Lee Jong-suk Was Nervous About His Bird Transformation in ‘The Remarried Empress’

The actor revealed how his own gestures helped shape Prince Heinrey’s CG counterpart as the Disney+ fantasy romance moved its premiere forward to November 3.

Playing a prince with a secret meant surrendering part of his performance to a character he could not see on set. Lee Jong-suk has revealed that one of his biggest concerns while making “The Remarried Empress” was how Prince Heinrey’s transformation into a bird would eventually appear on screen, with the uncertainty remaining until the visual effects took shape.

Speaking at the Disney+ series’ production presentation at the Conrad Seoul hotel on November 3, Lee described the conversations behind the unusual role. Heinrey’s human appearance is only one part of the character, whose ability to become a bird gives the production another way to bring his hidden identity into the story.

Making the prince recognizable in another form

Heinrey is the prince of the Western Kingdom and its first in line to the throne, a figure whose presence attracts attention and speculation. He approaches Empress Navier while concealing a secret, making the connection between his human and bird forms an important part of the fantasy.

According to Lee, the visual effects supervisor asked whether he had distinctive gestures that the team could reference when creating the bird. The actor and the production team discussed those details at length, looking for ways to connect the digital character with his performance.

Lee explained that not knowing how the finished bird would look left him anxious while filming. His comments describe a particular challenge of the role: he could contribute movement references and discuss the character, but the completed screen appearance depended on work that would happen beyond his own scenes.

A fantasy role with familiar emotional stakes

The transformation belongs to a story driven by betrayal, affection and a woman’s decision to take control of her future. Shin Min-a plays Navier, the accomplished empress of the Eastern Empire, whose marriage begins to collapse when Emperor Sovieshu, portrayed by Ju Ji-hoon, falls for Rashta, played by Lee Se-young.

When Sovieshu demands a divorce, Navier agrees on the condition that she receive approval to marry Heinrey. The request connects the prince’s concealed identity with a much more public decision, placing their developing relationship within the competing interests of two royal households.

For viewers unfamiliar with the source material, Heinrey’s ability to change form establishes how directly the series embraces fantasy. Alongside the palace setting and royal conflict, the bird introduces a character whose presence must remain convincing across both live-action performance and computer-generated imagery.

The premiere moves forward by one day

“The Remarried Empress” was originally scheduled to launch on November 4, but a change announced at the November 3 press event brought the opening forward to that afternoon. The first four episodes form the premiere, followed by two additional episodes each Wednesday, for a total of ten.

Written by Yeo Ji-na and Hyun Choong-yeol and directed by Jo Soo-won, the Disney+ series adapts the popular story that began as a web novel and also became a webtoon. Lee’s account offers a glimpse of the practical work involved in translating one of its most unusual characters into live action, where a prince’s smallest gestures can become reference material for an entirely different form.

Editor’s Note: The English-language comic edition credits Alphatart as the author, SUMPUL as the artist and HereLee for the adaptation. Descriptions of Lee’s performance as “Korea’s first bird transformation” appeared in press-event questioning; that wording is not treated here as an independently verified industry record. The November 3 premiere reflects the schedule change announced at the event.