Actor Choe ChanYi Talks About How He Prepared For "Light On Me", Favorite Scene, & The BLs He Watched (Part 1) | Exclusive Interview

Check out the interview of actor Choe ChanYi.

Laure, Kpopmap Editor
8 min to read · Published : Sep 8, 2021 · Updated : Sep 10, 2021

Actor Choe ChanYi Talks About How He Prepared For "Light On Me", Favorite Scene, & The BLs He Watched (Part 1) | Exclusive Interview

KOKTV

There is a rookie and rising actor who stole the heart of viewers of "Light on Me". It is none other than Choe ChanYi!

Korea is producing more and more BL dramas and the latest one to this list "Light on Me" has impressed many with its upgraded quality from previous Korean BL dramas. "Light on Me" tells the story of TaeGyeong (Lee SaeOn) who enters the Saebit High School student council to make friends at the suggestion of his teacher. There, he meets the cold No ShinWoo (Kang YouSeok), the caring Shin DaOn (Choe ChanYi), and the friendly NamGoong SiWoon (Ko WooJin). Among these three new friends, one becomes his first love.

At Kpopmap, we had the chance to interview actor Choe ChanYi who acts as Shin DaOn, the Student Council President of Saebit High School. For fans, the actor took a lot of his time and effort to answer our questions. Fans can feel his passion for his character and the drama as well as his genuine and kind heart in his answers. For sure, you will also tell his taste for beautiful expressions.

We've divided the interview into three parts. Please stay tuned for all of them! The actor is sharing a lot about him, how he got to act in a BL, his character in "Light on Me", his favorite scene, his favorite couple, his chemistry with fellow actors, his taste in music and food, and much more. He also has a special lovely message for overseas fans!

Be aware that this interview contains spoilers of "Light on Me".

Introduction

Hello, nice to meet you. Can you introduce yourself to overseas fans? Also, can you tell us why you chose to write your last name Choe and not Choi, in English?

Hello! I am Choe ChanYi who acts as the Shin DaOn, the student council president, in the drama “Light on Me”! It's such an honor to be able to communicate with overseas fans through this interview with Kpopmap. It is very regretful that we can't meet offline due to the COVID-19. I will be waiting for good days where we can meet and talk face to face. 🙂

About my English last name, there is not much significant meaning behind it. My ID on Instagram is ChoeChani, and on a daily basis, I also use ChoeChani when I write it in English. I use Choe and not Choi because with a 'e' somehow the word seems calmer and it looks more pretty. Choe or Choi are pronounced the same way anyway. That is why I started to use Choechani.

We've asked a bit more about his name. Chani is the name he mostly uses casually on Instagram, but ChanYi is his official first name. Chani and ChanYi are the same in Korean.

Choe ChanYi Official

“Light on Me” just ended not long ago. The web drama received fans' attention not only in Korea but also overseas. The first episode now has more than 1 million views, and the program even ranked 1st on Watcha (Korea). How do you feel about this?

I was very very very happy about it. Actors and all the staff worked hard from March to around May. During these two months, we have all been so busy focusing on the filming. Since everyone was attached to the drama, I remember everyone putting their heart and soul into each of the scenes. I felt it was like we were receiving applause for the efforts we've done, something like "You've done great".

I am using the chance to thank Korean and overseas fans one more time for their love and such a huge interest. Thank you so much. I was happy filming for "Light on Me," but I feel that in 2021 I was even happier thanks to your comments and love. I love you all 😊 .

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 최찬이 (@choechani)

"Light on Me"

“Light on Me” is a BL drama, and BL dramas are pretty new in Korea, so it received interest. It seems that Korea is getting dramas of more diverse genres. What are your thoughts on these changes? Also, can you tell us how did you prepare for your role of Shin DaOn?

I think that it is a relief that more persons are knowing BL. Before judging whether queerness is right or not, I believe that love has no fixed form. I think it is up to individuals to decide on the love they want freely. So I am supportive of these changes. I think there are a lot of people with prejudices [about BL] due to stereotypes for the unique reason that it is queer. Not only “Light on Me” but also other BL have been made, so people who have prejudices will perhaps be able to understand a little more if they come across BL?

Choe ChanYi filming for "Light on Me", photo provided by the actor

I came across BL for the first time while preparing for "Light on Me". Since I have never seen any BL before filming for this drama, I had many thoughts about it.

I think I watched "Skam France/Belgique" Season 3 the most -the director also recommended it to me-, and "Call Me by Your Name". I have also looked for Korean BLs that were released, such as "Where Your Eyes Linger", "Wish You", "Mr. Heart", etc.

Choe ChanYi has sung for a few OST of "Where Your Eyes Linger" and "Mr. Heart"

I think that Shin DaOn is the most complex character of “Light on Me”. So I had to think a lot to prepare for it, that is why it took me a long time. I wanted the viewers not to see Shin DaOn as a bad person. DaOn has big weakness, and that shows significantly in his ambiguous behavior toward TaeGyeong and SoHee. So I worked to create his character so that viewers see how big that is affecting him. I think I was hoping to see comments such as “He is truly pitiful” while creating his character.

Choe ChanYi filming for "Light on Me", photo provided by the actor

I think that DaOn suits this sentence the best “brightness on the outside and darkness on the inside”. So I thought hard about how to show these sides to the camera. He is solely smiling on the outside while actually, he has a lot of issues with relationships, accumulated loneliness, familial issues, etc. I needed to show DaOn smiling with all these problems on the inside. Instead of thinking about it all by myself, I have asked a lot to the director.

Choe ChanYi filming for "Light on Me", photo provided by the actor

I practiced smiling a lot in front of the mirror to have something like a warm oppa or a student council president smile. I think I've got of wrinkles after that … 🙁 What should I do?!

KOKTV

DaOn likes TaeGyeong. In the first half, TaeGyeong wondered if DaOn was good to him because he is good to everyone or is interested in him. It was hard for me to find an in-between love and friendship.

I tried to love TaeGyeong fully. I tried to look carefully at his eyes, nose, and mouth. Actually, I am close with Lee SaeOn (acting TaeGyeong), so it was fun and nice to film all these scenes where we look at each other or have physical contact with him.

KOKTV

We cannot miss talking about the chemistry between the actors as it is part of the charms of the drama. Do you have a favorite romantic scene or lines between DaOn and TaeGyeong?

There is a scene I particularly remember. On the day of the Prince of Saebit High School Competition, TaeGyeong [in line for the competition] was getting ready in the waiting room and put on his tint the wrong way. DaOn corrected his lip tint. I thought this scene was really romantic!

"Light on Me" screenshot

But there is a reason I remember it. There is a behind story. Hahaha. The camera was on, and I had to remove the tint that was wrongly applied, but even if I tried hard, it was not erasing. I really tried my best for like two minutes while smiling warmly. But inside, I wanted to laugh so hard. These two minutes seemed like two years. When it was done, I remember that the staff and me we all laugh hard. This behind appears briefly at the end of the last episode among the NG scenes.

KOKTV

Working with actors of similar ages must have helped you get even more involved and emerged into the filming of the drama? Did it stimulate you on the set?

Personally, I would like to think of a different word than “stimulating” because it seems somehow like a competition. Probably it was a stimulation without a stimulation. I think every day of filming was fun because we are of the same age or with one or two years difference, so we understand each other well. I even came to think that we are all friends and part of the student council. Kang YouSeok (acting as No ShinWoo) is one year older than me but without realising it I almost used informal speech to him while eating... I think YouSeok hyung pretended he did not notice it haha.

KOKTV

Choe ChanYi has answered a lot of more questions, please check out the following parts here (Part 2) and here (Part 3).

In Part 2, he talks about his favorite couple in "Light on Me", what he learned through this drama, the reason why he decided to be an actor, what role he wants to try in the future, and more. In part 3, he talks about his personality, his hobbies, when he would like to go back in time, the late-night food he advises overseas fans, season 3 of "Best Mistake", his plans and goals, and left a lovely message to overseas fans.