all engaging. I thought I just needed to do well because we already had outstanding seniors and colleagues, and their excellent acting drew even more focus. Also, the director's fun and romantic touch was great."
Riding the wave of the show's success, Lee Chae-min is set to go on a reward vacation with the cast. He said, "We don't really discuss vacation plans separately. Some people can't go because they have other projects, and we just feel sorry about that for each other. It's my first reward vacation too, so I don't even know what we do there. What do we do?" he asked honestly, drawing laughter.
He also achieved significant results for his career as an actor. Thanks to making a strong impression through Bon Appetit, Your Majesty, he is reportedly receiving many offers, with around 30 scripts sent his way. Lee Chae-min began, "It seems like a really diverse range is coming in, whether drama or film. To be honest, I haven't been able to review all the scripts yet." When asked if there was a genre or character he wanted to try, he said, "If it's a work I enjoyed reading, I don't want to draw lines by genre. But what I'd like to try, as a male actor, is noir, and I'd also like to do a deep romance where I shed desperate tears," adding, "It's my fate to show a different charm from Lee Heon. Because I have to delight viewers' eyes, hearts and ears, I will think as much as possible about what kind of project could show a side of me that viewers would enjoy."
However, given the high praise he received for this project, the pressure to choose his next work is not small. Lee Chae-min said, "That's the biggest thing. So I'm choosing my next project more carefully. These days I keep thinking I need to work even harder going forward," sharing his concerns. On plans to appear on variety shows, he said, "I think people who do variety are incredible. I went on a few for promotion, and it takes a lot of energy. Because I feel like I have to be funny, I think I might actually not be entertaining."
With Bon Appetit, Your Majesty fully wrapped, when asked what remains with him, Lee Chae-min answered, "I discovered a me I didn't know, and my colleagues, seniors and the director remain." He added, "People matter to me, so there is no gift more precious than good people staying by my side. I met especially many good people on this set and received a lot of kindness, so I want to give back if I have the chance," and reflected, "It was my first time exerting this much energy, so it was burdensome. I don't usually get angry or shout, and although I cry easily, I had never cried like that. I felt I broke and surpassed my limits to the point I realized I could express and unleash my emotions this much."
He continued, "I am most grateful to the viewers who gave us unexpected attention and love. As actor Lee Chae-min, I will try to come back with more responsibility, better appearances and fun projects, so I ask for your continued expectations and interest," adding, "I am so grateful to the fans. Why do you like me this much? I'm so thankful that I made up my mind to work hard to show many good sides so as not to disappoint you in the future."<
[Photo] Baro Entertainment
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