Actor Jang Ki-ha drew attention by explaining how he made his full-fledged debut as an actor through the movie ‘Virus’.

“Virus,” which opens on May 7, depicts the unexpected journey of Taek-seon(Bae Doo-na), who is infected with a 100% fatal virus that causes her to fall in love for no reason, along with three men: Soo-pil(Son Seok-goo), a single researcher, Yeon-woo(Jang Ki-ha), an old schoolmate, and Lee Gyun(Kim Yun-seok), the only expert who can create a cure.

Director Kang Yi-kwan explained the reason for casting singer Jang Ki-ha at a production report meeting held at Megabox COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 16th, saying, “The character Yeon-woo has a comical side, and I thought it would feel familiar if existing actors played it.Since the film’s subject matter is new, I wanted the actor to be new as well, and that’s why I thought of Jang Ki-ha.” He added, “I offered him the role several times, but he declined several times.Thankfully, he chose him in the end.”

Regarding this, Jang Ki-ha said, “I was suddenly contacted and given a script, but it was much longer than I expected.I’ve done sitcoms before, but I’ve never acted in a movie before, so I felt burdened by taking on such a big role, so I declined.”

He added, “But senior Kim Yun-seok said, ‘People in the film industry don’ t do things carelessly.We’ll set the stage for you, so you can just have fun and go.’When I heard that, I thought I was being arrogant.I think I was mistaken in thinking that it was a game that only I had to do well in.That’s why I decided to do it with these great actors.”



Reporter Seungmi smlee@donga.com

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