Choi Jin Hyuk Struggles With New Character

After succeeding in his roles as a divorced doctor in "Emergency Couple," an industrial designer in "Fated To Love You" and a bitter older brother in "The Heirs," Choi Jin Hyuk is preparing for another role.

This time he plays a brilliant prosecutor in the upcoming courtroom drama "Pride and Prejudice." Although he would play a very convincing Mr. Darcy, this MBC drama has nothing to do with the Jane Austen novel or any subsequent TV or film productions. Instead, it's about the way pride and prejudice can interfere with the pursuit of justice.

Choi's character Gu Dong Chi passed the bar exam at a young age and became a prosecutor straight of high school. Gu Dong Chi is brilliant and intuitive. The legal prodigy is also a good judge of character and can play the legal system to get what he wants. But, as smart as Choi Jin Hyuk is in real life, he said that portraying his complicated character has been a challenge.

"I had to think a lot and got scolded numerous times at the filming site too," said Choi Jin Hyuk in a recent press conference for the drama.

The first episode was the hardest.

"Fortunately, I've been tuning in to the character after the second episode."

Choi Jin Hyuk credits senior actor Choi Min Soo, who plays teh drama's prosecutor Moon Hee Man, with giving him good advice and encouragement.  

But it was a rocky start.

Figuring out his character was so frustrating that when Choi Jin Hyuk read about actress Shim Eun Kyung's struggles to define her latest character, he began to cry. The actress stars as Naeil, the female lead character in the drama "Tomorrow Cantabile," also known s Naeil's Cantabile."

'I cried because I deeply empathized with her," he said. "I had a tough time trying to figure out how to act the character."

The life of his character Gu Dong Chi is complicated when he meets Han Yeol Mu, an idealistic junior prosecutor, played by Baek Jin Hee. Once a detective, she continues to believe in and will fight for truth and justice.

Together they will stand up against the powers that be.

Kim Jin Min, who directed "Time Between Dog and Wolf" and "God of War" directed the drama. Lee Hyun Joo, who wrote "School 2013," is the screenwriter for "Pride and Prejudice." The Monday-Tuesday drama follows "The Night Watchmen."