Yoon Shi Yoon Shares Which "Grand Prince" Character He Liked Best + Secret To Drama's Success

Actor Yoon Shi Yoon recently sat down for an interview to talk about the end of his latest drama, “Grand Prince,” and his career as a whole.

In “Grand Prince,” Yoon Shi Yoon played Lee Hwi, who fights with his brother (Joo Sang Wook) for the love of a woman (Jin Se Yeon). The drama brought in the highest ratings ever for the channel TV Chosun at 5.6 percent.

Yoon Shi Yoon said, “I feel proud. More than feeling good about myself, I feel thankful. I was really terrified at the beginning of this drama. I was afraid that it would fail because I was lacking. I was so nervous at the press conference that I couldn’t sleep and wrote my fans a long letter, and they comforted me. It seems like just yesterday but I’m so grateful.”

When asked about the secret behind “Grand Prince’s” success, he said, “It was easy to approach. The interesting thing was that the ratings rose around Episode 13. The scenes that we put a lot of effort into at the beginning were favorably received, but if you judge by ratings, it’s hard for historical dramas to get an inflow of viewers during the middle of its run. Your character might have a beard and be talking about something serious, but the viewers might be like, ‘Who is that?’ If you don’t become popular in the first four episodes, people won’t watch your show, but since this drama was about such a famous part of history I heard that it was easy to understand. And also my character would just explain whatever was happening right in front of him [laughs]. I think it was easy to understand because it was based on real history.”

Yoon Shi Yoon had previously filmed the historical drama “Mirror of the Witch” with Kim Sae Ron. In comparing the two, the actor said, “They’re totally different. ‘Mirror of the Witch’ was a fantasy and this is based on real history. There are two strengths of historical dramas. One is to make a fantasy scenario in order to recreate a past in which we’ve never lived, like Chinese martial arts movies. You can make up whatever characters you want. If ‘Mirror of the Witch’ had more freedom in acting, ‘Grand Prince’ was about perfecting and living up to the framework. I liked them both and it’s hard to say which is better or worse. Acting is like dating. You break up with someone you love and meet someone else you love. If someone asks you, ‘Is your old girlfriend or your new girlfriend prettier?,’ of course you say your current girlfriend. Because that’s where you’ve given your love for the moment.”

The interviewer also asked if he would have liked to try Joo Sang Wook’s character in the drama. Instead, the actor replied, “I personally liked the character Grand Prince Ahn Pyeong. He is warm-hearted and good-natured to other people, and has a lot of love for his family. His beliefs make him stronger. I like these kind of things. I like my character a lot but I was the last to be cast. I wanted to work with Jin Se Yeon and Joo Sang Wook.”

Catch the first episode of “Grand Prince” on Viki below!

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