Park Hoon is expected to captivate theaters at the end of the year with another strong villain performance.

Park Hoon, who impressed audiences with his flawless performance of a villainous character in ‘Spring of Seoul’ last winter, will once again show his presence this winter through ‘Harbin’.

Park Hoon previously played the role of Chief of Staff Moon Il-pyeong, the right-hand man of the Commander of the Defense Security Command Jeon Du-kwang (Hwang Jung-min), who attempts to usurp state power in ‘Spring of Seoul’, and received praise from audiences as ‘a character as ugly as Jeon Du-kwang’.

He played the role of Major Mori Tatsuo of the Japanese Army in ‘Harbin’, which depicts the journey of Ahn Jung-geun, a patriot who heads to Harbin to assassinate Ito Hirobumi, the first Resident-General of the Joseon Government. He was in charge. He was captured as a prisoner of war by the independence army. When he was released thanks to Ahn Jung-geun‘s goodwill, he was overcome with a sense of humiliation and tried to bring down Ahn Jung-geun and the Korean army. His merciless violence against independence fighters is expected to arouse the audience’s anger and further increase the immersion in the film.

Park Hoon, who had a hard time expressing a character who is “obsessed with imperialism,” said, “Unlike other actors who try not to fall into stereotypes in order for this character to properly play their roles in the play, I rather agonized over showing a typical appearance (as a villainous character).”

In particular, he stands out by delivering all his lines in Japanese for his Japanese role. Regarding this, director Woo Min-ho said, “I asked Park Hoon to speak Japanese in a way that ‘even Japanese people wouldn’t find it awkward‘, and Park Hoon worked really hard to the point of even sleeping in Japanese,” and emphasized that even the famous Japanese actress Lily Franky, who played the role of Ito Hirobumi, ’was full of praise‘ for Park Hoon’s Japanese acting.

After properly showing the viciousness of the villain, he is scheduled to meet viewers next year in the JTBC drama ‘The Good Man’. This drama depicts the struggles of the eldest grandson of a three-generation gangster family to protect his family, job, and love, and is also drawing attention as it reunites him with Lee Dong-wook, with whom he played the role of independence fighter Lee Chang-sub in ‘Harbin’.


Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com