'Spooky In Love' star Ong Seong-wu: I don't want to limit myself to a genre

Since debuting in 2017 as a member of Wanna One, Ong Seong-wu has successfully built a dual career in music and acting.

He recently tested his range by playing his first antagonist, Kang Min-hwan, in "Spooky In Love" alongside Park Eun-bin and Yang Se-jong. The drama achieved significant international success, reaching No. 3 on Netflix’s global top 10 chart for non-English series.

In a Q&A released by Fantagio following Sunday's series finale, Ong opens up about stepping into the shoes of a villain, bringing his character's dramatic arc to life, and what lies ahead in his acting journey.

It feels like we only finished filming recently, so it still doesn’t quite feel real that the drama has already come to an end. Since this was my first time taking on a villainous role, I had a lot of concerns even before the drama premiered, and I was also very nervous about how viewers would respond to the character. I’m sincerely grateful that viewers both loved and hated Min-hwan throughout the series. Even though this was my first attempt at playing a villain, the fact that so many people will remember the character made this a truly meaningful experience for me.

I think Min-hwan is a character defined by a sense of “deprivation.” He has a deprivation stemming from the love he never received from his mother as a child, as well as one stemming from his feelings for Yeo-ri, whom he has loved for a long time. I think all these different forms of deprivation came together to create Min-hwan. That’s why he does everything in his power to get what he wants, but because he has been controlled by this sense of deprivation since childhood, he ends up taking the wrong path rather than the right one. As Min-hwan’s sense of deprivation grew, I tried to show how his actions were becoming increasingly misguided.

I remember filming the scenes that showed Min-hwan’s past while wearing a school uniform. It felt a little awkward, and I wondered whether I could really pull it off, but I remember having a lot of fun and laughing on set. I also paid close attention to my hairstyle and costume to make myself look like a high school student. Fortunately, I think it turned out better on screen than I expected. My fans also enjoyed seeing me in a school uniform, so I was happy that I got another chance to show that side of myself through “Spooky In Love.”

The line Min-hwan says to his mother while he is in prison is the one I remember most. When his mother visits him, Min-hwan says, “I’m scared. I’m scared of how you’ll look at me.” I think that was the moment when he expressed his feelings most honestly. It was the only moment when Min-hwan, who always maintained a strong exterior, became completely vulnerable. It was heartbreaking to see him, a man who had spent his entire life yearning for his mother’s love, finally reveal his true feelings and embrace her only after everything had fallen apart.

I think all of Min-hwan’s wrongdoing was unacceptable, but the scenes in which he causes his younger brother Ji-hwan’s death and loses control of his anger and does something wrong in response to Park Seung-jae’s threats were particularly difficult for me. I think both scenes were moments when Min-hwan’s emotions reached their breaking point, causing him to take off his mask and reveal the person he had been hiding all along. Ultimately, those emotions and choices led to irreversible consequences. I felt that way when I first read the script, but seeing those scenes again on screen made them weigh even more heavily on me.

Min-hwan isn’t someone who experiences much outward emotional turmoil; he is more accustomed to hiding his feelings than expressing them. That’s why I felt the emotional changes he goes through later in the series needed to feel even more extreme. In the beginning, I tried to emphasize Min-hwan’s calm demeanor as much as possible. As things gradually stopped going his way and he began revealing his true colors, I tried to convey his transformation through things like the tone of his voice, his gaze and the way he walked. I felt proud and grateful when viewers noticed these changes in Min-hwan and responded to them.

If I’m given the opportunity, I’d like to challenge myself with a variety of projects without limiting myself to a particular genre or type of role. There are still many things I haven’t experienced, and through this project, I also discovered new sides of myself. I’m curious to see what other sides of myself I can show you and how you’ll respond to them.

It was a meaningful experience to show a new side of myself through Min-hwan, my first villainous character. I sincerely thank all the viewers who stayed with us until the end, and I’ll continue working hard to show you different sides of myself through many more projects in the future. Once again, thank you.

This interview from a Fantagio press release was translated into English using AI and edited by Korea Herald staff. — Ed.