Singer-actor Ok Jin-uk expressed deep respect for Kim Mu-yeol, his co-star in the global hit series.
An interview with Ok Jin-uk about the Netflix series Teach You a Lesson was conducted on the 24th.
Teach You a Lesson is a drama about the Bureau for the Protection of Teachers' Rights, created to defend South Korea's collapsing education system from boundary-pushing students, teachers, and parents, and their cathartic, no-nonsense reforms. In the series, Ok Jin-uk plays Jo In-beom, the top dog of the automotive department at Guun High-Tech High School.
Ok shared, "A stunt driver handled the wide shots, but there was a scene where senior actor Kim Mu-yeol drove himself. I didn't know he'd be driving for real. When his face comes into frame, we usually shoot it differently, but he suddenly grabbed the shift knob and just took off."
On set, Kim Mu-yeol's exceptional action know-how and meticulous self-management impressed everyone. Ok said, "His action work is incredible. He has this technique where he barely taps you so it doesn't actually hurt, yet it looks like a hard hit on camera. It was amazing."
Ok also opened up about his character Jo In-beom. "I auditioned more than four times," he said. "It was my first project in a year and a half, so I wanted it desperately. The character was so fun, and as I read the script, I kept thinking, 'I have to do this.'"
Deeply resonating with the show's message, he added, "On the surface, it looks like a story about MZ-style gangsters. But the director shared many real stories gathered from researching students at Meister vocational high schools," noting, "What hit me even harder were the students who spend weekends at school practicing to earn certifications and land jobs."
He continued, "In a reality where college admissions are treated like the only path, I felt the show highlights that there are many different options." He added that even within the series' comic-book setup, there was a powerful message he wanted to portray well. Ok revealed that on set, senior actor Kim Mu-yeol even came up with some boxing-related ad-libs for him.
Lastly, Ok credited the entire team for helping him fully realize the character and thanked the production crew. "Costumes and tattoos were crafted with incredible detail by the staff," he said. "If call time was 7 a.m., the extras playing vocational students had to arrive from 2 a.m. for makeup. That means the makeup team had to start even earlier, and after filming, they still had to remove all of my tattoos. It must have been all-nighters every day. I'm so grateful."
Meanwhile, Ok Jin-uk debuted in 2020 through TV Chosun's trot survival program Mr. Trot and has been active across both the stage and the screen.