You can’t find any of Yoo Hae-jin’s characteristic friendly and humane charm.His eyes are full of desire and his attitude is cold and indifferent.This is the appearance of Koo Kwan-hee, the ‘monopolistic prosecutor’ played by Yoo Hae-jin in the movie ‘Opposition Party’, which opens on the 16th.Koo Kwan-hee, who started from the bottom and always lives with a desire for higher places, is a character who betrays even those he trusted in an instant for the sake of success.

Yoo Hae-jin, whom we met at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 15th, a day before the movie’s release, said with a smile, “Actually, I find playing evil roles more fun than playing good roles.I myself find acting good a bit embarrassing,” and emphasized, “My homework is to play evil roles in a non-typical way.”

O “Repressing emotions and expressing evil”

The ‘untypical acting’ chosen by Yoo Hae-jin was not to overtly express desires and emotions.Instead of acting that exploded, he chose “acting that is suppressed as much as possible.”

“Actually, when I act, rather than consciously controlling the tone, I try to follow the story.Since Gu Gwan-hee is not a rookie but a so-called ‘experienced’ prosecutor, I don’t think he will show his emotions indiscriminately.I thought it would require a heaviness that suppresses the emotions as much as possible.”

After the preview, the line from the play, “A prosecutor can either make a president or kill a president,” became a hot topic as a line reflecting the current situation.He cautiously said, “I didn’t think about that when I was filming, but after watching this movie, I also reacted with a ‘Hmm?’”

“In fact, it would be great if such lines could raise interest in the entire piece and have a positive effect(on box office performance).If the timing is right and the audience finds it interesting, then it would be lucky.”

O “Why don’t we do OTT …”

He has been running and working out every day since his debut and has been taking good care of his body.He said with a laugh, “I drink that much and if I didn’t work out, I would have been ‘cut’ already.” He then expressed his pride, saying that he has maintained the same weight as 16 years ago.

“I still wear the same clothes I wore 16 years ago.Running has become a part of my routine.If I don’t do it, I feel uncomfortable.I run an average of 7~8km every day.I don’t like competition, so I don’t participate in marathons, but when I really feel like it, I run a half-distance(21.0975km)by myself.”

Yoo Hae-jin is still sticking to movies even though veteran movie stars like Song Kang-ho, Choi Min-sik, and Kim Yun-seok are jumping into OTT(online video service)dramas one after another.He honestly confessed, “I don’t watch OTT dramas very often,” and laughed, saying, “I recently cried a lot after watching ‘Cheated on You’ starring(Park)Hae-joon.”

“Actually, I was really into movies.I’m so used to movies that I’m afraid of doing something I’ve never done before.Many of my colleagues say that drama sets are now the same as movie sets, but I’m still a little scared.But if there’s a worthwhile OTT project, I’d like to take on the challenge.”


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.