Actor Jung Joon Won addressed mixed reactions to his casting in MBC’s upcoming drama A Bona Fide Killer and explained how he approached his character differently from the original webtoon.

The drama follows Yoo Bo Na, played by Gong Hyo Jin, a working mother with a dangerous profession who tries to balance her family life and demanding job.

Jung Joon Won plays Kwon Tae Sung, Yoo Bo Na’s husband and an investigative journalist who once tracked a mysterious figure known as Kingfisher.

In the original webtoon, Tae Sung is described as an exceptionally handsome and polite man whose appearance immediately attracts Yoo Bo Na. After Jung Joon Won’s casting was announced, some readers questioned whether he matched the character’s original image, while others described the choice as a possible miscasting.

Jung Joon Won explained that the television adaptation changed several parts of the original character.

He said: “In the original work, Tae Sung was written as someone Bo Na could fall for because of his appearance. However, the script and character changed during the adaptation.”

The actor added that Tae Sung’s appeal in the drama comes from more than his physical appearance.

He explained: “From an acting perspective, I did not think that detail was absolutely necessary. Tae Sung can look attractive through the way he loves his wife and daughter, his caring personality, and how seriously he works.”

Jung Joon Won said he did not place much importance on matching the webtoon character’s appearance exactly.

He shared: “I did not focus too much on the similarity between me and the original character.”

The actor also revealed that he waited until filming was nearly finished before reading the webtoon because he wanted to build the drama’s version of Tae Sung first.

He said: “Although the main story remained, many parts were adapted and some characters had different settings. I felt that Tae Sung in the script and Tae Sung in the webtoon were different people.”

He continued: “I worried that reading the webtoon first might limit how I viewed the character, so I wanted to create the drama’s Tae Sung before looking at the original version.”

Based on the popular Kakao webtoon of the same name, A Bona Fide Killer premieres on July 31 at 9:50 p.m. KST on MBC.