Why Did Nam Joo-hyuk Choose 'East of the Palace' to Return to K-dramas?

One of the most delicate moments in the career of any major South Korean entertainment star is the mandatory military service break, which all men in the country must complete before turning 30. And actor Nam Joo-hyuk, who made his mark with titles like Weightlifting Fairy (2016) and Twenty-Five, Twenty-One (2022), has just gone through that moment.

Away from the screen since Vigilante (2023), Nam officially returned to action yesterday (17) with the premiere of East of the Palace on Netflix. And the fantasy K-drama, in which the actor plays a warrior hired by a king (Cho Seung-woo) to hunt spirits alongside a shaman (Roh Yoon-seo), is a bold comeback—a big-budget production arriving on the platform with high expectations attached to it.

Omelete took part in a press conference with Nam Joo-hyuk and his co-star, Roh Yoon-seo, where the actor opened up about choosing the project—and even expressed his surprise at learning that Brazilian audiences are following his career closely enough to understand the importance of this moment.

REPORTER: This is your first K-drama after military service. Why did you choose The East Palace to mark your return, and what made this the perfect project for it?

NAM: There were so many interesting elements that drew me to this project. There was a lot in the script that sparked my imagination, and I also really wanted to do the action scenes. Because of that, instead of looking for reasons to accept the offer, this was a project for which I had absolutely no reason to say no.

REPORTER: And was there anything about that period of military service that changed the way you approach acting, or influenced how you built the character Gu-cheon?

NAM: Before I answer the question, I have to say that the most surprising thing to me is that, even in Brazil, so far from Korea, people know that I just completed my military service. [Laughter] But regarding my approach to acting, I don’t think there was a drastic change between the “before” and “after.” Still, the military is a place where you have a lot of time to think. So I asked myself many questions about how I should live the next ten years of my life. I still haven’t found all the answers, but I’m living my 30s trying to put into practice the many ideas that came out of those reflections. My 20s were a time of learning—everything I encountered became a challenge of “how should I do this?”—but now, in my 30s, I’m acting while reflecting on this new decade of life.

*East of the Palace is now available to stream, with its full eight-episode season, on Netflix.