On the morning of January 6, Yoo Yeon-seok sat down for an interview at Starship Entertainment’s King Kong building in Gangnam, Seoul, to discuss MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama “When the Phone Rings.”
In the drama, Yoo Yeon-seok had several romantic scenes and exchanged somewhat cheesy lines with co-star Chae Soo-bin, which became a topic of discussion. In this regard, Yoo Yeon-seok commented: “When I first saw it on paper, I wondered how I could express these lines frankly. But when it came time to film, I found myself in the right mindset and emotional state to say those words naturally. During filming I thought: “If I don’t believe what I say, the spectators won’t believe it either.” So I focused on fully believing the emotions and situations while reciting the lines.”
He added: “Especially with Baek Sa-eon’s way of speaking, which is stiff and uses phrases like “did”, “you did”, “right”, I didn’t try to make it sound colloquial but stuck to the script exactly as it was written. I was grateful to receive feedback like, “You delivered the lines well without making them awkward,” and “What could have been awkward was done naturally.”“
He jokingly remarked: “In the final episode, there’s a line where I say, “You’re punishing me now.” When I first read it, I thought, “The writer gave me another homework assignment.”“
Yoo Yeon-seok also shared his thoughts on the global popularity of “When the Phone Rings.” He stated: “Even if I start projects with hope, it is impossible to predict the outcome. I never expected such an enthusiastic response.”
According to FlixPatrol, a global OTT content rating site, “When the Phone Rings” has proven its strength by ranking in Netflix’s top 10 global TV shows for six consecutive weeks, from the last week of November to the first week of January. Nielsen Korea reported that the drama’s final episode achieved a domestic rating of 8.6%, setting a new personal record for the series.
Yoo Yeon-seok said: “I was very surprised when I heard that it was consistently ranked at the top internationally. I’m deeply grateful that people loved the project we worked so hard on. When the final episode aired, we received feedback from South America, Southeast Asia and other overseas regions, and I’m just grateful for that.“
He continued: “I think I’ve seen more comments from international fans. In the past, when I traveled abroad, I asked myself: ‘How do they recognize me?’ But since this drama aired on a global OTT platform, I feel like the number of international fans has grown significantly. I hope to visit them during fan meetings abroad to express my gratitude.”
Explaining why he chose “When the Phone Rings,” Yoo Yeon-seok said, “I was reviewing scripts while I was shooting “A Bloody Lucky Day.” As I read this, the romantic thriller genre initially struck me as more of a thriller. In the early scripts, the character Sa-eon had many cold traits.”
He added: “After discussing it with the production team and the writer, they explained that although it is a romantic thriller, the romantic elements would become more important as Sa-eon’s story developed. I had faith that we could create something great together.”
