Actor Yoo Seung Ho is under the spotlight after his highly anticipated drama aired last night!
On March 11, tvN newest drama “Memorist” aired its first episode and netizens had a lot to say about Yoo Seung Ho’s looks, especially his face. Many talked about how he gained weight around his face and some wrote hateful comments criticizing his looks.
In the early hours of March 12, Yoo Seung Ho took to his Instagram story to write,
“I gained a lot of weight on purpose because of my role as a police officer… TT. I know I gained weight on my face… TTT”
He later deleted the story.
Yoo Seung Ho is playing the role of a police detective who has a supernatural ability to read people’s memories when he touches them.
Later, a source form the production crew commented on his weight gain revealing that he had suggested it for “for higher synchronization with his character.”
The Chief producer (CP) So Jae Hyun says Yoo Seung Ho intentionally bulked up through exercise to portray detective Dong Baek from the original webtoon. Yoo Seung Ho suggested that during the preliminary meeting before the drama began shooting. The production crew is grateful for Yoo Seung Ho’s professionalism.
Meanwhile, the first episode of the “Memorist” scored an average of 3.3% nationwide according to Nielsen Korea. “Memorist” also took the first place in its time slot across all cable channels among the key demographic of viewers ages 20 to 49, scoring 2.2% nationwide.
What do you think of Yoo Seung Ho’s weight gain?
My Personal Thoughts
I noticed that too last night when I saw the first episode of the “Memorist.”
I’ve been following him since he was a little kid and I think the weight gain looks good on him. I also admire actors who go above and beyond for their craft.
More importantly, people are saying that the “Memorist” is very similar to “He Is Psychometric” but the main character in this case knows how to use his power. I noticed this too and immediately thought of “He Is Psychometric” after watching the first episode.
I am more concerned about Yoo Seung Ho’s drama rather than his weight, but I wished people were nicer when talking about his weight gain especially since Korean actors are known for taking good care of themselves, it was obviously intentional.
I plan on reviewing the premiere of the “Memorist” later tonight after I see the second episode, but so far, I like it. I hope it continues to be this interesting because it’s not easy to write 16 episodes around such types of scripts without it becoming boring. I also saw hints of many stereotypical tropes for kdramas of this type in “Memorist” but it’s too early to judge if it’ll pan out the way I think it will.
Yoo Seung Ho is very talented and hasn’t had any project that did well for the past years so I am hoping for “Memorist” to do well in ratings. 3% is a good start but hopefully tonight we’ll see an increase in ratings.
Why do people continue to be nasty? A great actor will do what’s required fir a role. Look at beautiful Charlize Theron as Aileen Wournos in Monster, she was unrecognizable. Also, actors are human beings too and like the rest of us, their weight may fluctuate at times. He is far from fat and still gorgeous. So netizens who are probably hateful and unhappy in themselves, should stop self projecting or trying to bring others down.