'Begins Youth' star Ro Jong-hyun shares behind-the-scenes story and how he got to play Suga's character in the BTS drama

Begins Youth actor Ro Jong-hyun released a new behind-the-scenes video on his official YouTube channel on Sunday, May 19, 2024. The South Korean actor played the character of BTS' Suga in the HYBE K-drama, which is based on the band's HYYH trilogy and Save Me webtoon.

The popular drama centered on the lives of seven high school boys coping with family responsibilities, bereavement, poverty, abandonment, violence, and rejection as they navigate their school years. In the Youtube video, Ro Jong-hyun disclosed that although the production crew had expressed appreciation for his acting abilities during his audition, they remained dissatisfied until they found out about his interests.

During the audition, the production crew granted him additional points when he disclosed that he spends most of his time at home watching TV or sleeping, much like Suga in real life or his character in Begins Youth, who is named Min Cein.

"When I was cast for this role, the response was that my acting skills were pretty good and okay. But the production team must have been a little disappointed. Then when they talked to me, I was slow to talk and didn't speak much."

Ro Jong-hyun further added,

"'What do you usually do? What are you doing?'. If you ask me, I am at home. I usually sleep or watch TV...The production team thought that this actor was very similar to Suga....They gave me extra points more than other actors." (as auto-translated by YouTube)"

---

Ro Jong-hyun shares how each seven lead from Begins Youth members closely resembles the BTS members

In the YouTube video titled #BeginsYouth Episode 1, Behind the Scenes (feat. Ro Jong-hyun), the actor further revealed how he gained 2-3kg to look younger and a bit more like BTS' Suga. He mentioned that he was skinnier than he is now, and due to his real age—he was 29 years old at the time of auditioning for the drama and is currently 31—he looked older than a high school student. Hence, he gained weight and chained his hairstyle to fit the part.

Additionally, Ro Jong-hyun revealed how each of the other six main leads closely resembled the BTS members since everyone prepared a lot to research and read about BTS' Suga, Namjoon, Jimin, Jin, J-Hope, Taehyung, and Jungkook. The actor further added that in one of the scenes from the drama, his character Min Cein could be seen biting his nails, which has now become a real-life habit.

"This drama took quite a long time to film. After filming for over a year, it became a habit of Ro Jung-hyun, not Cein. At this point, I got rid of that habit but I think there was a time when I was deeply immersed in the character Cein."

For the unversed, BTS' Min Yoongi, aka Suga, used to bite his nails during his trainee period. The AMYGDALA rapper-songwriter revealed during several Weverse livestreams how he got rid of the habit.

---

The Begins Youth storyline is based on the webtoon Save Me from the BTS Universe. Kim Hwan (Jin) encounters six boys during an unwelcome homecoming to Songju-si. These are Do-geon (Namjoon), Hosu (J-Hope), Haru (Jimin), Jeha (Jungkook), Cein (Suga), and Joo-an (Taehyung), names that have also been adapted from HYBE's webtoon 7FATES: CHAKHO, Vol. 1, which is also based on the K-pop juggernaut.

Initially, Hwan faces problems with all the boys when he moves to the new school, but in the end, they become friends. Begins Youth takes viewers on a journey as it centers on the seven boys as they travel, make memories, and open up to one another about their issues so that each can become better. The drama is currently available for global streaming on Xclusive on a subscription basis.