Yoo In-soo on the “pressure” of playing the villain in All of Us Are Dead

Like his co-actors from the hit Korean horror series, All of Us Are Dead, Yoo In-soo is being lauded for his portrayal of playing the terrifying villain, Gwi-nam.

But while Yoo In-soo seems to have effortlessly portrayed the character, he revealed in a recent interview (via Soompi) that he was worried about playing the important role in the show.

“When I read the webtoon, I thought he was an interesting character, but I never imagined I would play the character. I thought, ‘The actor who plays Gwi Nam will have a lot of pressure.’ So, when I was cast as [Gwi Nam], I was really surprised and I was also really worried.”

Gwi-nam was initially one of the supporting bullies on the show, busy harassing other students, but he soon acquires the status of the prime antagonist who is targeting the group of survivors, dead set on not letting them make it out unscathed.

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Yoo In-soo took his director's advice to elevate the character

What helped the actor in nailing his performance was the advice given by director Lee Jae-kyoo, who told him not to play Gwi-nam like some typical fictional villain.

“If I portrayed him as a simple villain, then he would become a cliché and superficial character."

Elaborating on his process, In-soo said:

"In the situation where an ordinary person suddenly gains a lot of power, it’s not that he can’t control it so he uses it viciously, but rather that he’s enjoying the situation, and I wanted to portray the process of becoming a monster in the eyes of a third party.”

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Yoo In-soo’s favorite scene in All of Us are Dead

Though there are many spine-chilling scenes in the series that are permanently etched into our memories, for the actor the most memorable scene is when Gwi-nam turns into a hambie (half-human, half-zombie).

“The scene where I walk out after becoming a zombie. t’s not because I thought I did well after I finished filming the scene, but because in the moment when I was acting, I actually got goosebumps."

The appreciation that In-soo received for that scene also added to its importance.

"So I’m really attached to that scene, and I’m satisfied because people around me said that I expressed it well in the drama and it came out well.”

Yoo In-soo will be next seen in the JTBC drama, Fly High Butterfly, alongside Kim Hyang-gi, Oh Yoon-ah, Choi Daniel, and Shim Eun-woo.