[Interview] "Make it more delicious"... "The Manipulated" Ji Chang-wook

"I filmed the movie about ten years ago, and I'd been hearing for several years that it might be turned into a series. I vaguely hoped I'd get to do it, and thankfully, they offered it to me. I really wanted to see it through".

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From the film "Fabricated City" to the Disney+ series "The Manipulated", actor Ji Chang-wook (38), who forms the central axis of the expanded universe, was met on the 11th at a café in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.

"The Manipulated" tells the story of Tae-joong, an ordinary man whose life is upended when he is falsely implicated in a brutal crime and sent to prison. After learning that it was all orchestrated by Yo-han, he sets out to exact revenge. The series was released on November 5th. Immediately after episodes 7 and 8 dropped, it ranked No. 1 worldwide in Disney+'s Top 10 TV Shows category, remaining in the Top 10 for about four weeks until its finale, an undeniable hit.

While "The Manipulated" drew attention as a remake of "The Manipulated", it went far beyond that. Though the logline remains the same, much of the characters and narrative were reworked, significantly expanding both the thematic message and genre appeal. Ji Chang-wook, who played the lead in both projects, said, "I think a different work was born within the same universe".

For Ji Chang-wook, the project felt like a 'homework assignment'. He agonized over how to portray an utterly ordinary person falling to rock bottom in a way that viewers could truly empathize with. Having completed the mission, he repeatedly credited others, direction, makeup, lighting, music, for helping him pull it off. When teased for being overly modest, he laughed shyly and said, "It's embarrassing".

"I did well, right?" he joked. "I worked really hard. I probably had more meetings than anyone, trying to figure out how to make it work. I didn't want to give up until the very end. I think I have that kind of tenacity. I wanted a big emotional contrast; the further Tae-joong falls, the more power the latter half would have. Even if it felt familiar, I tried to push straight ahead, thinking, 'It's a taste everyone knows, but how can I make it delicious?' Of course, I also received a lot of help".

There's little disagreement about the show's genre-driven thrill, with action at its core, what Ji Chang-wook describes as 'comic-book-like action'. In that sense, the motorcycle chase through the tunnel stands out as a signature scene. "For the shot where the bike rides along the tunnel wall, we suspended the motorcycle inside a set and completed it with camera movement and CGI", he explained. "Technically, it was a very fresh approach".

He handled about 50% of the action himself; for particularly difficult scenes or ones that wouldn't look effective if done directly, he relied heavily on stunt doubles. Ji Chang-wook tends to focus more on emotion than pure movement. "I've been doing action since I was young, so I trained a lot and got used to it, which helped my emotional expression", he said. "Even in action scenes, I think of them as emotional scenes. It's exhausting, but expressing emotion through the body is fun".

That said, he also declared an 'action hiatus'. "I always approached each action project thinking it might be the last action of my life", he said. "I prefer works with warmth and human appeal, like "Lovestruck in the City" or "Welcome to Samdal-ri". Half joking, half serious, but among people who look intense, I think I'm the most understated. I'll have plenty of opportunities to do humanistic or melodramatic projects in the future".

Ji Chang-wook has been a regular on Disney+ year after year, "The Worst of Evil" (2023), "Gangnam B-Side" (2024), and now "The Manipulated". In the second half of next year, he plans to unveil Disney+'s first Korea–Japan co-produced drama, "Merry Berry Love". "For an actor, doing a project means someone has invested in you", he said. "As a hired professional, it's something to be genuinely grateful for".

His criteria for choosing projects are tied to an undiminished curiosity, even 18 years into his career. "It's exciting to discover a side of myself I haven't seen before. Even if people say, 'Why bother?', if I want to express it, I'll do it. And this isn't volunteer work; it's my job. I'm thankful for that", he said. Reflecting on his journey, he added, "I've given up on far more things than the ones I didn't give up on. The one thing I never gave up was acting, and I'm proud of myself for that. I've done daily dramas, weekend dramas, historical pieces, independent films, and musicals-those experiences made me who I am today. New challenges can be scary, but safe choices just don't suit my personality".