Actor Park Ji-hoon Undergoes Extreme Diet for Role in 'The King and the Clown'

Actor Park Ji-hoon revealed that he underwent an extreme diet to portray the character of Danjong in the film 'The King and the Clown'.

The film 'The King and the Clown', which has recently surpassed 6.52 million viewers, is creating a box office sensation. Park Ji-hoon, one of the film's stars, appeared on tvN's 'You Quiz on the Block' (hereafter 'You Quiz') to share the story behind his intense diet for the role.

On 'You Quiz', host Yoo Jae-suk asked, "Director Jang Hang-jun said 'Danjong's role must be Park Ji-hoon', but did you have a lot of concerns?" Park Ji-hoon responded, "I still have many doubts about my acting. I wondered if I could empathize with the tragic king," adding, "I was worried about whether I could handle the emotional scenes with senior actor Yoo Hae-jin."

Immersed in preparation for the shoot, Park Ji-hoon said, "I had to depict the process of being exiled after the Gyeyujeongnan, so I went on a diet. I didn't lose weight through exercise; I wanted to look emaciated."

To portray the emaciated appearance of Danjong during his exile after the Gyeyujeongnan, he explained, "For two months, I only ate one apple a day," and "I became so sensitive that I couldn't sleep and was exhausted. I wanted to capture that pain on my face."

Park Ji-hoon added, "I didn't want to lose weight through exercise but wanted to show an emaciated appearance," and "I wanted to look like someone who had stopped eating altogether."

He continued, "I lost 15kg by eating only one apple a day for two months. The extreme diet made me very sensitive. I wanted to capture the painful process on my face. I stayed in my room, only reading scripts and studying history," he recalled.

Park Ji-hoon also shared the physical reactions he experienced after losing weight. Recalling a scene where he eats food in the film, he said, "There was a scene where I ate snail soup, and when the saltiness hit, I felt it spread throughout my body," adding, "Because of the rapid weight loss, I would throw up whatever I ate," vividly recounting the pain he endured.

Meanwhile, the film 'The King and the Clown', featuring Park Ji-hoon, has recorded a cumulative audience of 6,528,519. It is garnering attention by achieving the highest daily and cumulative audience numbers among this year's releases.

'The King and the Clown' is a film set in 1457 Cheongryeongpo, depicting the story of a village chief who volunteers for exile to revive the village and a young former king exiled from the throne. It was released on the 4th and is currently being screened in theaters nationwide.

Na-yeon Cho, Ten Asia Reporter nybluebook@tenasia.co.kr