EXCLUSIVE Interview! K-drama star Ok Taec-yeon: ‘With HeartBeat I am receiving great love from India’

As Ok Taec-yeon shines in Heartbeat, Firstpost catches up with the actor and discusses Korean content getting popular in India and more. He is happy that with K-dramas releasing on OTT, it’s getting popular globally. Ok Taec-yeon got global recognition when he appeared in ‘Vincenzo’ as the main antagonist and his work was hugely appreciated by all.

Edited Excerpts from the interview

Do you think the popularity of Korean content across India and the world has happened because of the numerous OTT platforms and the easy availability of the films and shows in local languages? What are your views on OTT breaking language barriers?    

I agree. Through various OTT platforms you can watch Indian films and dramas, and since you can access Korean dramas in India more easily through subtitling or dubbing, I think the influence of OTT platforms is great. I’m just grateful because I know India is showing a lot of love for Korean content through various OTT platforms.

Was it the most challenging role so far and why now that you are doing a vampire drama?

Every work is a challenge for me, but if I had to pick one it would be Vincenzo. I had to act as a villain for the first time and I learned a lot while working on Vincenzo. The time I spent learning about how to portray the Jang Jun-woo/Jang Han-seok character became a driving force in my acting career.

When I read the script for HeartBeat, my heart felt lighter and I felt healed. Because my previous work Blind was such a dark and heavy genre, I wanted to work on something bright and completely different for my next project. I chose this series with the expectation that I would be able to show various aspects of myself through U-hyeol, a vampire who wants to become human. But while acting as a vampire, the most difficult aspect was CG (computer graphics). We’re acting on set but things we cannot see will be added later in post-production. I tried to keep the CG in mind more while acting.

What was the most exciting part of the drama?

U-hyeol, who has wondered his whole life about love that makes one’s heartbeat, meets In-hae and begins to feel the emotion of love. I found the process of his growth exciting. It was also interesting to see U-hyeol — who was perfect as a vampire with superpowers in the past — wake up in modern times failing to become human, unable to demonstrate his powers, and having to hide his identity.

With the drama releasing on OTT what are your expectations globally?

I am aware of K-dramas and movies receiving love globally. I think that opportunities are growing through various channels, and I hope our drama HeartBeat will also be loved by fans all over the world through Amazon Prime Video.

Heartbeat has received a very positive response from the Indian viewers. They’ve loved and appreciated your work for a long time, any special message for your Indian fans? What are your thoughts on the Korean wave in India?

I especially felt through HeartBeat that I am receiving great love from India. I will work hard to repay that love. I hope there will be an opportunity to meet and greet you in person in India.

How did you prepare for this role? Which vampire movies or dramas did you watch for this? Did you watch other actors playing vampires when preparing your Heartbeat role?       

Vampires do not exist in reality, so I imagined what increasingly humanized vampires would look like. Before filming, I watched several works featuring vampires such as Interview with the Vampire. Since HeartBeat is a romantic comedy, I acted while focusing on portraying his ups and downs as a vampire who has to hide his true identity in the human world in a funnier way.