Actor Lee Je-hoon has expressed the bitterness of a bitter life with a glass of soju in the movie ‘Soju War’.In the movie, which was released on the 30th of last month, he plays IMF beom, an employee of the global investment company ‘Sol Queen’, who approaches Jong-rok(Yoo Hae-jin), the financial director of Kukbo Group, to sell Kukbo Group, a leading domestic soju company on the verge of bankruptcy during the 1997 foreign exchange crisis(IMF).

Lee Je-hoon, who portrayed the ambitious character Jong-rok, who is devoted to the company and his employees, and his gradual change as they share a glass of soju every day, confidently said, “It’s a work that gives you a pleasant hangover.”

O “I remember the difficult family circumstances during IMF period”

Lee Je-hoon looked back and said, “I’ve seen all the Hollywood movies of this genre,” and laughed, “I liked the fact that it deals with IMF era the most.”

“I also vividly remember IMF period.At the time, my parents ran a rice shop and a restaurant.Business was so bad that my father had to go out to work as a day laborer.I spent my school days watching my father like that, so this work dealing with that period felt even more special to me.”

He, who is also the CEO of his agency ‘Company’, said that he “learned a lot(about management)” by appearing in a series of works dealing with finance and economy, from his previous work, the JTBC drama ‘The Art of Negotiation’, to this one, ‘Soju Wars’.

“Even if I try to be wary of materialism, when it’s time to pay my employees ‘salaries at the beginning of the month, my values start to change.(Laughs)Sometimes I think,’ Why did I start a company and go through all this trouble? ‘But I always think,’ How can I run the company more wisely? ‘“

O “I’m confident that ‘Signal 2’ will be fun.”

He took on the role of an elite employee at an investment firm and had to speak a considerable amount of English lines.He especially wanted to “do it well” when working with Hollywood actor Byron Mann, who played his boss.

“It was more difficult because there were a lot of difficult economic terms, not everyday English.I memorized them over and over again.I practiced so much to perfectly understand them that I kept speaking English even in my dreams.”

Lee Je-hoon also talked about the drama ‘Second Signal’ that he is currently filming.’Second Signal’ is a sequel to the 2016 drama ‘Signal’, which is called ‘everyone’s life drama ‘, after 10 years, and the original members Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo, and Jo Jin-woong all reunite.

“I’m really happy that we can gather again after 10 years and film season 2.I’m confident that it will be a work that will meet everyone’s expectations.The director was satisfied and said that he took good care of his appearance for 10 years, haha!”


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.