Teo Yoo “Nikiri, the scariest critic”

Teo Yoo said that his wife, Nikki, views his acting from an objective and cool-headed perspective.

On the 13th, I met actor Yoo Tae-oh, who appeared in the Netflix series 'Love Battle', at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.

Teo Yoo played the role of top actor Nam Kang-ho. Nam Kang-ho debuted as an actor after studying abroad for a long time. After going through an unknown period, he is now maintaining his position as a top actor, receiving praise for everything from his brilliant appearance and brain to his donations and good deeds. Although he is called a romance master, he pathologically hates women due to a childhood trauma. He envies the action genre, not romance.

When asked if there were any impressive reactions from those around him, he laughed and said, "Not much. It's surprisingly quiet, even to me. Instead, fans say things like, 'This is a twist.'" When asked about his wife Nikki's reaction, he said, "Nikki is the sharpest. She is the scariest critic. She tells me exactly what I did well and also firmly tells me what I did poorly." He continued, "I'm thinking about my future acting and talking about things like whether I should make my Korean pronunciation more realistic and how I should express my psychological changes." He also expressed his determination, saying, "Nikki has seen how hard I've worked. She also knows my shortcomings. I've worked hard, but I will continue to work hard."

Teo Yoo, who was born in Germany and lived in Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, said, "I tend to avoid characters whose native language is not Korean. I need to develop myself as an actor through practice and be able to convince the Korean audience. For example, “For example, a comment posted by a young man in the countryside is the most objective evaluation. This is because they do not know my personal history well and have no special interest,” he said, expressing his enthusiasm for acting.

When asked if there was no need to avoid it, Teo Yoo said, "The image of my character that Korean people see and the image of my character that foreign people see may be different. But I think we need to make them feel the same. There is a point where those points meet. “I think my task is to persuade both markets,” he confessed. When asked if he kept that in mind when working on foreign works, Teo Yoo answered, “Of course.” He said, "Son Heung-min plays in Europe, but he is a Korean player. When I act abroad, I am a player representing Korea. As a Korean actor, I think and prepare about what to do, from my on-set attitude to the way I act." “You have to think about it,” he emphasized.

'Love Battle' is a romantic comedy about a woman who pathologically hates losing to a man and a man who is pathologically suspicious of women, and are healed through a war-like love. It was released on the 10th.

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr