Ryu Jun-yeol on Netflix Thriller 'Mousetrap': 'I Asked the Director to Knock Me Out'

Actor Ryu Jun-yeol had a self-deprecating take on his action scenes in Netflix's upcoming Korean thriller. He said co-star Sol Kyung-gu carried the physical load, and joked that he asked the director to knock his character out so he could stay off-camera during the fights.

The comments came at the press conference for the Netflix series "Mousetrap" (Field Mice), held on the morning of August 20 at Hotel Naru Seoul MGallery in Seoul's Mapo district. Ryu, Sol, and actor Lee Kyu-hyung attended alongside director Kim Hong-sun.

Directed by Kim, "Mousetrap" is a chase thriller about a novelist named Moon-jae whose name, face, and entire life are stolen by a mysterious figure known as "Deuljwi." A loan shark named No-ja, chasing his missing money, and a detective named Sun-yong join the hunt for the figure's true identity.

Asked about his action scenes, Ryu turned the question into a running joke about his co-star. "I feel guilty even answering questions about the action, because Sol Kyung-gu did all of it," he said. "In my defense, I asked the director, 'Just knock me out. Make me look like a dead body.' It felt wrong to be conscious while Sol was doing the action."

He continued, drawing laughs from the room, "I'm not great at action anyway. Rather than staying on screen looking lost and in pain, I thought it would be better if I just disappeared." Ryu added, "Like Sol said earlier, I had it easy during the action shoots. I'd like to use this moment to apologize again and ask everyone to look after the show."

Sol picked up the bit when it was his turn. Looking back on the shoot, he said, "While I was doing the action, Ryu Jun-yeol was either knocked out or basically asleep."

"Mousetrap" premieres August 28 on Netflix.