28th BIFF Yoo Yeon-seok studied real psychopaths for role in 'A Bloody Lucky Day'

From left, actors Yoo Yeon-seok, Lee Jung-eun and Lee Sang-min attend the 28th Busan International Film Festival for the screening of Tving series “A Bloody Luky Day.” Courtesy of Tving

BUSAN ― Pure evil is not the image people usually associate with actor Yoo Yeon-seok, who is known for his roles as an amiable doctor in the medical series, “Hospital Playlist,” or a considerate baseball player in the romance series, “Reply 1994.”

In Tving’s upcoming original series, “A Bloody Lucky Day,” the actor puts on a new face, turning into a heartless serial killer. The series has been invited to screen at the “On Screen” section of the 28th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

Yoo said he had to study real-life psychopaths to create his character.

“As I prepared for the character, I researched videos that interviewed actual psychopaths … And the common trait they had is that they had very sharp and focused eyes when they were talking. Rather than intentionally opening my eyes wide, I wanted to express the simplicity by looking directly and clearly while talking, like psychopaths did,” he said during the special Guest Visit event for the series at CGV in Haeundae District, Busan, Friday.

Based on the webcomic of the same name, the psychological thriller series follows a taxi driver named Oh-taek (Lee Sung-min).

After dreaming about a pig, which represents good luck, he ends up having a lucrative day driving customers back-to-back. As he is about to wrap up his day, he gets his last customer, Hyuk-soo (Yoo), who offers to pay an enormous amount of money for a long-distance ride.

What started out as a pleasant trip soon goes sideways when Oh slowly realizes that he is stuck on the road with a serial killer in the backseat.

A scene from the series "A Bloody Lucky Day" / Courtesy of BIFF

Yoo said he came across this series just when he felt an urge to play characters different from his previous roles.

“When I was offered the role, I was filming a medical series … And because I had been playing gentle, sophisticated and kind characters lately, I had a passion to show a different side,” he said.

“Around the same time, this series came to me. And I read the webcomic first as they said it would be easier to grasp (the character). And I fell in love with the character.”

Lee, who recently made a powerful impact by playing a ruthless chairman in “Reborn Rich,” expressed he had difficulty portraying a run-of-the-mill man caught up in an unusual, suspense-filled situation.

“I had to play a character who is ordinary, harmless, and timid. It is close to my real personality but I did have concerns if I could pull it off because I had to calculate my acting. I usually don’t do that when acting, but with this character, there was a flow (of events in the story) and as the events snowball as the story goes on, I had to plan out ahead,” he said, adding he was immersed in the character’s emotion throughout the production.

“On the set, I was always down and sensitive. I feel bad for not having fun with Yoo while filming. I’m not usually like that, but this series was especially hard.”

“A Bloody Lucky Day” is set to hit the streaming platform in November.