Yoo Seung-ho on his first villain role in 14 years — and what comes next after 'Tycoon X Detective 2'

He said yes before finishing the script

Tycoon X Detective 2 (재벌X형사 2) wrapped its 14-episode run on September 19. Yoo Seung-ho played Yu Seong-won, a psychopath artist who harbors strange emotions toward corpses and treats people as objects. It was his first villain role in 14 years—his last came in I Miss You (보고싶다).

The decision came fast. "I decided to do it before even finishing reading the script," he told Cosmopolitan in their October issue. He built the character with the director from scratch, working through Yu Seong-won's strange emotional patterns and repetitive habits. "With this work, I created a lot with the director from the approach."

Finale broke the show's own record — and season 1's

The series opened at 6.1% (Nielsen Korea, national household basis) and climbed steadily. Episode 13, which aired September 18, hit 9.4%. The finale jumped to 11.8%—the drama's highest rating across both seasons, clearing season 1's peak of 11%.

Ahn Bo-hyun starred as Jeon Yi-soo, the chaebol third-generation detective at the center of the franchise. Jung Eun-chae joined season 2 as Ju Hye-ra, the new Major Crimes Unit team leader.

Next up: a photography exhibition, not a drama

On October 3, Yoo steps behind the camera for his first film photography exhibition, BLUE HOUR. The show features photos he took during trips to the United States and Mongolia. "I don't expect to hear praise that I took really good photos, but I don't want to hear 'this is really bad.' I'm doing my best so everyone can enjoy the photo exhibition."

He shifted his technique too—moving from shooting downward to sitting at eye level with his subjects. The change in perspective surprised him.

On future acting work, Yoo kept it simple: "If I have the opportunity, I want to meet myself again, deeply immersed in a work and acting intensely as that character." The villain role has opened a wider range in his mind. Good roles, evil roles, characters with ways of thinking he hasn't even imagined yet.