Actor Namkoong Min won the Grand Prize at the 2021 MBC Drama Awards for his role in MBC’s action thriller drama series “The Veil” (2021) on Thursday.

“When we were filming for ‘The Veil,’ there were lots of technological efforts needed,” Namkoong said during his acceptance speech. “I did wonder if the show would’ve been better if we had more time, but nonetheless, we were able to wrap it up well thanks to the staff and actors.”

He thanked his co-stars and his girlfriend, model and actor Jin A-reum. The pair revealed they were in a relationship in 2016, after meeting on set for the thriller film “Light My Fire” (2016).

“The Veil” is about a top field agent in the National Security Service (NIS) named Han Ji-hyuk, played by Namkoong. After going missing for a year, Han returns to the NIS to seek out the insider who had betrayed him.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]