Yoo Yeon-seok, an actor who walks around covered in dog fur.

“Oh, Rita’s got hair on it. These are my clothes.”

Actor Yoo Yeon-seok laughed while brushing his dog Rita's fur off his clothes during an interview. Dog hair on clothes. An actor walking around covered in dog hair, I thought, ‘This is real.’ It felt similar to a mother raising a baby, whose clothes were always covered in saliva.

Yoo Yeon-seok has grown to become a true companion through the movie ‘Puppy’ (directed by Kim Joo-hwan). Yoo Yeon-seok opened his eyes to the problem of abandoned dogs while filming ‘Puppy,’ and incorporated movies into his life by actually adopting an abandoned dog. Yoo Yeon-seok adopted his current dog, Rita, from an abandoned dog shelter in 2021 and lives with her to this day. Rita, who had been abandoned and had not received warm care for a long time, became a full-fledged 'family member' with the help of Yoo Yeon-seok. This is the part where the sincerity of ‘Puppy’ lead actor Yoo Yeon-seok is revealed.

In the interview, when the story of Rita came up, Yoo Yeon-seok put a smile on his face and started talking about ‘pet chat.’

"Rita is closer to a large dog, and since she came from a shelter that housed close to 2,000 dogs, she didn't like being around many people or other dogs. That was one of the conditions that prevented her from being adopted. She couldn't go to the dog park and couldn't get along with other dogs. It was a problem, but it got a lot better as time went by. I gave it to her for about a year and a half, gave her my heart, and took care of her. Now, I'm sending her to school, and each one of them has made a friend. I met a friend there. Haha."

Yoo Yeon-seok, who was in pet mode, also told the story of his mother's dog, Chilbongi. Yoo Yeon-seok's mother said that a puppy raised by an acquaintance gave birth to a puppy. After the mother dog and all of its siblings died, she brought in the remaining puppy and named it 'Chilbongi.' Yoo Yeon-seok laughed, saying, “It was after I filmed ‘Reply 1994,’” and “We discussed it and decided to name it Chilbong.”

Yoo Yeon-seok hoped that it would be good if 'Puppy', which depicts the process of a dog and a person meeting, relying on each other, and becoming a family, could change even just one person's opinion. People who easily build relationships with dogs and easily abandon them, people who hate 'mixed breeds' and want 'obedience' even if they adopt an abandoned dog, etc., can see 'Puppy' and make even the smallest change, even just one step, if they can make even a small change in practice, then the film will fulfill its mission. I think I did it.

He said, “There is no problem with abandoned dogs. Each child simply has a different personality, different health conditions, and different characteristics.” He added, “I would be more than happy if people who were thinking about selling a puppy saw ‘Puppy’ and adopted an abandoned dog. “I think so,” he said.

Because it was Yoo Yeon-seok who personally brought 'doggy' to life, these words had power and emotion. Rita's hair on his clothes was the first change made by 'Dog.'

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr