Ahn Hyo Seop reveals how ‘senior' Lee Min Ho treated him on Omniscient Reader set: ‘I've admired him for years, he made me feel…'

Indian Express

5 days ago

K-drama star Ahn Hyo Seop recently sat down for an interview in Seoul to talk about his upcoming film Omniscient Reader: The Prophet. Directed by Kim Byung Woo and backed by a massive 30 billion won budget, the film boasts a star-studded cast, including Lee Min Ho, BLACKPINK's Jisoo, Nana, Chae Soo Bin, and more. Based on a wildly popular web novel that ran for over a decade and built a global fanbase, it was first adapted into a webtoon before making its way to the big screen. During the chat at a café in Palpan-dong, the Business Proposal star opened up about what it felt like to work with Lee Min Ho, someone he's looked up to since childhood.
The Doctor Romantic star said working with Lee Min Ho felt 'comfortable.' Drawing a parallel to his on-screen character, Ahn said it was similar to how Kim Dok Ja sees Yoo Jung Hyuk (played by Lee Min Ho) as a legend in the novel—he used to see the Heirs star that way in real life too. 'He's maintained his position as a top star for so long that when I was younger, he was a celebrity to me,' Ahn shared. That connection helped him slip into the role. He added that the moment he saw the movie poster, it all suddenly felt surreal. He'd watched Lee's dramas back when he lived in Canada, and now here they were, working side by side. 'Isn't it fascinating? When someone you've only seen in the media is suddenly in front of you, it hits you. In that sense, there was no sense of distance with Yoo Jung Hyuk. I just felt comfortable on set.'
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Ahn also admitted he may have been a little starstruck seeing Lee Min Ho right there next to him. 'I've liked my senior's work since I was in Canada. It felt nostalgic. During the shoot, there wasn't much time to reflect on that,' he said with a smile. What made it easier was Lee Min Ho himself, keeping it casual, asking things like, 'Have you eaten?' That broke the ice. 'I think we became friends right away.' Speaking about the rest of the cast, the 30-year-old said everyone knew 'how to shine without stepping on each other's toes.' Everyone had their own moment, and there was no competition for the spotlight. It felt like a well-balanced team.
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Since the movie is adapted from a wildly popular webtoon, fan expectations are through the roof. But Ahn, during the interview, said he's unbothered. He admitted he never read the entire novel but did enough homework to understand the role. Instead of lifting the character straight off the page, he used the book as a reference point and built his own version of Kim Dok-ja off the script. On fans worrying the live adaptation might not hit the mark, Ahn said, 'This is the face I was born with. What can I do? The director cast me for a reason. My job was just to act the role well.' He didn't deny the pressure, after all, a 30 billion won budget is no small thing, but said that's out of his hands. All he could do was show up and give it everything on set. In the story, the fictional world of a novel becomes real. And there's only one reader who knows the full story from beginning to end, Kim Dok Ja. Now that the world is falling apart, he has to survive alongside the novel's original main character, Yoo Jung-hyuk, played by Lee Min Ho and others.