“It is with great regret that we inform you that we could not offer you a seat this term.”

The stars’ letters have been clouded with rejection. Rejection was plastered on a number of things starting from the day the actor had decided to unveil his passion for the profession. The pile of rejections pushed the actor to bed for two weeks.

That is until, he got up again.

“I knew that’s not what I should be doing. I had once again told myself to go forward in pursuing this dream. I went into a soundproof room and practiced acting every day. My daily routine was eat and practice.”

Then one day, the star stumbled upon an audition for a Netflix series, “All of us are Dead.” The actor thought of this as an experience and test to himself as an actor. An application for the audition was filed, and the young star had put himself out there.

The result was an acceptance letter as the role of protagonist Lee Chan Young in the series now known as “All of us are Dead.” What followed after was an acceptance letter from prestigious college, Hanyang University. Suddenly, things were starting to look up for the actor. Below is the story of actor Yoon Chan Young.

Dispatch was recently given the chance to interview the star via zoom. We reminisced on his time on the set of “All of us are Dead” and his future aspirations. 

◆ "Am I a newbie? It’s been 10 years since my debut”

Yoon Chan Young’s journey began ten years ago. The star had just entered middle school when he had started out in the acting field in 2013. The actor commented, “I had wanted to bring laughter to people through the screen.”

The star has done many roles as the younger version of main characters such as Kang Haneul (Mourning Grave), Lee Jun (Gap-dong), Seo Kang Jun (Splendid Politics), Lee Dong Wook (Bubble Gum), Byun Yohan (Six Flying Dragons), Son Ho Joon (Blow Breeze), Yoo Yun-suk (Dr. Romantic), and more.

However, the road was far from glorious. Yoon Chan Young remarked, “I was often unsure of my acting. It was also hard when I wasn’t able to pinpoint exactly what the director had in mind during filming.”

Although the actor is still young, his confidence varied depending on each day. “My mood relied heavily on how filming went that day. It was either heaven or hell. I think I was too strict on myself.”

“When I look back on the ten years I’ve been in the industry, there are times when I wish I had done things differently. But I’m not perfect. And I still think back on the days when it all felt too much. However, the one thing I’m confident in, is my attitude. I did my best in all of them, I can swear on that.”

◆ "Director Lee Jae Kyu’s first choice”

On the day of the filming, director Lee Jae Kyu had plans to find a “fresh face” among the sea of auditioners. He had asked other actors around the star’s age, “Who do you think acts well?”

Just like that, director Lee Jae Kyu took an immediate liking to the actor as a role for Lee Chan Young. The star reminisced on the audition day and feeling a wave of embarrassment when the director had complimented the actor on his acting skills, quoting, “I think you’ll be one of the best someday.”

Yoon Chan Young’s character is a devoted one. The character fights alongside zombies in the horror-streaming series to bring his friends to safety. The character is also smitten with love interest, On Jo.

The actor speaks on his character, commenting, “I think my character was very clear with his intentions and he knew what he wanted. He was always very quick, despite being in a situation that would have a huge impact on one’s train of thoughts. The character was always looking for the right things to do.”

Through his role, the star was able to find pieces of himself as well. “Every time I act a role, I try my best to resemble them or be a part of them. Although the character wasn’t afraid of much, he was still a pretty timid guy. That’s sort of like me.”

The star’s acting was drastically different from how much he had transitioned into character. “There’s a scene in which I kick a pipe and yell. That was improvised by me. It was to show an explosion of Chan young’s feelings.”

◆ "I’m the happiest man alive”

The spent a lot of time pondering on how to understand my character. There were surprisingly, a lot of scenes in which the actor had to react very strongly. Most notable between all was the one scene in which he finds his mother to be a zombie. The scene brought many to tears.

Yoon Chan young had forced himself to imagine a scenario in which it happened to him. “I had thought of my own mother, I had acted as if it wasn't acting but a real situation.”

The director specifically complimented the actor on his last scene. Yoon Chan Young yells out “I’m the happiest man in this school today!” during his last few moments on the show. The director shed tears during the actor’s scene.

“The fear of losing one’s life, sadness of not being able to see a loved one again, and the ambition to save his friends’ lives. I had focused on those emotions during the scene I had turned all the zombies on me.”

The thought process had birthed an iconic scene. “I had thought about ways to best deliver this scene. In the comic, my character cries and tries to smile in between. I had the idea to just let it all out.”

On top of the piles of emotions, the star also had to observe feelings of love. “I’ve never experienced an unrequited love before. So that was especially hard for me. I had carried around On Jo’s name tag on the script and phone. I had opened my mind on the thoughts of it.”

◆ "Action? Like soccer player Son Heung Min” 

Lee Cheong San holds onto a railing to attract the zombies to fall under a big hole. He takes off a door from a classroom and uses it as a barricade. He holds onto a window and fights with zombies.

Yoon Chan Young had always had the desire to film an action genre. “An action scene makes you feel many different things. Action is one of the things my character experiences. I had tried to focus on things to deliver it well.”

The actor took martial arts training for a total of three months. Although he was able to learn quickly, it wasn’t easy. His idea was soccer. He had thought of the idea to move as quickly as he can like renowned soccer player, Son Heung Min.

“I had thought of the zombies as defenders when I ran from them. I tried to be as quick as Son Heung Min. It helped a lot during the scenes I had to run from them.”

The result was successful. Many viewers claim the library scene to be one of the series’ best scenes. The scene includes the actor running from antagonist Yoon Gwi Nam and the sea of zombies.

In regard to this, the actor remarked, “It’s the result of the hard work of many people. When the staff had applauded me for the scene, I was washed with pride. I won’t ever forget how that felt.”

◆ "Yoon Chan Young"

“All of us are Dead” soared to #1 in 59 countries. The series follows the success of “Squid Game” and “Hellbound.” The viewer rating hit a number of 400 million and seventeen thousand four hundred as of the 16^th.

The actor claimed, “Doesn’t this mean that people from 190 countries has seen my work? It’s so cool to see. I’m happy every day and now I feel a bigger sense of responsibility.”

After the experience with fame, the star commented “Emjoy acting. Don’t forget your roots, let’s work even harder.”

Lastly, he brought up American actor, Timothee Chalamet.

“Timothee Chalamet had mentioned that his acting in Miss Stevenson was when his acting life really took off. I understood it immediately when I watched the film. He looked as if he was really enjoying, acting."

“I also read books when I’m bored. Acting isn’t tiring. When my seniors tell me I look good when I enjoy it, I feel good as well. I understood the scene.”

“I think our hopes and dreams are two different things. My hopeful genre is to just be an actor. I want to work with Damien Chazelle, the director of La La Land one day. I still have so much I want to show.”

<Photo credits=Netflix>

<Translated by=Justina Kim(Dispatch)>