“Should I just strip to my underwear?” KwakTube’s passion for acting debut

"Should I just strip down to my underwear?" Travel creator and entertainer KwakTube (Kwak Joon-bin) is embarking on a serious challenge as an actor, moving beyond cameos to take on official roles. Ahead of his upcoming auditions, he has shown an active attitude, even being willing to take acting classes. While listening to an anecdote about a senior actor's "underwear fighting spirit," he even shared a radical resolution that brought laughter to the set.

In the 8th episode of the MBN and Channel S variety program "No Plans At All 4," which aired on the 21st, Jun Hyun-moo and KwakTube were seen visiting famous restaurants in the Yangju area of Gyeonggi-do with actors Ha Seok-jin and Min Jin-woong.

During the broadcast, Jun Hyun-moo mentioned KwakTube's acting challenge. He stated, "KwakTube has recently been cast in an official role in a production. He isn't appearing as a cameo, but as an actor. Since he has dreams of becoming an actor, he has to go through many auditions."

KwakTube also did not hide his enthusiasm for his acting career. Having first challenged himself with acting through the six-episode web drama "Jjindaro: Human Kwak Joon-bin," released in March 2023, he is now set to play a formal character in a drama with a longer runtime.

The project KwakTube is appearing in is ENA and Genie TV's "sinbyeong 4: Sabotage." As the fourth season of the popular "sinbyeong" series, it tells a new story involving the military life of Park Min-suk (played by Kim Min-ho), who falls into new worries after being promoted to corporal, as well as the appearance of a mysterious new recruit and a battalion commander.

KwakTube is set to play the role of a cook, showcasing an acting transformation different from the image he has shown in existing variety shows. Since he is participating as a character in the drama rather than just a special guest appearance, this is expected to be his first major testing ground as an actor.

KwakTube's greed for acting was fully revealed during the broadcast.

When Min Jin-woong's career as a professor in the Department of Theater and Film at Chungwoon University was revealed, KwakTube immediately showed interest, asking, "Can I perhaps attend your lectures as an auditor?" He continued to show that he is seriously preparing for his acting career by asking, "I have to do auditions in the future. Is there a secret method?"

Min Jin-woong cited "letting go of desire" as an important attitude during auditions. He advised, "When you audition, regardless of the result, enjoy it as you wish." This means one should focus on the character and the acting rather than being overly obsessed with whether they pass the audition.

However, the atmosphere instantly shifted back to variety show mode when Jun Hyun-moo brought up an anecdote from Min Jin-woong's past auditions. Jun Hyun-moo revealed, "I heard you only wore underwear during an audition. And here you are telling us to let go of desire."

Min Jin-woong explained, "It was a role for a villain being tortured. I pulled down my pants to stay faithful to the script." He explained that he chose such a radical acting method to express the character's situation.

KwakTube was greatly surprised by this story, asking back, "Did you really pull down your pants at the audition room?" He showed an even more active reaction upon hearing that Min Jin-woong secured the role thanks to his so-called "underwear fighting spirit."

He made the set erupt in laughter by saying, "Then should I just strip down to my underwear and take off my top?" Jun Hyun-moo immediately countered, "If you do that, you'll be reported for being a pervert," restraining KwakTube's excessive passion.

Although the scene ended as a joke, it clearly demonstrated how actively KwakTube is approaching the new field of acting. It is an attempt to expand his realm of expression through scripts and roles, moving beyond the unique character and broadcasting sense he built through travel content.

For KwakTube, the challenge of acting is closer to a new experiment to expand his field of activity rather than a mere diversion. In variety shows, his actual words and actions are the center of the content, but for an actor, the required capabilities are different in that they must convincingly embody the life and emotions of a person other than themselves.

In particular, since "sinbyeong 4: Sabotage" is a series that has already secured a fanbase with its unique characters and realistic military depictions, it is expected to be a meaningful challenge for KwakTube. The key point of interest will be how his familiar speech, expressions, and actions from variety shows will combine with the personality of the character in the script.

Attention is gathering to see whether KwakTube, who joked about being willing to go to such radical lengths at an audition room, can now be evaluated by viewers through his actual acting.