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Nam Joo-hyuk, Roh Yoon-seo open up about 'The East Palace'

Article (news)

Yong Chavez

ABS-CBN News North America

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1785024430210EastPalace_UNIT_102_33_00099R (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Nam Joo-hyuk and Roh Yoon-seo in &#x27;The East Palace.&#x27; Netflix</span></span></span></div><p>Once recent early evening in Los Angeles, Nam Joo-hyuk and Roh Yoon-seo joined me from Seoul over Zoom, with an interpreter helping bridge the conversation. </p><p>Despite the distance and a few seconds of translation between answers, the stars of Netflix’s hit show “The East Palace” were candid, thoughtful, and surprisingly funny. </p><p>Nam reflected on returning to the set after his hiatus and the importance of staying fearless as his career evolves, while Roh shared why she keeps her focus on personal growth rather than outside expectations. </p><p>They also revealed how their elaborate period costumes helped them embody their royal characters, and why, according to Nam, any ghosts lurking around set probably took one look at Gu-cheon and decided to leave him alone.</p><div> </div><div><strong>Q: What did you like most about playing your character, and what excited you the most to perform?</strong></div><p><strong>Nam Joo-hyuk: </strong>For Gu-cheon, what I was most excited for the character was his ability to walk into the Realm of Gwi, and I was really excited how all of that was going to be captured on screen visually. </p><p><strong>Roh Yoon-seo: </strong>For Saeng-gang, I was really drawn to her character, someone being very strong-willed, ambitious, and problem-solving and action-first. I was excited about that. Also, the fact that I get to work alongside such incredible, experienced actors. I had a lot of emotional scenes with them. That was a lot of fun.</p><div> </div><div><strong>Q: Nam Joo-hyuk, this being your comeback project, could you describe how you felt on your first day on set?</strong></div><p><strong>Nam Joo-hyuk: </strong>I loved it, and honestly, the the duration of a year and six months, I don&#x27;t think that it&#x27;s too long, and so when I was back on set, it felt quite unfamiliar for just a little while. But I immediately adapted to it. I was back in it, thinking that &#x27;Oh, I&#x27;m back to doing what I always used to do.&#x27; And of course, I was a little nervous initially, but I was able to use that nervousness to drive my performance.</p><div> </div><div><strong>Q: That&#x27;s awesome, and Roh Yoon-seo, your rise in your career has been remarkably fast. How do you stay focused when you know the expectations for you keeps growing?</strong></div><p><strong>Roh Yoon-seo: </strong>Honestly, I just try to focus only on myself. I know that the greater the expectation, it can lead to a greater disappointment. So I only try to focus on what I can do, only on myself and my performance. I try to be aware of everything that I need to improve on and work to further develop that. And I think I can say I tend to be able to do that quite well. So I try to only focus on what I can do. </p><div> </div><div><strong>Q: That&#x27;s very smart. And Nam Joo-hyuk, as your career grows, what parts of yourself are you determined to protect?</strong></div><p><strong>Nam Joo-hyuk: </strong>One thing that I want to protect, I think, is my fearlessness when it comes to taking on a challenge, because going further, I&#x27;m going to come across new stories, new things, and new challenges. And if I were to shy away from a new challenge just because it&#x27;s something I&#x27;ve never experienced before or something I can&#x27;t really imagine myself, I never want to face a part of me that would say no to a project because of that. And so my goal is to remain fearless and to take on challenges no matter what.</p><div> </div><div><strong>Q: I like that. In what ways do costumes and hair and makeup help you in portraying characters like those you portray on the show?</strong></div><p><strong>Roh Yoon-seo: </strong>When you get into the costume of the court lady, first of all, there are so many colors, and so it automatically brings a certain posture to you, and also because the jacket has a very high neck, I think it helped me have that sort of very straight back posture, holding my head up high. There&#x27;s definitely power that costume brings, and also with the hair pulled back and everything, it really helped me a lot get into the the court lady or the daughter of the king position that my character was in. Also with the long skirt as well, that helps with the posture a lot.</p><p><strong>Nam Joo-hyuk: </strong>You know, when you are shooting like a horror project-- And we actually got a question asked today as well, some interviewers would ask us, you know: Have you seen any ghosts on set? Honestly, I have never seen anything, and I think it&#x27;s because I was in the costume of Gu-cheon, the spirits all must have been scared and ran away.</p>

<p>Despite the distance and a few seconds of translation between answers, the stars of Netflix’s hit show “The East Palace” were candid, thoughtful, and surprisingly funny. </p>

Despite the distance and a few seconds of translation between answers, the stars of Netflix’s hit show “The East Palace” were candid, thoughtful, and surprisingly funny.

Q&A: Nam Joo-hyuk, Roh Yoon-seo open up about 'The East Palace'

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Q&A: Nam Joo-hyuk, Roh Yoon-seo open up about 'The East Palace'

Yong Chavez,

ABS-CBN News North America

Published July 26, 2026 08:19 AM PHT

Read More:

Netflix

The East Palace

K-drama

Nam Joo-hyuk

Roh Yoon-seo

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