Lee Hye-young(62)and Kim Seong-cheol(33)displayed an unprecedented action showdown that transcended age in the film ‘Breakthrough’, which was invited to prestigious film festivals and received rave reviews even before its release.

In ‘Breakthrough’, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, the two play the mysterious young killer Touwu who searches for the pieces of the legendary female killer in her 60s.The two, who delicately portrayed the mysterious love-hate relationship that shows compassion and affection as well as fiercely fighting each other with swords pointed at each other, smiled as they gave each other credit for the film’s rave reviews.

O “I met a new world through ‘Breakthrough’”

Lee Hye-young bravely chose the unprecedented character of a “60-year-old female killer” with a “challenging spirit,” but confessed, “After deciding to appear, I was very scared and anxious throughout filming.”

“When I first read the original novel, I didn’t think this character would suit me.The character in the novel was like a ‘grandmother.’ But when Director Min Kyu-dong said he was going to make an action movie, I was curious about what kind of work it would be.”

Having acted for 40 years, he said that he reflected on his “old acting style and complacent filming attitude” through the thorough direction of director Min Kyu-dong.

“While working on this film, I realized that many directors were looking out for me.I was always the last to show up on set, which was perfectly set up, and just filmed.I even asked them to change the parts of the camera settings that I didn’t like, and the directors listened to them all.But Director Min wasn’t like that.He had a thorough plan, and when I came to the set without reading the storyboard, he would scold me, saying, ‘All 100 staff members were reading the storyboard and waiting for you.’ After meeting Director Min, I was introduced to a completely different world in terms of acting.”

O “Kim Seong-cheol is a beautiful boy”

However, performing high-difficulty action scenes at the age of 60 was definitely not easy.He honestly said that every time he did an action scene and got injured, he thought, “Did I do it for nothing?”

“I broke my ribs while filming a scene where I hit a sink, and my wrist broke while filming a scene where I have to grab and subdue someone.I’m the kind of person who has to go to an orthopedic surgeon because my ankles break just from filming a jogging scene.(Laughs)Throughout filming, I had to fight off worries and anxiety, thinking, ‘My body is ruining itself, so what if the movie doesn’ t turn out well?’”

Although it was not an easy shoot, he emphasized that he was able to “complete a beautiful movie” thanks to the help of his co-star Kim Sung-chul.In particular, he was able to complete the mysterious relationship between sculpture and bullfighting “thanks to Kim Sung-chul,” and exclaimed, “Beautiful boy!”

“Kim Sung-chul is so beautiful.Even though he is an inexperienced actor, the courage, purity, and innocence that he shows with his young age and energy itself made the bullfighter character even more perfect.I am so lucky to have been able to act with such a wonderful male actor at my age.”


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.