[HanCinema's News] Chae Jong-hyeop Talks About "Unlock My Boss"

"Unlock My Boss" ended on January 12th with ratings of 1.45%. The office mystery is based off of the webtoon of the same title, and stars Chae Jong-hyeop in the leading role as a hapless young man who must assist a genius CEO who died and turned into a smart phone. In a recent interview, Chae Jong-hyeop explained that he took on the project because he really wanted to act, and believed in the words of the script, asking himself "why?" and working to grasp an answer.

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"Unlock My Boss" is not Chae Jong-hyeop's first leading performance. He also won a newcomer award at the 2022 KBS Drama Awards for his role in "Love All Play" last spring. Chae Jong-hyeop described his current life experience as living a dream. This position evolved from his just wanting to live without regrets, to actively trying to work as a model, to finally actively trying to work as an actor.

Chae Jong-hyeop has had unusual life experiences in general. Since the third year of middle school, he found himself unexpectedly living as an international student, as his parents' work took the family to Thailand and South Africa. This gave him a chance to think independently and make his own decisions. Chae Jong-hyeop could also hope for anything that he wanted. Yet facing prejudice in South Africa, Chae Jong-hyeop also had to learn how to overcome adversity.

Chae Jong-hyeop turns thirty this year, so his needing to do mandatory military service is an issue. However, Chae Jong-hyeop was diagnosed as an epileptic in 2018. Because of this, he has not started his mandatory military service during that time, and it is unclear whether he will ever need to do mandatory military service, or whether he will be given an exemption. Chae Jong-hyeop said that he is still taking medication and will need to be reexamined.

Chae Jong-hyeop is still expected to appear in "Serendipity's Embrace" later this year. Chae Jong-hyeop noted that the fast rise in his profile since his breakout role in "Stove League" has made him feel insufficient. Nevertheless, he takes this as motivation to try harder to do a better job. Chae Jong-hyeop claims not to think of himself as a leading man, but just whatever character he happens to be playing, and that he considers his work to be a collaborative effort with the rest of the cast and crew.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Unlock My Boss" is directed by Lee Cheol-ha, written by Kim Hyung-min-II, and features Chae Jong-hyeop, Seo Eun-soo, Park Sung-woong, Lee Sang-hee, Jung Dong-hwan, Yoon Byung-hee. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2022/12/07~2023/01/12, Wed, Thu 21:00 on ENA.