Squid Game's Wi Ha-joon on shadow boxing and being 'evil sexy' in Disney+ series The Worst Of Evil

Love triangles are part and parcel of K-dramas, but in the case of the new Disney+ series The Worst Of Evil, it’s a love triangle that involves two cops and a drug lord.

The ongoing show features a couple of familiar faces playing male leads: Ji Chang-wook – who’s appeared in shows such as Backstreet Rookie and The Sound Of Magic – is a police officer, who goes undercover in order to infiltrate a drug ring and bring it down from the inside.

Officer Park attempts to gain the trust of a DJ-turned-gang leader, played by Wi Ha-joon, who’s best known for Squid Game and Little Women (for which he found himself shooting some scenes right here in Singapore last year).

Things get complicated when Park’s wife and fellow officer, played by Lim Se-mi (True Beauty), volunteers for the same assignment and comes face-to-face with her first love – who happens to be the gang leader.

The chemistry between the two male actors playing drug lord and cop is palpable on-screen – as well as during the interview with CNA Lifestyle. It was a case of mutual admiration, with Wi citing Ji’s past works and impressive action portfolio.

That’s not to say the bromance was one-sided, as Ji also complimented his co-star on his wide range of movements during action scenes and fancy shadow boxing warm-ups, admitting that he falls short in terms of flexibility and mobility, compared to Wi.

As it turned out, it’s nothing to be ashamed of because Wi has had a head start physically.

“When I was little, I lived in a rural area, and I had a lot of mountains and animals around me,” he revealed. “I would watch action movies and start jumping over fences, trying punches, and doing shadow boxing, so I think those actually helped me become an actor who could perform action scenes.”

After his breakout role in Squid Game, Wi found himself on People magazine’s 2021 list of the 25 sexiest men on television and was labelled “mysteriously sexy”.

Does he agree with the description or does he consider himself another type of “sexy”?

The actor took a moment before humorously replying: “Choeag-ui sexy”, meaning “the worst kind of sexy”, which was a witty nod to the drama’s Korean title, Choeag-ui Ag.

“Gi-cheul is a cold villain, he is evil-sexy, which is the worst kind of sexy,” he gamely elaborated.

On the other hand, you could say Ji’s more of the Mr Righteous type of sexy, given his role as undercover cop and the character’s sacrifice of leaving his peaceful life and throwing himself into danger.

The veteran actor also explained his approach to playing Officer Park. “Rather than focusing too much on the action, I focused more on expressing the emotions… Jun-mo is always thinking about what lengths he has to go to in order to protect his wife and at the same time, immerse himself into the drug cartel, so that was the inner conflict of my character.”

Meanwhile, smack in the middle of this love triangle is actress Lim's character, who’s got her role as elite officer and wife on one hand, and a former lover on the other.

“I was very conflicted as to which way Eui-jeong should go, should she choose the path of a woman, or should she choose the path of an officer?”

Their inner struggles, according to Ji, would eventually put pressure on the characters’ marriage – but as all K-drama shows go, that’s part of the fun of watching.

Whether or not their relationship survives the secret operation – and whether or not the couple succeeds in busting the drug ring – we’ll just have to catch the upcoming episodes.

The Worst Of Evil is currently showing on Disney+.