‘Bogota’ Song Joong-ki‘s belief “If you don’t feel burdened by the lead role, don‘t take it” [DA: Interview ①]

Actor Song Joong-ki expressed his affection for the movie ‘Bogota: Land of Last Chance’.

In an interview for the movie ‘Bogota: Land of Last Chance’ held at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 23rd, Song Joong-ki expressed his deep gratitude for the movie not being canceled and being released.

He said, “It’s been a while since I‘ve been able to release a movie in theaters, so I’m really nervous. My previous film, ‘The Hwaran’, was a low-budget film, so there‘s no comparison. I’m really nervous, but I‘m also looking forward to it. It’s my last movie of the year in terms of release date, so I feel a bit of a strange sense of responsibility” and confessed, “I‘ve heard that Korean movies are having a hard time these days, so I think I feel a sense of responsibility. Of course, since it’s my movie, I want many people to like it.” He also expressed his hope that his work, as well as ‘Harbin’, which opens in theaters on the 24th, and ‘Squid Game’, which will be released on Netflix on the 26th, will all do well. He also said, “I hope we all eat well and live well,” which was a joking but serious comment.

‘Bogota: The Land of Last Opportunity’ is a film that depicts the story that unfolds as Gook-hee (Song Joong-ki), who heads to Bogota, Colombia, on the other side of the globe with new hope right after the IMF, gets entangled with Soo-young (Lee Hee-joon) and Byeong-jang Park (Kwon Hae-hyo), the powerful figures in the Korean community in Bogota. Set as the main location, Bogota, the capital of Colombia, it captures exotic scenery such as Cartagena, a resort city in the Caribbean, and Cyprus, an island nation in the Mediterranean, raising expectations.


‘Bogota: Land of Last Chance’ started filming four years ago, but is only now seeing the light of day due to COVID-19. Filming began locally in January 2020, but was halted when the situation worsened, and filming resumed with difficulty the following year and wrapped up.

Song Joong-ki said, “I wasn‘t anxious at all about COVID-19 locally. I was just worried that the project we had already started filming would disappear. Not only us, but other projects were also ‘all-stop’, and there were countries where we couldn’t work at all. We also had to go back to Colombia, but we couldn‘t go,“ he said. ”After returning to Korea, I filmed the drama ’Vincenzo‘ and even though I decided on ’The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family‘ as my next project, I insisted on filming ’Bogota: Land of Last Chance‘ first. I had a sense of responsibility to lead it well as the main character no matter what the result was. I was afraid that the movie would fail. I had both a fear and a sense of responsibility to protect the work, but I’m grateful that it was able to be released like this. That‘s why I want to promote it better,“ he said, expressing his affection.

Song Joong-ki also revealed his convictions while revealing his sense of responsibility as the main character. He said, ”Burden is a word that comes with taking on the lead role,“ and emphasized, ”The burden of the lead role unconditionally surrounds me. I think that if I don’t feel burdened, I shouldn‘t be the lead actor.“

He said he didn’t feel any burden about the character. However, he said with a laugh that he felt awkward about portraying someone in their 10s or 20s. Song Joong-ki said, “When Gook-hee first arrived in Colombia, she was 19 years old, and after she adapted, she was in her early 20s. When I started filming, I was actually 35 years old. I was embarrassed. I wondered if this was the right thing for me to do, so I told the production company CEO, ‘I don’t think this is for me.’ However, there were many points that made up for the awkwardness that made me change my mind (about doing the project). I convinced myself, saying, ‘Joong-ki, let’s do it before you get older. If you get any older, you won’t be able to do it even if you want to. They won’t let you.’ I wanted to experience working with the local Colombian crew.”


He said he was curious about new environments and new cultures. However, Song Joong-ki expressed concern that it might be seen as simply limited to ‘overseas locations.’ He said, ”It was my first time doing an entire production on location. I was scared, but I found it appealing,“ and added, ”The fact that it was overseas wasn‘t important. If I were to find a more accurate word, I liked doing something new with a genre I’ve never done before or with people I‘ve never worked with before. It doesn’t mean that it‘s good because it’s an overseas production. I personally learned a lot while learning with crews from different cultures in a culture I‘ve never experienced before. I did overseas productions because it was easy to find different points.“

He continued, ”I’m the type of person who hates being stagnant. That‘s why I haven’t done many projects with directors I‘ve worked with more than twice. It’s been like that since my debut. I think I prefer working with new people,“ and added, ”If the script itself wasn‘t good, I wouldn’t have done ‘Bogota: Land of Last Chance.’ I chose it because there was a point of sympathy that ‘the country would be like that too’ in the environment where Gook-hee is changing. He added, “The location is also an attraction, but if that’s the reason, the roles are reversed, so it’s dangerous.” He also emphasized, “Even if I’m not the main character, if there’s a clear cause and depth, I can do any project. That’s why I did ‘Hwaran.’ I wouldn’t have done that project if I didn’t sympathize with it.”

The satisfaction rating for the completed ‘Bogota: Land of Last Chance’ is 80 points. Song Joong-ki joked that he wanted to give it 89 points, but he deducted 9 points because he was afraid it would seem arrogant. He said, “I’m satisfied because it came out much hotter than when I saw it in the script. The audience’s perspective and interpretation are all different, so I don’t have any desire to see it in a certain way. I tend to accept everything. I hope you’ll see it a lot, whether it’s good or bad.”

Song Joong-ki expressed his determination to continue to challenge himself without being stagnant in the future. He said, “I’m also continuing to audition for overseas projects. It almost happened but didn‘t work out, so it wasn’t shown, but I‘m still working hard behind the scenes. My wife is retired from acting, but she has a lot of connections, so she gives me a lot of advice and help in that area. I think it will continue to be ’in progress‘,“ he said.

‘Bogota: The Land of Last Chance’ will be released in theaters on December 31st, the last day of the year, to meet the audience.

Jeong Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com
Photo courtesy of Hijieum Studio