PUBLISHED ONAugust 22, 2025 8:30 AMBYKristy ChuaMukbangs (Korean for eating broadcasts) often feature dishes and portion sizes fit for a king, and this K-drama serves up a big feast for viewers' eyes.
On Aug 20, AsiaOne attended the virtual press conference for new K-drama Bon Appetit, Your Majesty, a romantic comedy survival fantasy piece starring South Korean actors Yoona from Girls' Generation and Lee Chae-min.
The series follows three-star Michelin chef Ji-young (Yoona) who goes back in time where she is forced to cook to win the favour of tyrant king Yi Heon (Chae-min). He begins to change after tasting her food, as they give him his first encounter with comfort and love after his mother's death.
Despite this being Chae-min's first foray into period pieces, the 24-year-old has already stepped into the shoes of a king. He shyly recalled that he was extremely nervous when he first met his co-star, who's 11 years his senior.
"I told Yoona that I was a fan - it was a fanboy moment for me, so surreal. I got really sweaty and perspiration was dripping from my palms," he said.
Playing a king with an infallible palate, Chae-min prepared for his role's "royal mukbangs" by watching many videos of content creators eating large portions of food. He told reporters he tried to copy their facial expressions and reactions to the food by practising in the mirror, and would exaggerate them.
Comparing Chae-min and Yoona's cooking skills, they seemed to reflect their on-screen counterparts. Chae-min revealed: "I can tell you guys very confidently that I'm not a good cook. You know how people can enjoy good food and cook as well? Well, I'm a picky eater."
However, the foodie does seem to take "good meat" seriously as roast beef, meat and barbecues are the best things he admitted he can whip up.
Just like her character, Yoona loves cooking. "I've been interested in cooking for a long time, but after taking on this role I took some lessons and I was trained, so that helped me developed my skills even further," shared the 35-year-old. The drama marks the K-pop idol's first romcom in two years since her last on-screen appearance in King the Land (2023).
The lessons started three months prior to filming, where Yoona had to familiarise herself with utensil types, ingredients and plating.
"In every episode we have new dishes, so we had a tutor who was always there for me, giving me advice about cooking and I'd practise with her and the chef... And the utensils in the show are different because they're from the past, so when I was practising, I tried to use knives or utensils they had in the past."
A key highlight of the drama would be the modernity and tradition infused into Ji-young's creations, to which Yoona remarked: "As my character is a French chef who has to create very traditional royal cuisine, I think she's very keen about plating.
"The ingredients and menus are from the past but when you look at her dishes, their plating is very modern - it's like they're from a French Michelin three-star restaurant."
Of course, those of the past would be seeing such plating for the first time, so a king like Yi Heon would be sceptical at first. Yoona added he would smell these fascinating dishes and poke at it with his spoon, before a food taster tests the gourmet meal on his behalf, confirming that it can be safely eaten.
In depicting the tyrannic king, Chae-min was surprised by how Yi Heon was always on his feet. He said: "I thought he would just be in the royal palace, but he's always going outside. He would follow Ji-young or if there's something happening outside, he doesn't let other people go on his behalf - he likes to go there himself. I was never really at the palace a lot.
"I had to run, fight and in the palace I would eat a lot. So I thought, 'This is a king. He shouldn't be doing all this and Ji-young doesn't treat him like one either'. I questioned my identity — 'Am I truly a king?'"
Originally, actor Park Sung-hoon was slated to play Yi Heon, but after dropping out of the role due to "personal controversy", Chae-min was brought in as his replacement.
[[nid:682716]]
Sung-hoon, 40, played Cho Hyun-ju in the Netflix series Squid Game 2 which premiered on Dec 26. Four days later, he uploaded an Instagram Story depicting a Japanese adult film parodying the series, before quickly deleting it. Apologising for the incident, he explained at the time that he was "shocked by the image" and had been "attempting to forward it for review".
At another press conference held on Aug 19, Chae-min admitted the late casting placed pressure on him. "It's true I had little time, so the sense of burden and responsibility was heavy."
The series' director Jang Tae-yoo commended his efforts: "He wasn't the actor we thought of at first, but I am 120 per cent satisfied with him. All actors give their best, but that doesn't always guarantee results. In Chae-min's case, his preparation showed in his performance and I am very pleased."
Bon Appetit, Your Majesty, also starring Kang Han-na and Choi Gwi-ha, will premiere on Aug 23 on Netflix.
[[nid:721547]]
No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.