The project to turn TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s paper-thin BEOMGYU into a Workout ZZANG is back for its second season. Never afraid to be the butt of the joke, BEOMGYU tirelessly lights up every episode with his boundless energy, ready to break a sweat or his back to be the best variety show host he can be and become a workout czar while he’s at it. We spoke with Mdromeda Studio producer Kim Girim, along with writers Park Somi and Oh Chanju—all of who’ve worked on the series from the beginning—to get a look behind the curtains of the casting process, filming the episodes, and the star of the show himself.
Workout ZZANG is the first variety show that BEOMGYU’s done on his own. What made you choose him to be the host?
Kim Girim: The whole working out idea came up after we had already cast BEOMGYU for the show, and was based on his own personality. We spent three or four months looking high and low to find the next big thing after Cleaning Freak. We wanted to discover someone funny who wasn’t already really well known in the variety show scene and make them into an absolute gem. That’s when our writer Somi, who had worked with BEOMGYU before, said, “He’s a really funny guy. He’s kind of crazy (in a good way).” Then she slyly got us to watch a video of him. It was one where everyone’s hula-hooping around their waist while he’s doing it around his neck! We actually didn’t see him as a host at first since idols are limited when it comes to variety shows in that they have to be conscious about the image they portray, but once we saw that video, we thought, This guy could work! Once we had our sights on BEOMGYU, we started to work out how to work him into a variety show setting. He’s a bit weak and not very athletic—like a sheet of paper. So we thought, Let’s turn this paper man into a Workout ZZANG!
Park Somi: Every time I found myself working on another show, I always wanted to work with BEOMGYU again. He was always the kind of person who you could ask if he’d be up to trying something and he would agree to anything without hesitation. Looking at him from the lens of a variety show, he’s that rare, raw person—someone who isn’t overly polished, just like one of the second-generation idols who used to be on Star Golden Bell or Let’s Go! Dream Team. What’s important to note here is that he says he’s capable of anything, yet once he gives it a go, he sort of struggles. (laughs) For a variety show, that’s a huge plus. We thought, What if this person who boasts about being athletic but who’s clearly a human paper did some hardcore workouts? And that’s how Workout ZZANG was born.
Each episode revolves around a different kind of workout, like jumping fitness, aerial yoga, or judo. How do you choose what the workout will be, and does BEOMGYU’s input factor in at all?
Park Somi: We have a general principal we follow: “Let’s not do anything BEOMGYU would find too easy!” (laughs) It feels like Workout ZZANG is at its best when he’s having a hard time. We actually do know that fans want to see him doing somewhat cooler things, like shooting, horse riding, or archery, but for us, our overarching goal is to discover the variety show side of BEOMGYU. He himself is always asking us to make it harder for him. He’s very much aware of his role in the show. It was sort of touching the way he explained that in perfect detail to his fans over weverse LIVE—saying shooting would look too elegant, and that it needs to be something more taxing to make it fun. And that’s not something our team ever explained to him.
Kim Girim: I honestly think BEOMGYU’s more ambitious about making it more fun and entertaining than we are, even. He’ll ask us, “Was that last bit not funny enough?” Or he’ll come up to us during a break and say, “Should I goof around a bit more?”
Oh Chanju: When we ask him if he needs to take a break for a bit, he says we need to keep going to make it entertaining enough, and that he’s fine to keep going. BEOMGYU truly sees it through to the end—even when he’s pouring sweat. We ask him if he needs to touch up his face since he’s an idol and all, but he never seems too worried about it.
BEOMGYU never slacks off in any episode, always acts friendly and engaging with his guests, and keeps the mood upbeat. From the production crew’s perspective, what’s BEOMGYU like when it comes to being on a variety show?
Oh Chanju: BEOMGYU has an acute sense of what he can do to make things funny when he’s on a variety show. He says and does things at exactly the moment we think it’d be funny if he said something. That’s a sense of timing that even someone who’s done a ton of variety shows can’t easily nail down. It’s like he’s got a sixth sense for being entertaining. Additionally, no matter how much the crew loves a show, if the cast doesn’t feel the same way, there’s no synergy, but BEOMGYU clearly has a deep affection for Workout ZZANG and shares idea without even being prompted. We’re really lucky to have discovered him for the series. He’s so naturally suited to the role that if we hadn’t snatched him up then somebody else definitely would have.
Kim Girim: I think BEOMGYU’s already found a massive amount of success as an idol, but to succeed in variety shows, you have to let go of your already established image and be passionate about figuring out what aspect of your character to shed light on to make things entertaining. BEOMGYU has all of that, and he seems to have a really good sense of how to make people fall in love with him when he’s the star of a show. His proactive nature and genuine interest in the show has opened us up to him. He’s really chummy with other stars when they come on, too. When TV personality Cho Hye Lyun guest starred, she said, “He’s so cute. He’s just like my son. Come into the shade so you don’t burn!” Seeing the two of them chatting during breaks showed me how much chemistry he has even with more experienced folks.
The highlight of the show is how much BEOMGYU struggles with new forms of exercise. What was the most memorable moment from filming the show?
Park Somi, Oh Chanju: The first episode—jumping fitness—was really intense. It was our first shoot and we didn’t have any real idea of how athletic BEOMGYU might be, so we just kept having him jump. He probably kept looking over at us like, “Please, no more …” but we didn’t catch on and just kept cheering him onward. (laughs) Then he bolted out of the place out of nowhere! That was completely unscripted and caught us off guard, but Kim Hye Seon, who guest starred on the episode, picked him up into her arms and carried him in like a princess. That scene became an instant classic and people made endless shorts out of it, but in the moment we were all going, This is it! It became clear in that moment what we should do to make Workout ZZANG funny.
Oh Chanju, Kim Girim: There was also the hiking episode, where BEOMGYU had far more energy than we were expecting. We were sure he’d start lagging behind by about halfway through, but it was actually us in the crew who started falling behind. (laughs) Only person on the camera crew managed to keep up, and just barely at that, yelling, “Wait up!” While the management team couldn’t keep up with BEOMGYU either, he and Julien Kang were having a ball as they went up the mountain. It didn’t make it into the video, but at one point, BEOMGYU said, “You’re so slow!” And they even waited for us. After that episode, we decided to really ramp up the physical difficulty.
With season two of Workout ZZANG coming soon, is there anything else you’d like to let fans of the show know?
Kim Girim: The first comments BEOMGYU reads aren’t the ones telling him he’s handsome or cute, but the ones that say what made people laugh. Then he comes to us and says, “I think people liked this part. What do you think?” I hope people leave lots of comments about how BEOMGYU, already successful as an idol, is now doing a good job on variety shows and as the Workout ZZANG, too. I know he’d appreciate that, and it’ll also help our show keep going at the same time. We were able to do a second season thanks to the fantastic response the show got, and I hope it ends up having more broad appeal so we can keep doing it for a long time to come. My own goal for season two is to relay what makes BEOMGYU so charming to more and more people. Please, keep spreading those funny clips around!
Oh Chanju: It may look like the show’s all smooth sailing, but honestly, there were times where everything from finding guests to you name it all came with their own set of difficulties. After a tough meeting, I’d come home and read things fans wrote on social media, like, “Workout ZZANG’s hilarious!” Or, “The producers did a great job on this!” Posts like that really made me feel good. And I hope we can make something that people will enjoy even more. Comments like that are really uplifting for us. Also, season two will dive even deeper into each form of exercise, so stay tuned!
Park Somi: I’d like to take this opportunity to say something to BEOMGYU as well. I feel like we didn’t have much of a chance to say nice things or pay him compliments enough while we were filming. He did such a good job at all times that we put all our trust in him and just let him do his thing, and sometimes we steered him into more extreme situations for the sake of the entertainment, but I just wanted to say that we only did that because he’s so good at everything he does. So I hope there’s no hard feelings! He’s got an absolute gift for entertaining, and I hope he’ll keep working with us on Workout ZZANG to keep sharing that with the world. So, BEOMGYU, thank you for playing the part of host so flawlessly.