It has been two years since Yeo Jin Goo last visited Singapore for the launch of tvN Movies with Shim Eun Kyung and the actor is finally back in town to promote his latest drama, Hotel Del Luna.

Hotel Del Luna

Having dominated viewership rating charts not only in Korea, but across Asia, Yeo Jin Goo shared that he did not expect such an overwhelming response from K-drama fans. When he first received the script for Hotel Del Luna, he was intrigued by its concept: a mysterious hotel where only ghosts can stay. He had found it really unique and thought that many viewers will feel the same. When the drama started receiving attention and doing well, the filming process became even more enjoyable because everyone on the set was in high spirits. Yeo Jin Goo was also thankful that the drama did so well for he was given the wonderful opportunity via this Star Tour to meet his fans in Singapore again after two years.

On what he thought were the reasons that made Hotel Del Luna appealing to viewers, Yeo Jin Goo attributed the success to the interesting plot in which the characters go back to the past and forth to the present, intriguing the audience with a fantasy appeal that spans across a vast timeline of 1300 years, as well as the compelling back stories of the characters.

Curious as to what made the actor take up the role of Gu Chan Seong? Yeo Jin Goo shared that when he was reading the script, there was a line that went, “Aren’t you interested to find out more about a world that no one knows about?” and it was as though a spell was cast on him, for his answer to it was also a yes. He would love to find out more about this world himself, hence he just had to take on this role and share this story with everyone else.

When asked if he could be any character in Hotel Del Luna for a day, Yeo Jin Goo chose Jang Man Wol. He explained that he wouldn’t want to be that character exactly, but one who is similar to her, because she is “someone who does everything she wishes and goes about doing whatever she wants without listening to others. I think it will be tough, but I would like to try (that for a day) if the opportunity arises.”

Should Yeo Jin Goo meet a real-life Jang Man Wol in person, he admitted that he would be surprised yet happy at the same time and his first words will definitely be “You’re really pretty!” and hopefully get an invitation to the hotel.

Acting career

Despite having successfully transformed from his image as a child actor, Yeo Jin Goo confessed that he had a lot of fears, even when embarking on the Hotel Del Luna journey. His role as Gu Chan Seong was really different from his previous ones—a majority of them had bright and happy personalities. So in order to become Gu Chan Seong, who was more of a mature, serious, and down-to-earth person, he spent a lot of time communicating with the director before the actual filming to have a clear understanding of what kind of character Gu Chan Seong is so as to accurately delve inside Gu Chan Seong’s state of mind.

It is said that 2019 is the year of Yeo Jin Goo, for he appeared on Korean TV in three different dramas, which were aired almost back-to-back, in less than a year. When asked to choose between filming a drama and filming a movie, he couldn’t make a choice as they are really different in nature. When preparing for a drama, as an actor, he felt the need to be adaptive as you do not receive the script in entirety. So while filming, the plot may change or an impromptu scene may be added, so one must really be prepared for unexpected changes. As for filming a movie, the storyline is fixed and the full script usually comes to you, which gives him the luxury of researching and getting into character better before the filming begins. Since there are different charms in both filming a drama or a movie, he is committed to do well in both and would not choose one over the other.

Ghosts and the After-Life

Since Hotel Del Luna is a drama about a mysterious hotel that is opened to ghosts only, Yeo Jin Goo mentioned that he is not exactly afraid of ghosts or anything supernatural. But instead, he gets frightened by things that appear suddenly, such as bugs. It could just be a small insect, but he would still get shocked as long as it appears out of nowhere. That’s probably something a lot of us can relate to!

On the topic of the afterlife, Yeo Jin Goo admits that he is someone who tries to live as faithfully as much as he can and shared that he would like to receive the beautiful flower from God Mago. As the saying in Korea goes, if you leave behind a lot of food (after every meal), when you pass away, you have to finish all of them. As superstitious as it may sound, he actually believes in the afterlife. And as to what he would like to achieve by the time he has to go, “I want to be remembered as an actor who has taken on various roles in various productions, be it dramas or movies, very actively until the last moment.”

Singapore

The last time he was in Singapore, he remembered heading to Clarke Quay, where he had lots of fun and made plenty of wonderful memories. This time around, he mentioned his wish to head back there, but is also open to other spots in Singapore, and asked his fans to leave their recommendations on his Social Networking Sites. However, the first order of things after this media conference had to be having his chili crab, a dish he absolutely cannot miss since he is in Singapore.

Mini Fanmeet 

Having taken up various roles across his acting career, where many of the roles require varied facial expressions, while others required more inner emotions, a mini game of acting was played to test Yeo Jin Goo. The host would describe three situations and the actor would be given five seconds to prepare, before acting the scenario out. The three situations were: Man Wol standing in front of him right now, him finding out that Man Wol just bought an overpriced luxurious yacht, and him persuading the audience to pay triple the price to buy the yacht from him. He did such a good job in portraying the emotions that the audience was visibly impressed.

70 lucky fans, who were chosen via various tvN and Starhub contests, were also present at the media conference. The best part of it all had to be the hi-touch and group photo session with Yeo Jin Goo.

Halloween Horror Nights 9

Yeo Jin Goo also embarked on a haunted house tour at Singapore’s iconic scare event, the Halloween Horror Nights 9 at Universal Studios Singapore. An event that is oddly apt and ties in well with the talk-of-the-town drama, Hotel Del Luna.

Despite being in the industry for 14 years, every role is a brand new and refreshing experience that brings about different bouts of inspiration and emotions. To Yeo Jin Goo, this is what keeps him going. Who else is excited to see what Yeo Jin Goo has in store for us next?

But before that, do remember to catch the finale of Hotel Del Luna via tvN (in Singapore and Malaysia) on 2nd October 2019 (Wednesday), 9.45PM.

Many thanks to tvN for the invite to the media conference.

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