On the October 13 episode of the YouTube channel “Fairy Jaehyung”, actor Park Seo-joon discussed the behind-the-scenes of his variety show appearances.
Park Seo-joon, who gained much love from appearing on PD Na Young-seok’s variety show “Jinny’s Kitchen”, said, “It all started with ‘Youn’s Kitchen 2’.”
He explained, “I really enjoyed watching ‘Youn’s Kitchen’. After watching the whole season, I continued acting as usual, and then I received an offer. It was fascinating because it wasn’t something I typically do. I was a fan of the show, but I was also scared because it’s not a familiar area for me. I was always just a viewer, but now I’d be showing my real self, not playing a role. It felt like I was exposing myself. I rarely appeared on talk shows because I felt pressured to perform or show something interesting for the sake of screen time, which I didn’t think I was good at. But ‘Youn’s Kitchen’ had such a slow, relaxing vibe that I found it comforting to watch. It’s fascinating because it’s not dramatic, but you just keep watching. The most appealing part was the idea of running a restaurant abroad. I wondered if I’d ever get that experience in my life. And of course, I was grateful to be asked to work with PD Na Young-seok, whom no one would want to turn down.”
Reflecting on joining “Youn’s Kitchen 2”, Park Seo-joon recalled how challenging it was. He said, “I was more stressed than I was in my senior year of high school. It wasn’t the first season—it was season 2. With Youn Yuh-jung, Lee Seo-jin and Jung Yu-mi already there, I joined as the youngest. I felt like I had to do really well to even be considered average. On top of that, I had to show my real self. I kept wondering, ‘What’s my role here?’ The pressure was immense.”
He humorously added, “It was such a new experience for me. I had to take a long flight, and on the way back, I had a layover. They kindly upgraded me to first class, but I was so stressed that as soon as I got on the plane, I fell asleep sitting upright like I was in economy. I woke up as we were landing, which shows how much pressure I was under.”
When asked what aspect of himself he didn’t want others to see, Park Seo-joon responded, “I was self-conscious about my awkward way of speaking. I used to dislike it even more in the past. I practiced pronunciation a lot and studied speech techniques. In the past, I used to end sentences with ‘that’s how it was’ or ‘so what’ like a child, and I spoke slowly. Now, it’s at least a bit faster.“
Talking about the impact of appearing on variety shows, Park Seo-joon said, “It didn’t feel like a typical variety show. I went in thinking I had to do something because it’s a variety show, but I naturally just became a restaurant employee. I wasn’t an actor; I was the youngest staff member with the most work. I had to wake up earliest and go to bed the latest. I got really into that role. Learning to cook was fun, and it was different from filming movies, so I enjoyed it.”
He also mentioned how appearing on variety shows led to many commercial deals, saying, “After doing variety shows, I felt like I became more familiar to the public, and I received a lot of advertising offers. But at the same time, I was a little disappointed. I worked so hard at acting, but it turns out variety shows are the real deal for ads”, drawing laughter from everyone.
Park Seo-joon reflected on the situation, “I think it’s because when a person has charm, their main job becomes more appealing too. I joke about it now, but at the time, I was confused. I was working so hard on acting but suddenly getting ad offers every other day. It made me wonder if it made sense. I even had serious conversations about it with people around me, and they said it’s because I’m dedicated to my main job that people see me in a positive light. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I hope that’s true.”