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IU and Byeon Woo Seok - Thoughts About Their K-Drama "Perfect Crown"

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IU and Byeon Woo Seok at the press conference of "Perfect Crown," streaming on Disney+ on April 10.

IU at the press conference of "Perfect Crown," streaming on Disney+ on April 10.

Byeon Woo Seok at the press conference of "Perfect Crown," streaming on Disney+ on April 10.

<p><em><strong>Perfect Crown</strong></em>, t<em></em>he most anticipated drama series of the first half of 2026, is about to be released, and the unparalleled visuals and chemistry of its stars, <strong>IU</strong> and <strong>Byeon Woo-Seok</strong>, have been dominating our social media feeds. </p><p>Slated to be released on <strong>Disney+</strong> on <strong>April 10</strong>, <em>Perfect Crown </em>is set in a reimagined modern-day Korea that operates under a constitutional monarchy. In the rom-com series, Byeon Woo Seok stars as <strong>Grand Prince I-an</strong>, the second son of a royal family, whose existence poses an inherent political threat to the King. This power struggle within the family leads him to strike up a marriage of convenience with <strong>Sung Heeju </strong>(IU)<strong></strong>, the heir to a Korean conglomerate. As they work together, not losing sight of their respective goals, they encounter some bumps, and things don’t go quite as smoothly as planned. </p><p>The series, written by <strong>Yu Ain</strong>, is directed by<strong> Park Joonhwa</strong>, who was also behind the well-loved K-dramas <strong><em>Alchemy of Souls </em></strong>and <em><strong>What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim</strong>.<strong></strong></em><strong></strong><strong></strong> Expectations are high—but based on the teasers alone, it seems these will be met, and it may even go beyond those expectations, considering the grandness of the setting, the layered plot, and of course, the stunning and talented stars leading the cast. <strong></strong><strong></strong><em><strong></strong></em></p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1775706504749IU Byeon Woo Seok Perfect Crown virtual press con 1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">Byeon Woo Seok and IU</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1775707209247perfect crown cast.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner">(From left) Yoo Su-Bin, Gong Seung-Yeon, Byeon Woo-Seok, IU, Noh Sang-Hyun, and Lee Yeon</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><p><em>Perfect Crown </em>also stars <strong>Noh Sang-hyun</strong> (as <strong>Min Jeong Woo</strong>, Grand Prince I-an&#x27;s confidant) and <strong>Gong Seung-yeon</strong> (as <strong>Queen Dowager Yoon Yi-rang</strong>, who stirs up conflict to secure the future of her son, the King). Adding fun to the cast are <strong>Yoo Su-bin</strong> (as <strong>Choi Hyun</strong>, Grand Prince I-an&#x27;s loyal aide) and <strong>Lee Yeon</strong> (as <strong>Do Hye-jeong</strong>, Heeju&#x27;s secretary).</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s about 21st-century Korea under a constitutional monarchy,&quot; described director Park Joonhwa. &quot;And it&#x27;s not just about a different aspect of those stories that I really want to talk about. But I believe this show is somewhat different from the other shows you&#x27;ve seen so far. And it&#x27;s going to set your heart aflutter.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="925" height="525" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yclX1lsRjCc?si=3q2AeZ0eFLAxEA1y" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/></div><div><strong></strong><em></em><br/></div><p>IU and Byeon Woo Seok both came from highly successful dramas—<em><strong>When Life Gives You Tangerines</strong> </em>and <em><strong>Lovely Runner</strong></em>, respectively—so <em>Perfect Crown </em>is highly anticipated, and fans are excited to see what&#x27;s to come from this epic pairing. </p><p>When asked why she chose to work on this project, IU said, &quot;So, Heeju, my character, has got everything except for the noble status that she desires. So we are under a constitutional monarchy, and she is very frustrated that she does not have the noble status... You can understand why she&#x27;s so frustrated about her status, and she&#x27;s very greedy. She has a lot of yearnings for things, but she&#x27;s also sort of adorable. She&#x27;s a very three-dimensional character. So, as I was reading the script, I thought Heeju was such a fascinating character. And I really thought it was a no-brainer, I wanted to be in on this project as Heeju.&quot;</p><p>In <em>When Life Gives You Tangerines</em>, IU made viewers cry, but in <em>Perfect Crown</em>, prepare to smile and laugh with her character&#x27;s crazy-feisty personality. Does she feel pressured that viewers may still see her as Oh Ae-sun/Yang Geum-myeong? IU said, &quot;The series<em> When Life Gives You Tangerines</em>—I&#x27;m so grateful for all the love that everyone has shown, and I spent so much time in that character. So, I think it was actually an easy decision for me to choose a character that was so completely different from the previous character. And so, I honestly don&#x27;t have that kind of pressure... I think I actually felt more at ease because it was so different.&quot;</p><div><em></em><em></em></div><p>If you&#x27;re familiar with IU&#x27;s filmography, you&#x27;ll know that she has a knack for choosing projects. Her dramas are always much talked about, well-loved, and critically acclaimed—<em>The Producers</em>, <em>Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo</em>, <em>My Mister</em>, <em>Hotel del Luna</em>, and <em>When Life Gives You Tangerines</em>. So, what was it about <em>Perfect Crown </em>that truly made an impact on her? She explained, &quot;We first got to read up to episode four. And when I read the scripts, it was just so fast-paced that I didn&#x27;t stop once I read them, but I read all four episodes in one sitting. And all of the stories and characters—not just mine each character, including of course the Grand Prince—it was so charming and the people that are in the palace and also those that live outside of the palace, people of these different worlds coming together and interacting with each other living alongside one another, that kind of a story alongside such great comedy, I just thought it was very entertaining.&quot; <em></em><em></em><em></em><em></em><em></em></p><div><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1775708426987iu perfect crown press con.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/></div><div><br/></div><p>Grateful for all the support he&#x27;s been getting, especially following the global popularity of <em>Lovely Runner</em>, Byeon Woo-seok also said that rather than feel pressured with his new drama, he feels hopeful and happy because of the interest people have been showing toward <em>Perfect Crown</em>. &quot;I&#x27;m going to do my absolute best to repay all of that love and interest,&quot; he said. &quot;I think it&#x27;s not pressure that I feel. I think it&#x27;s just a mindset that I want to carry with me as an actor.&quot; </p><p>According to the 34-year-old actor, a major factor in his decision-making process when selecting projects is whether he can envision himself in the character&#x27;s shoes or not. In the case of Grand Prince I-an, it was easy for Byeon Woo-seom to picture himself in that role. He shared, &quot;Grand Prince I-an is the beloved royal of Korea. But he can&#x27;t outshine anyone. He has a status where he can&#x27;t outshine anyone. And the reason why I chose this show is because, when I read the script, I think it&#x27;s really important that you can envision it in your head, and I could just envision all the scenes in my head, and I could really resonate with my character Grand Prince I-an&#x27;s backstories. So, I wanted to try fleshing this character out.&quot;</p><p>Although his character is a member of the royal family, Byeon Woo-seok also paid attention to the nuances that can make Grand Prince I-an relatable. &quot;That&#x27;s how I went into my previous project as well. I tried to focus my best to make sure that my character and the way I portray my character are relatable and something that can resonate with the audience,&quot; he noted. </p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1775708543876byeon woo seok perfect crown press con.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/></div><div><br/></div><p><em>Perfect Crown</em> is actually not the first project IU and Byeon Woo Seok worked on together. In 2016, he made a cameo in IU&#x27;s K-drama, <em><strong>Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo</strong></em>, appearing as the cheating ex-boyfriend of IU&#x27;s character. </p><p>Looking back on their time together on the set 10 years ago, Byeon Woo-seok said, &quot;I feel like we have a chemistry that stretches over a decade, and you can really see that chemistry flower in this series. And IU is, you know—she makes you feel at ease instantly. She&#x27;s such a great scene partner, and she gave me a lot of advice as well, so I enjoyed it so much.&quot;</p><p>IU said that reuniting with Byeon Woo-seok felt like &quot;he was set on making up for all the hurt&quot; her character went through because his character cheated on hers. &quot;When we played that series, he was actually a boyfriend who cheated on me. That was his character 10 years ago, and now, after 10 years have passed, we get to work alongside each other as main characters. Again, as we said, it almost felt like he had been waiting for the entire decade to repay that because, honestly, over the past decade, it&#x27;s not like we have been in touch since sharing the screen in <em>Moon Lovers</em>, but it almost felt like we had been friends all along that time. So, it almost makes me feel like I wanted to do another project with him after another 10 years.&quot; </p><p>Now, we don&#x27;t need to wait that long to see their chemistry blossom into its full potential, because instead of 10 years, everyone is welcome to witness the start of Grand Prince I-an and Heeju&#x27;s story on the 10th of April. </p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center">[[PHOTO ALBUM]]</div><div><br/></div><div><em></em><em><strong>Catch Perfect Crown tomorrow on Disney+.</strong></em></div><div><em></em></div><div><br/></div><p>Photos courtesy of <strong>Disney+ Philippines</strong></p>

<p>A perfect pairing with the perfect chemistry, breathing life into characters in an imperfect world of a reimagined modern-day Korea operating under a constitutional monarchy—get ready for K-drama "Perfect Crown," streaming on Disney+ this April 10. </p>

A perfect pairing with the perfect chemistry, breathing life into characters in an imperfect world of a reimagined modern-day Korea operating under a constitutional monarchy—get ready for K-drama "Perfect Crown," streaming on Disney+ this April 10.

Perfect Choice! Why IU and Byeon Woo Seok Wanted to Star in K-Drama 'Perfect Crown'

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Perfect Choice! Why IU and Byeon Woo Seok Wanted to Star in K-Drama 'Perfect Crown'

Grace Libero

Published April 09, 2026 01:40 PM PHT

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