Ju Ji-hoon ready to be hated for role in new drama as long as viewers are 'entertained'

Hunkle Ju Ji-hoon is back with a new K-drama and despite his good looks and charm, his onscreen character may drive you up a wall.

AsiaOne virtually attended the press conference for his new drama The Remarried Empress also featuring cast members Shin Min-a, Lee Jong-suk and Lee Se-young on Nov 3, where the 44-year-old talked about his not-so-lovable role.

Unlike most royal K-dramas, the story — adapted from a popular web novel and webtoon of the same name — has fantastical elements and is set in a fictional empire reminiscent of a Western series.

It follows Empress Navier (played by Min-a), who is shocked when her husband Sovieshu (Ji-hoon) seeks divorce to wed his mistress Rashta (Se-young).

Refusing defeat, Navier allies with Prince Heinrey (Jong-suk) of the Western empire, and they fall in love as she risks it all to reclaim her throne.

Ji-hoon described Sovieshu as someone who is "good at everything he does".

"He's very talented. However, as we are human beings, not AI, one day he opens his eyes to a new kind of love, and that leads to almost a sinkhole," he said.

"He has this innocence where he follows his heart and he is unable to see how it affects others."

The drama premiered at the Busan Film Festival (BIFF) on Oct 9 and audiences had "heated responses" over his controversial character.

Ji-hoon wasn't fazed and took the hatred positively.

"The weather is cold, the economy is doing badly. There're a lot of things that bring us down. But I feel like, if you guys like my character, if you are able to be mad at me and hate my character, yell at the screen and that gives you some kind of satisfaction, I'm happy as well," he said.

Later on when he was asked about the responses at BIFF again, he confidently remarked with a smile: "I have had my share of bad comments over the past two decades of my career, so I am ready. As long as you are entertained, no matter how much you hate me, I am fine with that."

'Should I take this or not?'

Ji-hoon's breakout drama was the iconic Princess Hours (2006), where he starred as Crown Prince Lee Shin.

He has also taken on the role of a prince in the 2012 film I Am King and the zombie period drama Kingdom (2019-2020).

He has also dabbled in other genres in recent years — in 2024, he starred in the sci fi-thriller drama Blood Free, followed by rom-com Love Your Enemy and mystery-horror Light Shop.

The Ju Ji-hoon craze arguably resurged in 2025 when he played surgeon Baek Kang-hyuk in the widely loved drama The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call.

At The Remarried Empress press conference, Ji-hoon admitted he sat on his decision before he accepted the role.

"When I read the web novel or the webtoon, it was kind of very striking and new to me… I took a look at it, and I was like, 'Should I take this or not?' Because this was something that was very different from what I usually do," he said.

His agency, however, encouraged him to go for it.

Meanwhile, co-star and onscreen rival Jong-suk was already a big fan of the web novel and webtoon before his casting, and was naturally interested in the drama adaptation.

"I heard that it was being translated onto screen, and I knew that this is something that we haven't tried before, and I knew that it was going to carve out a new path," said the 37-year-old.

Jong-suk was also already familiar with the drama's director Cho Su-won, who previously helmed his beloved shows I Hear Your Voice (2013) and Pinocchio (2014).

"I worked together with Director Cho when I was in my 20s. Those were some of my best works, so I was happy to reunite with him in my 30s."

As a fan of the original work, Jong-suk said he was elated when he was offered the new role.

Su-won later revealed that Jong-suk had been the one who gave him "a lot of courage" that the adaptation could be successful.

Jong-suk's shirtless scene

Those who are familiar with the web novel or webtoon would know that Heinrey comes from a bloodline of royalty who can shapeshift into birds.

When he transforms into a large golden bird, he takes on the name Queen, who Jong-suk said was modelled after his features with CGI.

"I was quite anxious, because until you get to see the final result, you don't really have the idea of how it turns out on screen," he said.

There is a particular scene where he has to be shirtless as he transforms back into human form, and a bashful Jong-suk revealed he had asked Su-won to give him an additional month to work on his bod before filming the scene.

But despite his challenges, he felt that Min-a likely had a harder time as she had to imagine Queen being there whenever they had scenes together.

However, the 42-year-old actress humbly gave credit to the CGI team.

"They would come to me with different versions of Queen, and give me very detailed information about what kind of expression and movement he would have, so that was very helpful," she said.

'I was hating her a little bit'

Min-a, who last starred in the 2025 crime thriller Karma, said she wanted in on the drama as it would give her the chance to show a new side of herself.

She sees Navier as an "intelligent, perfect and naturally regal empress".

"She's also confident, but she is hurt by her husband's sudden news and betrayal. However, she really rises above it all and takes steps to rewrite her own destiny," said Min-ah.

"Navier is someone who is very independent, and as a woman, I like her very much."

Behind the betrayal which shakes up Navier's world is Rashta, a runaway slave who runs into Sovieshu on hunting grounds.

While she's "naive and innocent", she also has a burning desire to survive, said Se-young.

The 33-year-old, who started her career as a child actress in iconic dramas including Jewel in the Palace (2003), said this was her first time portraying a villain who is "sort of adorable but also bad".

"She starts coveting things that have never belonged to her and she grows to want it even more and to not let it go, and that leads to a lot of conflict within the royal palace," she explained, likening Rashta to a hungry child driven by instinct.

"She wants to survive, she wants to live, and so that leads her to naturally want more and desire for more, so I felt like there needed to be an element of purity about her, almost like pure evil."

While Se-young is a bubbly and sweet person in real life, Min-a recalled she transformed perfectly into character, which helped her stay immersed in their scenes together.

Min-a recounted an important scene between the two characters, which had a lot of takes due to hot weather.

"Se-young did so well and I could feel that I was hating her a little bit… I love that scene I shared with her," she said.

Se-young, however, felt "sorry".

"When I was acting, I did feel a little bit lonely because I'm a bad person," she remarked.

Scenes filmed in Europe

To bring the fictional world to life, Su-won said they had an intensive pre-production with art and VFX.

They also did a lot of research and location-hunting, eventually settling on multiple locations across Europe.

Navier and Heinrey's love develops at Kromeriz Gardens in the Czech Republic, while scenes featuring the imperial palace of the Eastern empire were largely filmed at Schleissheim Palace in Germany.

But Su-won also wanted some changes to the live action series.

The tone and manner were of utmost importance, he said.

"In the web novel, there's a lot of seriousness but there's a lot of entertainment as well. The web novel is a little bit different from the webtoon because the webtoon is more comedic and fun. The web novel is a little bit more serious. So, I wanted to strike a balance to go in the middle," he explained.

He said the cast and crew did their absolute best and trusts that audiences will enjoy the 10-episode series.

"Even if you see certain things that aren't up to par, I hope that you will be generous and show us a lot of love. "

Four episodes of The Remarried Empress are streaming on Disney+, and two new episodes will premiere every Wednesday.

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