Actor Ji Chang-wook at the press conference for "Fabricated City" in Kuala Lumpur.

South Korean heartthrob Ji Chang-wook was recently in town to talk about his upcoming movie, "Fabricated City".

The actor attended the press conference for the movie, which was also part of the launch event for tvN Movies in Malaysia, last Saturday at The Westin Kuala Lumpur. There he shared with the media his experience on filming the action movie.

Playing the main character Kwon Yu, this marks Ji's silver screen debut as a lead actor. The 29-year-old is better known for starring in Korean TV series such as "Healer", "The K2" and "Suspicious Romance".

After catching the attention of award-winning director, Park Kwang-hyun, the actor finally gets his chance to shine in the "Fabricated City" spotlight as the unemployed pro-gamer Kwon Yu, who gets accused of sexual harassment and murder. To escape prison, Kwon Yu will have to work with his virtual teammates to clear his good name.

Starring alongside Ji in the action thriller are Shim Eun-kyung ("Miss Granny", "Train to Busan") and Ahn Jae-hong ("Tazza: The Hidden Card", TV series "Reply 1988").

Before catching "Fabricated City" in cinemas this 20 April, let's find out what Ji Chang-wook has to say about his most memorable moment filming it, his thoughts on visiting Malaysia and his plans before enlisting in his home country's mandatory military service.

Ji Chang-wook filming one of the action scenes in "Fabricated City" (Photo source: Sony Pictures Entertainment).

Cinema Online: Can you tell us about your role in the movie and the preparation you did to play it?

Ji Chang-wook: I play Kwon Yu, who is wrongly accused of being a serial killer. So throughout the whole movie, he tries to solve the fabricated problem. For this project, unlike other projects, I didn't create another character, but I brought myself into the situation and acted as how I would really react in the situation.

This is your first movie role, what was the most challenging aspect of filming it?

In my memory, everything was really difficult. The weather, it was both hot and cold. I was emotionally tired from playing the character and there were a lot of action scenes so I was also physically tired.

What about the most memorable moment?

When I think about the most memorable moment, I only think about the difficult and tiring part [Laughs]. But if I want to point it out, I would say the prison scene. Because in my mind, prison is a really scary place. So during the whole scene in the prison, I was tired and scared.

The prison scene in "Fabricated City" was the most memorable to film for Ji Chang-wook.

Since this is an action movie, did you sustain any injury while filming?

I didn't sustain any major injuries but there'd be minor scratches during filming. To prevent injuries, we would rehearse a lot of times before filming a scene.

You seem to prefer action genres over other genres?

I like action but now I'm starting to avoid it. It's still good but it's physically tiring and challenging. So I'm trying out other roles.

What are your upcoming projects and what do you plan to do before enlisting in the military?

Once I go back to Korea, I will start filming this new drama. It's a mystery, romance and comedy drama. It's something that I've never acted as before – a prosecutor who changed to a [defense] lawyer, so that would be fun. Recently I get that [enlisting] question a lot. Since I have a scheduled project coming up, before I go to the military, I have to go for that project and if time allows I'd like to go for travel as well.

Tell us your thoughts on Malaysia before and after visiting the country.

Before coming to Malaysia I was really curious, and all the welcoming really surprised me. Have I changed my mind after visiting? I can't really answer that because I haven't gotten to know Malaysia really well, I've stayed in my room the whole time [Laughs]. Maybe I'll return to Malaysia for travel purpose.

"Fabricated City" opens in Malaysia and Singapore on 20 April 2017.