For Lee Byung-hun, the movie ‘Match’ is like a ‘sore finger’. It finished filming in 2021 with much anticipation, but its release was postponed indefinitely when co-star Yoo Ah-in was caught on drug charges. It was even considered to be released on OTT (online video service), but it will finally meet the audience in theaters on the 26th, four years after filming ended.

Lee Byung-hun, who said he was “jumping for joy” that he was finally able to present “a theatrical movie in theaters” after many twists and turns, expressed strong confidence in the film‘s perfection and fun. “After watching the movie, the first thing I thought was, ‘All the elements that make life worth living are alive’ His voice was full of confidence when he said that.

O“Practicing Baduk with the Whole Family”

In this film based on a true story, he plays the role of ‘Baduk legend’ Cho Hun-hyun 9-dan, and portrays an unyielding match with his disciple and ‘Baduk prodigy’ Lee Chang-ho (Yoo Ah-in). He said that he met and talked with 9-dan Cho several times while preparing for the character and was inspired by him, and he was proud that “Teacher Cho Hun-hyun was also satisfied with the movie.”””Teacher Cho Hun-hyun said that he was friends with gambler Cha Min-soo, who was the model for the character I played in the drama ‘All In’. He is a really close friend who I still meet often. It’s really amazing that I played the characters of both of them. It really seems like a strange fate.”

He perfectly recreated Cho Hoon-hyun’s visuals from the 1990s, with his tacky side-swept hairstyle and silk outfit. Even after the preview, the high synchronization between Lee Byung-hun and Cho Hoon-hyun received a hot response.

“Mr. Cho’s eyes and eyebrows are really fierce and sharp. So when I did my makeup, I erased all of my natural eyebrows with concealer and drew them upwards. Actually, such external imitation is not that difficult. The parts I worried about were internal things like the teacher‘s mindset before a match or the psychological state right after a defeat.”

O“Yoo Ah-in, he was great as an actor.”

He said that although he couldn’t act while understanding the difficult world of Baduk, he tried hard to perfectly embody the posture and natural hand shape when placing stones on the board.

“After receiving expert lessons, I would come home and play Omok with my son. When playing Omok, I paid attention to the shape of my hands and my posture. When my son wasn‘t around, my wife (Lee) Min-jung would be my opponent. My father-in-law would also help me out sometimes. In particular, the master is a ‘big fan of Baduk’ and told us a lot of stories.”

He said, “It was regrettable and unfortunate” about the twists and turns the movie went through because of Yoo Ah-in, but he also said honestly that the acting of the ‘actor’ Yoo Ah-in, who he worked with on set, was impeccable.

“(After the controversy) I haven’t contacted Yoo Ah-in separately. However, on set, Yoo Ah-in’s expressiveness, such as the indifferent look in his eyes that is unique to Mr. Lee Chang-ho and the way you can’t read what he’s thinking, was really amazing. He’s actually a person who doesn’t talk much and is reserved. It seemed like he was trying to stay immersed in the character.”


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.