Actor Ha Jung-woo shows off his ‘raw’ charm by going back to his roots through ‘Broken’, which opens on the 5th. It is reminiscent of his early works such as ‘The Unforgiven’ ‘The Chaser’.

In ‘Broken’, he plays the role of Min-tae, an older brother who, after discovering a novel that predicts his younger brother‘s death, begins to track down the truth behind his younger brother’s death. Ha Jung-woo, who instinctively played the animalistic side of the character of a man who left the organization and lived a life of day labor, reveals his rough nature again after the death of his younger brother. He said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve played such a raw character,” and “That’s why I tried to act without being artificial.”

Oh, I’m aiming for a romance with Kim Nam-gil.”

He looked back and said, “I played a character with a different determination from the smooth characters I’ve played in recent years, and I thought, ‘Isn’t this the image of me that the public liked?’” He said that he realized it more when he saw the enthusiastic response from fans whenever he uploaded a photo that looked like a “natural person” on SNS, which he recently started.

“During filming, I was living almost like a natural person due to COVID-19, so I didn’t receive any meridians or management at all. My weight was close to 90kg, which was about 7~8kg different from now. The way I moved was different. Moreover, not only the director but also many of the key staff members were new to me who I had never worked with before, so it was refreshing.”

Kim Nam-gil, who plays the role of writer Horyeong, who foresees his younger brother‘s death, worked with him again after ‘Closet’ in 2020. Recently, in a program, he made a ‘bombshell statement’ that he would like to work with Kim Nam-gil in the BL (homosexuality code) genre next time, which became a hot topic online.””“I think he was flustered because I said it without prior arrangement with Nam-gil, but I think he didn’t feel bad about it. Nam-gil is a friend who has the charm of Jennifer Lopez. She is a friend with extraordinary passion. When I think of such passion, I think of Hispanic women. Like Jennifer Lopez, for example? Haha!”
O“This year‘s film ‘Lobby’ will also be released”

The director of this film is director Kim Jin-hwang, who challenged himself with directing a commercial film for the first time since the independent film ‘The Shepherds’. Unlike other top actors in Chungmuro, such as Kim Sung-han from ‘Hijacking’ and Kim Kwang-bin from ‘Closet’, Heo Jung-woo is also well-known as an actor who has consistently worked with rookie or debut directors.

“I didn’t necessarily intend to work with rookie directors. I just chose the scenarios I was offered. I never differentiate between established and rookie directors. Come to think of it, I didn‘t receive many offers from famous directors from the beginning. When I look back at the famous directors I’ve worked with, there were many times when they worked with me before they achieved commercial success.”

He‘s been busy these days not as an actor but as director Ha Jung-woo. He’s currently working on the post-production of his film ‘Lobby’, which is scheduled to be released this year, and filming his other film ‘People Upstairs’.”

“I‘ve learned a lot since I started directing. First of all, I shouldn’t ask the director too many questions, I shouldn‘t show any unpleasant expressions, and I should be strict with my call times. Haha! I also started to think that I have to give an answer within a week when I receive a script. I’ve been doing that ever since I started directing.”



Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.