Park Ji Hoon is opening up about the extreme lengths he went to for his latest film role—and the toll it took on his body.
The actor appeared on tvN’s You Quiz on the Block on February 25th, where he shared that he lost about 15 kilograms (around 33 pounds) in just two months to play King Danjong in the film The King’s Warden, which opened earlier this month.
To portray the young king during his exile after a political coup, Park said he wanted to look as gaunt as possible. “I didn’t want to lose weight through exercise,” he said. “I wanted to look completely worn down, like someone who hadn’t been eating at all—almost skeletal.”
To achieve that, Park said he ate just one apple a day for two months. He even chose apples on purpose because they are his least favorite fruit. “I thought if I ate something I didn’t like, it might make me lose my appetite even more,” he explained.
But the drastic approach came with serious side effects. Park said he became extremely sensitive, struggled to sleep and often felt dizzy. “There was spinning in my head,” he recalled.
He also described a memorable moment while filming a scene where his character eats a bowl of river snail soup. “When I ate it, I could feel the food spreading through my whole body,” he said. “Because I lost weight so quickly, I would throw up whenever I ate anything. But when I had the soup, the salt hit my body all at once—like when strong alcohol hits you and you feel it go in.”
The King’s Warden tells the story of a village leader who chooses exile to help his community and a young former king cast out from the throne, set in 1457. As of today, the film has drawn more than 6.5 million moviegoers, according to the Korean Film Council.
>> ‘The King’s Warden’ Star Park Ji Hoon Talks Breakout Hit and Heartache on ‘You Quiz’
Source (1)
