Ji Chang-wook Says He Never Worried About Hyun Bin While Romancing Son Ye-jin in ‘The Scandal’

Ji Chang-wook’s “Only Crime” Was Loving Son Ye-jin’s Character, but Filming Left Him Exhausted

Ji Chang-wook had a playful response when asked whether Son Ye-jin’s husband, Hyun Bin, ever crossed his mind while he was filming Netflix’s The Scandal.

“I didn’t worry about Hyun Bin at all,” the actor said during an interview in Seoul on September 22. “My only crime was loving Lady Cho.”

The answer drew laughter, but it also captured how completely Ji approached the drama from the perspective of his character. His relationship was not with Son Ye-jin, but with Lady Cho, the brilliant and dangerous woman at the center of the series.

Behind the humorous quote, however, was a much more revealing story about the pressure Ji felt while acting opposite one of Korea’s most respected stars.

The Real Pressure Came From Son Ye-jin’s Performance

Ji admitted that working with Son created a particular kind of tension.

He believed the drama would succeed only if the conflict between their characters felt convincing. Lady Cho and Cho Won are not simply romantic partners. They are intellectual rivals who test, manipulate and desire each other while refusing to surrender control.

Ji therefore approached their scenes with unusual caution.

He explained that he prepared intensely because he did not want to be overwhelmed by Son’s performance. His behavior on set also changed depending on which co-star he was facing. His scenes with Nana carried a different energy, while every confrontation with Son felt more restrained, competitive and psychologically demanding.

For Ji, that discomfort was not a problem to eliminate. It was part of what made the relationship believable.

A Romance Built on Power, Not Comfort

The Scandal transports the story of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses into Korea’s Joseon era.

Son plays Lady Cho, a gifted woman whose abilities and ambitions are restricted by the society in which she lives. Ji portrays Cho Won, a celebrated writer and notorious seducer who appears to possess wealth, status and talent, yet remains unable to win the woman he truly wants. Nana completes the central triangle as Hui-yeon, a woman drawn into their dangerous wager.

Netflix describes the series as a story in which a secret proposal awakens hidden desires and creates consequences that cannot easily be controlled.

That premise depends on the audience believing that Lady Cho and Cho Won are evenly matched. Their conversations function like contests. A glance, pause or slight change in tone can shift control from one person to the other.

Ji understood that if either performance appeared too comfortable, the entire relationship could lose its danger.

Some Takes Lasted More Than 10 Minutes

The tension was intensified by director Jung Ji-woo’s preference for long, uninterrupted takes.

Ji recalled finishing only a few takes of one scene and wondering why he already felt exhausted, even though he had eaten lunch. He later discovered that each take had lasted more than 10 minutes.

That length changes what an actor must do.

In a heavily edited scene, a director can construct tension through individual close-ups, reaction shots and carefully selected moments. A 10-minute take gives the actors fewer places to hide. They must maintain the emotional rhythm, physical detail and balance of power without losing concentration.

Ji said acting for the camera requires a different tension from performing onstage. The camera captures small changes, so an actor must preserve the scene’s emotional precision while moving between instinct and conscious control.

At the same time, remaining inside a scene for that long can produce reactions that were not planned in advance. Ji described acting as a process of moving between sensation and reason, with unexpected details sometimes emerging during the take.

The exhaustion therefore became evidence of how densely Lady Cho and Cho Won’s relationship had been constructed.

Their Difficult Reunion Was Filmed First

Director Jung made the challenge even greater by scheduling one of the pair’s most important scenes for their first day of filming.

The scene begins near the end of the first episode and continues into the second, marking the reunion between Lady Cho and Cho Won. It required the actors to establish the history, attraction and rivalry between the characters before they had developed a comfortable working rhythm.

Ji jokingly called it a mischievous decision.

Most actors would prefer to begin with a simpler sequence while becoming familiar with the crew, the set and their co-star’s rhythm. Instead, Ji and Son had to perform a major emotional confrontation before they had fully settled into the production.

Ji believes Jung may have wanted the unfamiliarity itself.

The hesitation and nervous energy created by two actors meeting in a demanding scene could become useful material. Rather than hiding their initial awkwardness, the director allowed it to add instability to a relationship that was never supposed to feel safe.

Once that scene was completed, Ji felt that the rest of the production opened up.

One Small Costume Detail Stayed With Him

Among the moments Ji remembered most clearly was a scene in which Lady Cho ties Cho Won’s gat strap before he rides away.

Cho Won then unconsciously attempts to loosen it.

The movement is small, but it expresses the central contradiction of their relationship. He wants Lady Cho’s attention, yet he also experiences her influence as something restrictive. Her touch represents intimacy and control at the same time.

It is the kind of physical detail that can communicate more than a direct confession.

Ji said nearly every scene between the two characters felt breathless. That sustained discomfort ultimately helped explain why Cho Won, despite pursuing Lady Cho for so long, may eventually feel the urge to escape from her.

The Hyun Bin Joke Is the Headline, but the Acting Process Is the Story

Ji Chang-wook’s comment about Hyun Bin is the easiest quote to circulate. It is funny, concise and connected to one of Korea’s most famous celebrity couples.

But his explanation of the filming process offers the more interesting story.

Ji was not worried about separating fiction from reality. His concern was whether he could create a character strong enough to stand opposite Son Ye-jin’s Lady Cho.

The long takes, the first-day reunion and the exhausting psychological confrontations were all part of building that equality. Cho Won could not merely appear attracted to Lady Cho. He had to seem challenged, consumed and gradually trapped by her.

That is why Ji’s joke works so well.

His “only crime” may have been loving Lady Cho, but portraying that love required far more than romantic chemistry. It required two actors to make every conversation feel like a battle neither one could afford to lose.