In ‘Vigilante,’ Yoo Ji-tae tries something completely new

For Yoo Ji-tae, an established actor with more than 25 years of experience on the small and silver screens, taking the role of Jo Heon, the huge, muscular Monster Cop in Disney+’s original Korean series “Vigilante” was like stepping onto a brand-new path.

“Being halfway through my acting career, I could have walked the easier path of choosing a role the public would like to see me in,” the 47-year-old actor said during a media interview in Seoul on Friday.

“By playing this character, however, I think I’ve opened up new possibilities, which I find very encouraging,” he said. “I will continue to challenge myself.”

In the eight-part series, Yoo plays the leader of a police investigation team that chases the vigilante (Nam Joo-hyuk) who secretly doles out justice on his own violent terms to unrepentant offenders who evade the law and go unpunished or get a slap on the wrist, if they are punished at all.

Believing the man’s actions are not righteous if he enjoys violence regardless of his true intentions, Jo Heon tries to stop the vigilante from becoming a monster himself.

The dark hero action series on the Disney streaming platform is based on the Korean webtoon of the same name. The digital comic series has been viewed more than 370 million times on the Naver Webtoon platform since it started being published in April 2018.

Widely known for his roles in romantic films and for his tender image, Yoo shows a completely different side of himself in the series.

He put on a substantial amount of weight, about 20 kilograms, to play the huge, muscular officer with intimidating facial scars. Having incredible power, Jo Heon crumples a coin or effortlessly lifts up a car with his bare hands.

“We don’t have a dark hero franchise in Korea, and the character was very new and attractive,” he said. “I was very excited to breathe new life into the character.”

“‘Vigilante’ offers a vicarious pleasure” to the viewers who constantly find the world unfair with loopholes in the law, the actor said.

While he can certainly sympathize with the vigilante, he is more like Jo Heon in real life, who believes in the value of the system, however unreasonable it is.

“We can’t say definitely what is right and what is wrong. But I think there is one great justice in society,” he said. “We have to put up with things to a certain degree even if we don’t like them, and instead try to change things by doing what we can in our own place.”

“For example, actors can shed a spotlight on social problems (through a film) to help make a better society,” he added.

Making his debut in 1998, he rose to global fame through Park Chan-wook’s 2003 thriller “Old Boy.” He has expanded into filmmaking, with his directorial debut with the short film “The Bike Boy,” also in 2003.

Yoo said he was hoping that the series gets a second season.

“A new season means a lot. A beloved series has everything in it — intense production efforts, great teamwork and a sense of alliance (among staff members and actors),” he said, adding “‘Vigilante’ has every element needed for Season 2.”