D.O. shares his experience playing a villain in "City of Lies," discussing character development and the challenges of portraying evil.

D.O. from EXO revealed his thoughts on challenging a villain role for the first time in "City of Lies." In a recent interview at a café in Samcheong-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, for the Disney+ series "City of Lies" (scripted by Oh Sang-ho, directed by Park Shin-woo and Kim Chang-joo), he shared the process of building and portraying the character Ahn Yohan. "City of Lies" is an action drama where a man, Tejun (played by Ji Chang-wook), who lived an ordinary life, gets caught up in a heinous crime and goes to prison, only to discover that it was all planned by Yohan (D.O.), leading him to seek revenge. D.O., who had never had the opportunity to play a villain before, said, "I always wanted to do it. Rather than feeling pressure or worry, I thought it would be interesting. I had fun filming 'City of Lies.' Expressing something new was a new experience, so I enjoyed the shoot. I usually don't express emotions strongly or raise my voice, but it was fun to try shouting and elevating emotions to the extreme through the character." He explained that he thought it might be scarier to portray Yohan as a simple child-like figure rather than just saying, 'He's a bad person.' Reflecting on what he enjoyed in daily life, he mentioned searching for delicious food, which he used to portray Yohan's character as simply enjoying what he was doing. He also referenced documentaries and other works for inspiration, noting that watching documentaries about people with such tendencies made him realize how frightening it could be when someone is solely focused on one thing, like playing with toys or eating, without caring about anything else. He found the documentary "No to Cat Bullying: Catching the Abuser" on Netflix particularly insightful, as it showed how a lack of social skills from childhood can lead to harmful behaviors towards animals and people. He recalled many scenes from Korean and foreign films that influenced him, blending them into his portrayal. D.O. believes that there are indeed people like Ahn Yohan who design human lives, as he is someone who would commit such acts. He felt that Yohan was bad from start to finish, as he engages in actions that should not be done. He noted that Yohan appeared happiest when he was sculpting, and he looked the worst when he felt joy. Although a scene where he cuts his finger was edited out, he mentioned that Yohan's joy in seeing others suffer made him truly evil. Regarding his appearance, he struggled with his hairstyle and costume. He spent four hours on his hairstyle, which involved bleaching and perming his hair into a conical shape before dyeing it black again, and he worried that it might not be visible. He was pleased when a couple of people noticed it, but felt disappointed that it might not have been seen well. He clarified that he did not show his true self in the character's madness, as that would have been a serious issue. He does share a similarity with Yohan in that he cannot focus on anything else when he is concentrating on something. He mentioned that his friends complimented him, saying he didn't look like a typical villain and that he expressed the difficult role well, which made him very happy. He didn't seek advice from them, thinking it would be a burden, and instead imagined and thought a lot on his own. He was surprised to see a face and voice he had never seen before in certain scenes. D.O. said, "I thought, 'I can make this expression too.' I saw a scene where I elevated my emotions for the first time. When I watched 'City of Lies,' I realized there was this side of me. During the scene where I kill the Raincoat Man (played by Bae Nara), I rushed through it and didn't monitor it, but when I saw it in the work, I felt like I saw a new side of myself." On the other hand, he expressed regret that he should have put more emotion into parts that should have been expressed. He felt that when the lines were long, he should have varied the pitch instead of keeping it flat. He thought he could have portrayed the brutal scenes more simply, like a child, and noted that many parts were edited out. He also shared behind-the-scenes stories about the action scenes. D.O. said, "There weren't as many as I thought, and compared to Tejun, it wasn't really action." He explained that he struggled with the sword used by Yohan, thinking about how to make it look more brutal and simple. He considered that a long sword would appear more brutal, and rather than having many clashes, he thought it suited Yohan better to inflict serious injuries in one blow, so he simplified it by reducing the number of clashes from ten to three. Regarding changes in how people viewed him after playing a villain, he mentioned that some looked at him strangely. He felt happy that people enjoyed the work, but he also experienced moments where the hair and makeup staff asked him not to look at them while doing his hair, or when he received less meat than others in the cafeteria, which made him feel a bit lonely. He laughed while sharing this. Nevertheless, he expressed happiness, saying, "I'm very happy. Many people watched it and said it was interesting. This is the work I've received the most messages about, so I'm very happy. I think it has become a motivation for me to work harder in the future. I believe it will remain in my memory as my first villain role that was well-received and ended successfully."