“I started wanting to do other genres”: Park Seo-joon explains why he took a break from doing K-drama rom-coms

Park Seo-joon expressed his love for K-drama rom-coms and highlighted why he felt the need to take a break from the romance genre to experiment with other genres of the art form. In an exclusive interview with the Korean media outlet Herald Pop, the Itaewon Class actor explained why he has not starred in a romantic comedy-drama since What's Wrong with Secretary Kim opposite Park Min-young in 2018.

The Fight For My Way actor revealed that while he continues to enjoy the romance genre, he realized it was time to branch out and decided to experiment with other genres such as thrillers, action, and fantasy.

“Til now, I’ve done many rom-coms, so I started wanting to do other genres.”

The talented Korean actor has been in the Korean entertainment industry since 2012 and made his acting debut with Dream High 2. He is currently basking in the success of the disaster-thriller film Concrete Utopia alongside Park Bo-young and Lee Byung-hun, which has been doing exceptionally well at the Korean box office.

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Park Seo-joon reveals he will stay away from K-drama rom-coms for some time

Park Seo-joon has starred in some top-notch K-drama romantic comedies, including Dream High 2, A Witch's Love, Kill Me, Heal Me, She Was Pretty, Fight for My Way, and What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, over his decade-long career in showbiz. The actor enjoyed global popularity with the dramas Fight for My Way and What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, which cemented his status amongst international fans.

However, after What's Wrong with Secretary Kim's astounding success, he took a break from doing rom-com dramas and since then has not starred in any romantic-comedy drama. Speaking with Herald Pop, he explained his decision to foray into different genres and not want to do rom-com dramas for a while in the near future.

Park Seo-joon revealed he wanted to take a break from romantic-comedy dramas and explore other genres, which is why he has starred in dramas and films like Itaewon Class, a cameo in Parasite, Dream opposite IU, and Concrete Utopia alongside Park Bo-young and Lee Byung-hun.

Furthermore, Park Seo-joon revealed that he has tried to ensure each drama or film he has done is different and fun and will continue to do so. The Dream actor also affirms that he probably won’t act in a K-Drama rom-com anytime soon.

"Although each rom-com is different, I wanted to change the genre. I want to keep it fun. I’ve been challenging myself since ‘Secretary Kim,’ and I think I haven’t chosen a rom-com since then, and will continue to do so moving forward."

However, the Concrete Utopia actor clarified that he absolutely loves K-drama rom-coms and that someday in the future, he would experiment with the genre again. But for now, his desire to do different genres is stronger.

"Of course, I like rom-coms, and I think that the genre is challenging, so I’m not saying I don’t want to rom-coms, just that my desire to try something different is greater."

Fans are eager to see Park Seo-joon return to the romantic-comedy K-dramas, sooner or later.

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Park Seo-joon's movie Concrete Utopia chosen to represent Korea at the 96th Academy Awards

On August 17, the Korean Film Council announced that Park Seo-joon's film Concrete Utopia has been selected for competition in the International Feature Film category at the 96th Academy Awards.

The other entry was Song Kang-ho's Cobweb, which competed as a finalist for South Korea’s submission. For those unfamiliar, Concrete Utopia is a disaster-thriller film centered around a catastrophic earthquake and the aftermath of it.

The survivors assemble at Hwang Goong Apartments, the only building unaffected by the devastating earthquake in Seoul, to discuss their next course of action in the face of this heartbreaking tragedy. Notably, the film has been clocking in exceptional numbers at the Korean box office as well. Park Seo-joon will also star as Prince Yan in his debut Hollywood venture, The Marvels.