Son Suk-ku Reflects on Mystery Role in 'Nine Puzzles' and Stays True to His Acting Style
Jun 08, 2025
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The Disney+ original series 『Nine Puzzle" (played by Lee Eun-mi, directed by Yoon Jong-bin) is a mystery thriller in which Ina (Kim Da-mi), the only witness of a pending case and incumbent profiler, and Han Sam (Son Seok-gu), a strong team detective who suspects him to the end, dig into the secret of a series of murders that began again with a mysterious puzzle piece. It ended by boasting a tight story until the 11th episode, drawing attention.
Son Seok-gu recently met with Sports Chosun and said, `I'm grateful that a lot of people seem to be watching. The genre was a mystery, so it was unfamiliar and there was something that I couldn't measure. I was talking to the team, and my team made it hard and I really didn't know what would happen as a result. I was worried a lot, but I think it went well so far, and I think it's going to be a full-fledged game starting today, so I'm looking forward to it more" expressed his feelings.
It was a work that started without any expectation and affection for the mystery. He wasn't interested in the `Finding the Criminals' that viewers were enthusiastic about. For actors who participated in the work with interest in exciting scripts, it is natural that curiosity about the criminal also grows, but Son Seok-gu was an exception. He said "Everyone has a meaning to what I did without thinking. In fact, I'm a huge fan of director Yoon Jong-bin, and it was an honor for the director to see me. When he offered me a suggestion, I said, 'Oh, I'm not confident in mystery,' and he said that you just have to trust yourself and follow him. I did it because of the director, who wouldn't have been attracted to the script. I thought that the characters of what they had done so far did a good job in the drama where emotions were communicated through meetings. There is also an emotional exchange with Ina (Kim Dami) in the mystery, but that is not a gift. The logical process of reasoning the case or the delivery of information was important, and if you lose the eyes and ears of the audience even one point there, you lose the next episode. As a result, I think I have to be nervous and do it. Since the act itself for sophisticated information transmission is not something I can freely do, I thought 'Is this me or is this my style?'
He challenged himself without confidence, but there is still no judgment on his own even after the shooting was over and the work was released. Son Seok-gu gave an ambiguous answer when asked "Is the prejudice against the mystery broken a little?"The audience would know that." Son Seok-gu said "I studied and referred to myself, and tried to the best of my ability. Now, there are things I haven't done in each work, but I do it while filling in what I lack while filming. In fact, usually my experience is that the doubts disappear little by little in the third or fifth round, and I get used to them and feel free, but this time I've made the doubts a little longer than that."
Although viewers were inundated with regret about the ending, Son Seok-gu, the main character, also viewed it as a third party's work rather than his own work. Son Seok-gu said "It's a bummer? I didn't see that part well. Why were you disappointed?" and "I don't know if the character has become ambiguous. Is it because the portion has decreased. Is that the current trend??" he replied tepidly. Then "The reason why the reversal is weak is because the expected part must have been large, but there are opinions like this and that." I don't like the twist that much. If the twist is good and sophisticated, there are favorite movies and wild horses, but it was not meant to be fun as an individual audience. Rather than liking my work, I think it's my responsibility to humbly accept the audience's opinions. (I) liked it, but that's not the point. I was satisfied."
There was also some noise in the promotion process. Appearing on a YouTube channel created by a non-celebrity fan made headlines. Son Seok-gu, who appeared on the channel 'Jim Mi-jo', said "There's no big reason, and it's about time to promote (he appeared). I continued to follow up and support his activities. I think it will work out even if he walks this way. In a way, there's nothing that shouldn't be done. I'm promoting it with him, but I don't know how to interpret it these days. We operate a channel called YouTube to effectively inform the public that such a work has come out, and these days, it seems to be a place to inform and greet the public of people who are more than promotional. Maybe it's bigger. In that sense, I'm an acquaintance, a supportive person, and there's no reason why I shouldn't. The fact that we always have to choose the existing promotion method is that we don't have to do that these days."
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Son Seok-gu has not been the only one since his debut. In addition to the noise related to his recent appearance on YouTube, there were also various views pointing out his words and actions as he made 'fake acting' remarks related to the play. However, I learned something from 'Beautiful than Heaven' with Kim Hye-ja. Son Seok-gu said "My attitude, way, and attitude toward acting have become much more persistent and broadened. Ever since I met Kim Hye-ja. One of the recent works I took is "Beautiful Than Heaven", and since then, I've been looking forward to seeing how I'll act. The experience with the teacher is so special. Even when I was acting with the teacher, I looked at the work afterwards and saw a different dimension. Even though she acted together, Kim Hye-ja's acting was not something to discuss. It is an act that has a teacher's life that can come out because of the teacher's path."
However, it is not a determination to live beautifully and perform beautifully, but a will to keep his current style. Son Seok-gu said "I don't mean that I have to live a beautiful life like Kim Hye-ja, so I have to act that I can embrace everything." Since the teacher lived with his own firm philosophy, it means that I should live my own life well, just like that kind of acting comes out. I saw evidence that if you live that well, you'll be like that."
lunamoon@sportschosun.com
