'Produce 101' star hits new career high tackling school violence
Park Ji-hoon, who rose to breakout fame after finishing second among 101 trainees on the hit K-pop audition series "Produce 101: Season 2 (2017)," is experiencing another major career high -- not as an idol, but as a rising star in the acting world. The singer-turned-actor has gripped audiences with his performance as the lead in the "Weak Hero" franchise, playing a troubled yet calculating high schooler who confronts school violence head-on.
The adrenaline-filled youth drama initially found success on Korea’s Wavve platform when it was released in 2022. Now it has been picked up by Netflix for its second season -- titled "Weak Hero: Class 2" -- and has quickly achieved international traction. The sophomore installment topped Netflix’s global top 10 chart for non-English-language series in the fourth week of April, signaling Park’s arrival as a global force.
In the series, Park portrays Si-eun, a quiet but fiercely intelligent student who strategically resists bullies. According to Park, he mainly aimed to portray the character's deepened emotional complexity in the second season.
“In ‘Weak Hero: Class 1’, Si-eun transfers schools carrying trauma, and it ends with the simple question, ‘Will he be able to make friends again?’” Park said during a group interview held in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, on Monday.
“I depicted Si-eun with the mindset that he naturally grew attached to and relied on his friends such as Soo-ho and Beom-seok, who went through the incident together,” Park continued. “‘In season two, I felt proud and relieved to see Si-eun open up his heart and begin to form friendships again as he grew.’”
The show’s hard-hitting action, a signature element of the series reflecting the raw violence among high school boys, was taken to new heights in the second season, Park noted.
“Season 2 had much more to express, which made it more difficult. I worried a lot about whether I could show something different from the first season,” he explained.
“In the second season, Si-eun is in a very broken state. He takes sleeping pills and wakes up from nightmares. A student who used to only study is now seen only sleeping at school. I talked a lot with the director about how to express not only his outer condition but also his inner collapse. I tried hard to portray Si-eun’s desperation -- his eyes saying, ‘Let’s end this pathetic situation somehow.’”
Going forward, Park is poised to continue the momentum with his next feature film, "The Man Who Lives With the King (working title)." The historical fiction project, featuring veteran stars Yoo Ji-tae and Jeon Mi-do, centers on a dethroned young king taken in by a village chief and his people.
"I now want to become an actor who can share and connect with viewers through the emotions I portray. I think that’s one of the challenges I need to overcome as an actor,” he reflected.
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