Ju Ji-hoon has admitted that even he was taken aback by the daring costumes he wore as Emperor Sovieshu in Disney+‘s “The Remarried Empress,” joking that he kept wondering whether the sheer, plunging outfits were really something an emperor should wear. The actor shared the confession in a teaser for the YouTube talk show MMTG, released on November 11, ahead of the full episode featuring the drama’s four leads on November 12.
In the teaser, host Jaejae asked Ju whether he had often thought during filming, “Is this really the outfit I’m supposed to come out wearing?” Ju laughed as he answered, “Every time I put on a prepared outfit, I wondered, ‘Is this even possible? Is it really okay for it to be this sheer?’” The line drew laughter on set, and the clip quickly spread across Korean entertainment media the same day, with Star News, Sports Chosun and MyDramaList all carrying the story.
Ju went on to joke about the question that had apparently occupied him throughout the shoot: where exactly does an emperor’s dignity end? “Where is the line for an emperor’s dignity? The solar plexus or the navel?” he said. When Jaejae pointed out that one top was cut all the way down to his navel, Ju offered his own tongue-in-cheek rule: loungewear falls below the solar plexus, while formal attire rises above it. “At home, it goes below the solar plexus. At official occasions, it comes up above the solar plexus,” he said.
The costumes have been a talking point since the series premiered. Ju’s emperor wardrobe features sheer fabrics and tops with necklines plunging to the chest, and some viewers have said the looks pulled them out of the story, with a few comparing the outfits to a trot singer’s stage wear, according to Sports Chosun. Others have defended the bold styling as part of the show’s lavish fantasy world.
The MMTG appearance is not the first time Ju has laughed about the wardrobe. In a W Korea interview released on November 2, he shared the same doubts and said he repeatedly asked himself whether the outfits were really okay. Co-star Shin Min-a recalled in the same interview that one of his outfits, a mesh and lace ensemble she said reminded her of an accordion, made her laugh so hard on the first day of filming that a take had to be stopped. Ju added that there were several occasions when he felt too uncomfortable with an outfit and changed before filming.
“The Remarried Empress,” based on the popular web novel and webtoon of the same name, follows Navier (Shin Min-a), the perfect empress of the Eastern Empire, whose husband, Emperor Sovieshu (Ju), demands a divorce after falling for Rashta (Lee Se-young), a runaway slave. Navier accepts the divorce on one condition: permission to remarry Prince Heinrey (Lee Jong-suk) of the Western Kingdom.
The series has been a major hit since its first four episodes premiered on Disney+ on November 3. Within three days it became the most-watched Disney+ local original worldwide, according to eDaily, and it topped Good Data Corporation’s TV-OTT buzz rankings immediately after release. The production was reportedly made with a budget in the tens of billions of won. Episodes 5 and 6 followed on November 11.
Ju knew the role would divide viewers. At a press conference ahead of the premiere, he acknowledged that Sovieshu is a character widely disliked by readers of the original story and said he was prepared for the backlash. “If watching me gets your blood boiling or gives you a way to vent your frustrations and feel better about your own life, then I’ll be satisfied as an actor,” he said at the time, adding that viewers would find it even more satisfying as the story progresses.
The full MMTG episode with Shin Min-a, Ju Ji-hoon, Lee Jong-suk and Lee Se-young airs on November 12 at 6 p.m., and the cast’s relaxed, joking tone suggests there may be more behind-the-scenes stories to come as the series continues its run.
