Movie 〈Omniscient Reader: The Prophet〉 Ahn Hyo-seop, "I Loved the Character Kim Dokja Very Much"

Actor Ahn Hyo-seop revealed that what he considered most important in his screen debut work 〈Omniscient Reader: The Prophet〉 was to thoroughly exclude the desire to look cool.

In an interview held at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 16th, Ahn Hyo-seop said, "Everyone has the desire to look cool, but I tried to exclude that as much as possible during this shoot." He laughed, saying, "What I often asked the director was, 'Was I too cool?'."

Ahn Hyo-seop explained that he intentionally hid his tall and handsome physical advantages and focused on eliminating the gap with the character 'Kim Dokja', who is beaten down and has low self-esteem.

〈Omniscient Reader: The Prophet〉 is a fantasy action film that depicts the story of Kim Dokja, who has been the only reader of an unknown web novel for ten years, as the world of the novel unfolds into reality. Although the reader is a trivial character in reality, in the world where the novel becomes real, he plays the role of the only person who knows the ending of the story and leads those around him.

Ahn Hyo-seop stated, "I thought the character should be relatable to everyone," adding, "However, as he grows, he gradually adopts a fighting stance and expresses the change in his gaze."

He mentioned that the presence of actor Lee Min-ho, who played the protagonist Yoo Jung-hyuk in the novel, greatly helped him in portraying the overwhelming emotions of meeting the characters from the novel in reality. Ahn Hyo-seop recalled, "(Lee Min-ho) was a celebrity to me when I was young," and said he approached the shoot with a sense of wonder as if he were seeing 'my celebrity'.

The spectacular action sequences provide a visual treat for the audience, but the actual filming process placed a significant physical burden on the actors. Ahn Hyo-seop shared, "There were moments when I wanted to endure, but my legs wouldn't listen, and every actor suffered minor injuries at least once."

To enhance realism in the battle scenes with various monsters, the production team shared detailed designs of the monsters in advance. Ahn Hyo-seop explained, "The characteristics, such as whether the monster's body is soft or hard, were shared with all the actors."

Given that it is based on the mega-hit web novel and webtoon of the same name, with a production cost of about 30 billion won, there would be a significant pressure for box office success, but Ahn Hyo-seop maintained a calm attitude. He said, "I believe I did my best as an actor on set, and from this moment on, it seems to be out of my hands."

However, he expressed his affection for the work, saying, "I really loved the character Kim Dokja very much," and added, "He is a character that means a lot to me, so I can only hope for its success."

Ahn Hyo-seop also mentioned his experience voicing 'Jinwoo' of the group Lion Boys in the recently successful Netflix US animation 〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉. He recalled, "I had a desire to act in English," and said, "At first, I approached it with a light heart."

He continued, "The theme of K-Pop is one thing, but the script itself was fun," and explained, "I approached it with the hope that Korean culture would be more widely known around the world."

Thanks to the success of 〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉, Ahn Hyo-seop expressed his hope that "Our movie (〈Omniscient Reader: The Prophet〉) would also receive good energy."

Finally, he stated, "I tried to provide a pleasant experience to all the audience within the short time of two hours," and added, "I think it turned out to be fun, and I want to receive feedback that 'it was not a waste of time.'"