‘A Killer Paradox’ actor Choi Woo-shik calls his character’s power to sense wrongdoers ‘curse’

In the Netflix Korean original series “A Killer Paradox,” actor Choi Woo-shik plays a morally ambiguous character whose life is turned upside down overnight after involuntarily killing a man.

After discovering his uncanny talent to spot the worst criminals, Choi’s character, Lee Tang, begins — rather unwillingly — to get rid of those who “deserve” to die. But he soon finds himself in a state of moral conflict from becoming a serial killer who kills serial killers.

“I think Lee’s talent is a curse,” the actor said during an interview with local reporters in Seoul on Wednesday. “No one deserves to die.”

“If I were Lee Tang, I would have reported them to police (rather than killing them),” he said. “I would have easily been a professional complainer,” he added, inducing laughter from the reporters.

Adapted from Kkomabi’s Naver webtoon, the eight-episode crime thriller follows the student-turned-vigilante Lee, the relentless detective Jang Nan-gam (Son Suk-ku of “My Liberation Notes) and the mysterious ex-detective-turned-killer Song Chon (Lee Hee-joon of “Badland Hunters”). Jang and Song are both on Lee’s trail for different reasons.

Premiered last Friday, the show debuted at No. 2 on the non-English TV series chart on the global streaming service for the week of Feb. 5, garnering 3.1 million views.

Halfway through the series, Lee Tang’s attitude and appearance change after seemingly accepting the new calling of doling out his own vigilante justice. He dyes his eyebrows light brown and sports a biker’s jacket and sunglasses.

But the changes are not too dramatic, compared with the transformation in the original webtoon. The actor said that was intentional, although he did try to gain weight and build more muscle in the beginning to visualize the internal changes Lee Tang is going through.

“I tried to bulk, but it wasn’t that easy,” he said, admitting he was under a lot of stress doing that.

“I think Lee Tang essentially remains the same person” despite what is happening to and around him, he said. “After all, I didn’t want to express the change merely through a bigger body.”

The 33-year-old actor performed his first leading role in the 2014 coming-of-age drama “Set Me Free,” a movie, the actor said, that showed his “true self” and “changed my life.”

“It’s been nearly 10 years since the movie came out … For the past 10 years, I’ve been showing many different versions of myself that I didn’t even know that I have.”

What matters the most these days, the actor said, is having great chemistry and connection with other co-stars and “feeling happy” while working. A critical and commercial success is of only secondary importance, he said, while admitting he still looked up the show’s ranking on the Netflix viewing chart.

“I feel so lucky to do what I love so much for a living,” he said. “I really hope ‘A Killer Paradox’ becomes successful as I enjoyed so much filming the show with other great cast members who are really close to me.”