Turning heads with his ripped physique and hard-hitting punches in the global hit Bloodhounds 2, South Korean star Woo Do Hwan reveals he is actually not a huge fan of boxing beyond the set.
“Outside of the boxing ring and the filming days, I am not a huge fan of the sport. I like to keep it very nice and peaceful. I would actually love to grab a cup of coffee instead,” he says with a laugh, on a Zoom call from Seoul.
It is this duality that makes Gun Woo, his reel character in the Netflix action thriller, endearing — an amateur boxer who risks life and limb for justice and to protect his people, even as his smooth jabs and cuts mask a deeply sensitive man.
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Returning to the show after the success of its premiere season in 2023, Do Hwan admits the character remains his most special till date. “It has been three years but this character never left me. Even when I am not filming and not in character, he has always stayed with me, and it was wonderful to meet him again.”
He adds the gentle giant persona is what has clicked with the audience. ‘This guy is strong but a real softie, and perhaps that is why people love watching him and root for him when he is fighting. For me as an actor, I enjoyed that dichotomy.’ He further adds that though playing Gun Woo was easy to relate to many levels. ‘Not as much as Gun Woo, but I would also like to think that I am as good a person as he is at heart. But where we share a commonality is the attitude that there’s nothing you can’t do if you really put your effort into it.
Directed by Kim Joo Hwan (Midnight Runners), the latest season pits Do Hwan against a dangerous adversary played by one of K pop and Korean screen’s favourite icons, Rain, in a never seen before avatar. He is Baek Jeong, a fearsome boxer running an illegal bare knuckle fight club. The face off between the two is nothing less than an adrenaline high and has been hailed as one of the best this season.
“Even when we didn’t have any filming days, we would get together to practice and make sure that our action sequences lined up well, and the chemistry and synergy looked real. We spent a lot of time and effort discussing how we could make the scenes better. And honestly, he’s someone that I look up to and really rely on a lot. I think we did that mutually, but me even more so, because he has so much more experience than any one of us,” says Do Hwan.
Do Hwan’s would love to be part of Indian production
33 year old Do Hwan who has built a reputation of playing the action hero in shows such as My Country: The New Age, The King: Eternal Monarch, including the film The Divine Fury, says he is excited to learn that he and the show have a loyal fan following in India.
With Indian cinema’s tendency to romance the action hero, when asked if he would be willing to take a shot at it, he breaks into a smile. “If there’s a great story or script, or if the circumstances align, I would love to be a part of an Indian production.”
From his first lead role in the romantic melodrama The Great Seducer in 2018, to last being seen in the 2024 romantic comedy Mr Plankton, Do Hwan’s decade in showbiz has been marked with consistently strong performances. Reflecting on his work and craft, he admits that he feels a deeper sense of responsibility since he debuted at age 25. “I am strongly inclined to put others before my own needs. I would say. What hasn’t changed about me is the fact that I always like to prioritize what kind of message I want to share or convey through each of my projects.”
He adds he would love to do a comedy if a good script and project came his way.
When we remind him of the many social media reels calling him the real plot, he responds bashfully “It just goes to show how much support and love all the fans out there are sending me. I’m really motivated and grateful as well as energised and it makes me want to do an even better job if we have a third season.”
Bloodhounds season 2 is streaming on Netflix.
