Kim Young-kwang isn't afraid of a little K-drama rom-com cringe

'Take Charge of My Heart' star finds sincerity in familiar romance tropes

Netflix Korea’s latest romantic comedy series, "Take Charge of My Heart," is about as classic a K-drama as they come.

The series adheres to a time-tested K-drama formula: a handsome, wealthy heir and an ordinary protagonist drawn together by fate, with a steady stream of accidental physical contact and romantic misunderstandings fueling their connection.

While leaning heavily on familiar tropes that have long defined the genre, the series appears to be finding success with its well-worn rom-com playbook. Just three days after its premiere, "Take Charge of My Heart" rose to No. 3 on Netflix’s global Top 10 non-English TV chart.

At the center of the series is Kim Young-kwang, a veteran romantic lead with a string of hits, from the film "On Your Wedding Day" to the drama "Call It Love."

Since his debut as a model in 2006, Kim has built a diverse acting career, moving between romantic roles and darker, high-profile Netflix productions such as "Somebody" and "Trigger." Now, the established leading man returns to familiar rom-com territory as Baek Ho-rang, a billionaire heir who falls for a quirky, innocent screenwriter.

For Kim, the greatest challenge of a K-rom-com is not necessarily finding ways to reinvent its well-worn conventions, but making even its most predictable — and occasionally cringe-inducing — moments feel genuine.

"When I first read the script and began filming, I naturally wanted to put a different spin on things that audiences had already seen before," Kim said during a press interview in Seoul.

"But after talking with the director and the production team, I realized that wasn't what they wanted. They told me they didn't want something different. They wanted us to lean even further into the cliches and bring out the appeal of something audiences already know and love."

Rather than meticulously calculating how to play out romantic beats, Kim said he found the answer in fully immersing himself in the character.

"If I had consciously borrowed those cliches from somewhere else and tried to reproduce them in a calculated way, I think they would have been even harder to watch," he said. "I worried that they might come across as artificial."

"I realized that the only way to make those moments work was to truly understand Baek Ho-rang and believe 100 percent in the world of 'Take Charge of My Heart.' I had to genuinely believe that I was Ho-rang, living in that world. Only then could those cliches feel natural."

Still, even for an actor with considerable romance experience, delivering overtly sentimental scenes without seeming self-conscious was no easy feat, particularly after spending recent years exploring darker material in thrillers such as "Trigger."

"I'm actually someone who gets embarrassed quite easily by those kinds of things," he said. "Sometimes, when I see myself doing them, I just want to close my eyes."

For Kim, overcoming that discomfort ultimately comes down to a principle he hopes to carry throughout his acting career: believing wholeheartedly in the fictional world he inhabits.

"I think the most important thing is developing the ability to truly believe in a project," he said. "You have to believe that your character and your place in that world are real."