“The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call”: A Medical Drama Packed with 100% of Joo Ji-hoon’s Effort
Released on January 24, Netflix’s original series “The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call” (written by Choi Tae-kang, directed by Lee Do-yoon) follows the journey of Baek Kang-hyuk (Joo Ji-hoon), a brilliant trauma surgeon who joins a struggling university hospital.
In a recent interview with Sports Chosun, Joo Ji-hoon reflected on the early stages of preparing for “The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call”, “These days, directors seem to be very curious about actors’ thoughts. They even ask us to contribute ideas. Rather than sitting down for structured meetings, we were constantly in touch—calling, meeting up for meals, gathering in conference rooms, and even drinking together.”
This marks Joo Ji-hoon’s return to the medical drama genre after 12 years since “Medical Top Team” (2013). Given that “Medical Top Team” was a commercial failure, with a nationwide rating of 5.6% (according to Nielsen Korea), many are intrigued by his decision to take on another medical drama. Regarding “Medical Top Team”, Joo Ji-hoon joked “It’s like a unicorn—it exists, but no one has seen it“, eliciting laughter.
Joo Ji-hoon acknowledged that his past experience was beneficial, explaining, “‘Medical Top Team’ did help me. Since there are so many surgery scenes, we couldn’t just ignore medical accuracy. I prepared intensely because life-and-death matters can’t be taken lightly. In ‘The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call’, every second counts. Take, for example, the scene where a hole is drilled into a patient’s skull in a helicopter. It’s an extremely difficult procedure in real life. The challenge was to make it both medically realistic and dramatically spectacular while also delivering emotional impact.”
He continued, “Although ‘The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call’ isn’t a documentary, we agonized over every detail—it was exhausting, truly. There’s a scene where my character operates on a patient with a torn heart. In reality, even a 1cm rupture could be fatal, and if that much blood gushed out, the show would turn into ‘Kingdom’ (a reference to the period horror drama he starred in). To ensure accuracy, the head of the trauma center at Ewha Womans University Medical Center was present on set, along with top-level nurses. Even on our days off, we kept meeting and discussing various medical cases. Some experts said certain procedures were feasible, while others argued they were too dangerous. Every detail was debated. Now that filming is over, I can finally say—I’m seriously exhausted. This is the most draining project of my 20-year career. It’s unbelievable.”
During the press conference, director Lee Do-yoon remarked that both Joo Ji-hoon and his character Baek Kang-hyuk are “tall, good-looking and annoyingly arrogant“—suggesting a resemblance in their confident personas. Joo Ji-hoon responded, “Of course, I’m aware that people say I’m arrogant. But being rude and being direct are two different things, and I am not rude. In Korea, people are so used to beating around the bush, but I prefer to be straightforward—without being impolite. However, that sometimes rubs people the wrong way, and they end up calling me arrogant.”
He added “I don’t understand why a five-minute conversation has to be stretched into an hour just to avoid offending someone. Korean society is hierarchical, but when we’re in a creative meeting, ranks should be put aside. If someone values hierarchy too much, of course, they’ll find me annoying. Director Lee Do-yoon and I are close, so he could joke about it. In terms of honesty, I do share that trait with Baek Kang-hyuk. As for my appearance, I can’t judge that myself, but if people say I look good, well… I’m not going to complain” then laughed.
