Ji Chang Wook’s first drama after his discharge from the army is amazing!  He talks about his challenges in “Melting Me” at the start of its broadcast in Japan, and answers special comments from ELLE!

“Melting Me” (Boku o tokashite kure), starring actor Ji Chang Wook, whose well-trained body is a hot topic among good-looking Korean guys, has been released on [cable channel] U-NEXT.  Speaking of Changwook, he joined the army in 2017 at the height of his popularity with successive hits such as “Healer~Best Lover” and “Suspicious Partner.”  When he left the army two years later, the strong body that grew up a little bit became a topic of conversation!  The most ‘finished’ thing I looked at was “Melting Me,” a romantic comedy about a man and a woman who are destined to be frozen people, and he played the role of producer at a broadcasting station.  Here is an interview recorded exclusively in Japan this February!

What will you do when you wake up in 20 years?

ELLE:  What’s the highlight of this drama?
JCW:  I think the highlight is the process of how two men and women who participated in the frozen human experiment wake up 20 years later and live, and how they fall in love and develop that love.  Relationships after waking up 20 years are also very interesting.  In this work, the roles played by senior actors are set up by juniors and younger actors, so I think that’s interesting.

ELLE:  What would you do if you woke up and found the world 20 years from now?
JCW:  That’s correct.  I think I’ll go see my family first and then my friends. These days, the world is changing faster than expected, so we have to think about how to live from now on.

ELLE:  What if your appearance did not change for 20 years and only people around you changed?
JCW:  I can’t do anything about it, but it’s not a good situation.  I don’t think I can be happy because I lost 20 years of time.

ELLE:  You can keep yourself young, but…
JCW:  It’s not that I was able to keep myself young, it’s that I jumped over 20 years.  I haven’t lived while being young for 20 years, and when I wake up 20 years have passed, so I don’t think I’d be glad if I stayed young.

Little by little, I gradually narrowed down my body, as I gained 13 kilograms in the army.

ELLE:  It was a hot topic of conversation that this was a return to dramas right after your discharge, but did you prepare anything for the shooting?
JCW:  I thought a lot about it while reading the script.  I gained a lot of weight in the army, so I had to go on a diet first.

ELLE:  How many kilograms did you lose?
JCW:  I gained 12-13 kilograms after joining the army, so I thought it would be difficult to adjust my weight in a short period of time until the shooting.  I was steadily on a diet about 9 months before I left the army.

ELLE:  What was the memorable scene from the drama?
JCW:  It’s a scene where Ma Dong Chan, who I play, wakes up from the frozen human experiment and meets his family.  I think the relationship between the characters is interesting in this work.  In the second half, Ma Dong Chan visited a doctor who conducted an experiment on frozen humans and said, “I want to live as an ordinary person.”  This is also impressive.

ELLE:  How was the atmosphere at the set?
JCW:  This drama itself is a comedy, so the set was very bright and fun.  There were a lot of scenes with senior actors, and they were so funny that I enjoyed the atmosphere of the scene.  I went to shoot as a junior, and I am very grateful for everyone’s kindness.

ELLE:  Did you have any difficulties or fun during the shooting?
JCW:  There were a lot of scenes where I couldn’t hold back my laughter.  Lim Wonhee was my junior and there were a lot of scenes where I teased Wonhee.  Wonhee’s expressions and reactions at that time were so funny that I couldn’t hold back my laughter.

ELLE:  It was midsummer during the ELLE shoot, but wasn’t it hot?
JCW:  It was hot at first, but I couldn’t wear thick clothes even in cold places because I was a frozen person, so it was rather cold at the end of shooting (laughs).  Also, it was harder than I expected to have to close my eyes and stand in a frozen capsule all day long.

ELLE:  What are you into in your private life these days?
JCW:  Recently, it is difficult to start a new hobby outside because of Corona, so I spend more time watching dramas and movies and reading books at home than before.  I used to ride a motorcycle and play sports with my friends before Corona, but I’m sorry I can’t do that these days.

ELLE:  What do you want to do when Corona settles down?
JCW:  After all, it’s a trip.  It’s been more than a year since I last went on a trip, so I miss traveling.  I feel that I need peace of mind and freedom that I get from traveling.

“Melting Me”

In 1999, popular producer Ma Dong Chan planned a frozen human experiment on a variety program.  He and a slightly mysterious child, Ko Mi Ran, will be the subject of a 24-hour frozen human experiment.  However, an incident occurs and the two wake up in 2019, 20 years later …

Up to the 12th episode is being broadcast exclusively on U-NEXT.  Episodes 13-25 are scheduled to start broadcasting at 12:00pm JST on 14 May 2021.

Translated from Japanese to English by cherkell; there may be slight inaccuracies.  PLEASE DO NOT REPRINT, REPURPOSE, SCREENCAP OR OTHERWISE COPY OUR CONTENT WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Credit:  ELLE Japan Online 12 May 2021 issue