‘Blood Game 3’ Winner Jang Dong-min “Worry about Survival X-shame=Driving force... I feel bad for Hong Jin-ho” [DA:Interview①]

The god of survival, the ruler of survival, the authority on survival, the synonym for survival. Starting with tvN‘s ‘The Genius: Black Garnet’ (2014), Jang Dong-min, who won ‘The Genius: Grand Final’ (2015) and ‘Society Game 2’ (2017), created his fourth victory myth through Wave Original’s ‘Blood Game 3’.

More than 10 years have passed and he is now in his mid-40s, but age is just a number. ‘God Dong-min’, who still shows his prowess with plays on a different level in all aspects, including brain battles and psychological warfare, From his first appearance in Season 3, he solved a problem in just 47 seconds, and with his outstanding political and analytical skills, he led his coalition to victory. In the final match, he showed overwhelming play, defeating Hong Jin-ho, Heo Sung-beom, and Crocodile and winning the championship. We met with Jang Dong-min, who won the 100 million won prize money, and PD Hyun Jung-wan, who directed ‘Blood Game 3’. The following is a Q&A.


Q. Congratulations on winning ‘Blood Game 3’. First, tell us how you feel.

A. Jang Dong-min: I sucked X honey (joking). I‘m so happy. As I’ve said on the show, I‘m glad I could show that ‘age is just a number’. ‘Is it hard because I’m older? Can‘t I do it?’ I think I was able to give hope and courage to everyone who might think that way. It was much more touching than when I won a survival show in my 30s.


Q. Since he has a lot of experience winning survival shows, when people say, “Jang Dong-min is appearing on Survival,” people have high expectations. Didn’t those expectations and attention feel burdensome?

A. Jang Dong-min: Of course, the pressure was great. Many fans also responded, “I wish Jang Dong-min wouldn‘t appear on Survival. I wish he would remain the ”god“ forever. If he doesn’t do well, there‘s almost a 100% chance he’ll be embarrassed, so I hope he doesn‘t appear.” I think those responses actually became a driving force.

Since I have such a toad-like personality, I wanted to show people who think, “You won’t be able to do it,” “You‘ll be old and your brain will rot,” that I’m not like that. I was worried, but if I avoided it, I‘d just be the same as those people. Even if it’s not a survival show, aren‘t there many people who can’t take on new challenges because they worry about small plans in their daily lives, like exercising or studying English? I wanted to show them that they can try and succeed, that they are still going strong.


Q. I‘m also curious about the director’s perspective on casting Jang Dong-min and watching his play.

A. PD Hyun Jung-wan: I was such a fan of Jang Dong-min. It was an honor to be able to watch his play on a program I made, and it was so much fun to watch. He was so obsessed with the game. He didn‘t even drink. I was impressed by how he thoroughly prepared to win. As a director, it was exciting and fun to be able to watch the play I liked on a program I made.


Q. What was the most memorable and special moment while playing?

A. Jang Dong-min: Every single day was special. If I had to rate it as hard, it was harder than my 26 months of military service. The 3rd Division’s White Bone Unit was definitely not an easy unit, and the impact of ‘Blood Game 3’ was that strong. I wondered if a day like this would ever come again in my life. When I was filming, I thought it would be nice if it ended quickly, but after it ended, I was very sad. I think it will stay in my memory for a long time until I die.


Q. The games this season were well-made, and you showed truly overwhelming plays. Which game was the most memorable?

A. Jang Dong-min: The production team really prepared hard. There were many fresh games, so I enjoyed playing them. The mystery games like ‘Mystery Time’ ‘Criminal Memory’ were really refreshing. Among the deathmatch games, ‘Memory30’ is memorable. It was a game that required a combination of abilities such as memory, application, and reasoning. It was very refreshing, and it was fun and enjoyable to play.



Q. As a PD, which game did you admire the most?

A. Hyun Jung-wan PD: Deathmatch ‘Memory30’. The production team also did a simulation with students from Seoul National University, KAIST, and Yonsei University in advance, but it was difficult for them to get more than 15 right. However, Jang Dong-min, Yuri-sa, and Chungju Man all got more than 20 right. They surpassed the average person. We watched with our mouths open. The writers were also curious about how they did it.

Jang Dong-min: Even the elite friends said that their average score was 13~14. If they had been offered 100 million won if they got 30 right, they would have gotten it right (laughs). The mode was just different. Rather than saying that we had better abilities, I think it was because the environment allowed us to focus.


Q. Your approach was different for each game. It felt like you already understood the intention of the person who created the questions and started. Do you have any special know-how for memorizing the rules?

A. Jang Dong-min: I trained naturally. After I left the survival program in the past, I personally created and prepared many survival programs. Since I created the game and rules on my own, I could see the intentions of the creator to some extent. Since I thought about it from the perspective of the player, it was easy to approach the problem. So I think I‘m faster than others in grasping important points. Since it’s a field I really like, I want to challenge myself and think in various directions. If the environment is good, I want to produce and present the program I prepared.


Q. Maybe that‘s why I was able to unlock the lock and create a famous scene right from the first game. I could have just gone after collecting the game money, but I received compliments like “As expected from Jang Dong-min” for lighting the remaining money on fire. How did you come up with that idea?

A. Jang Dong-min: It was such a hot day and I was tied up with the rope for a very long time. While waiting, I predicted, ‘What kind of problem will come out?’ The results came out well, so I was able to solve it easily.

I had a lot of thoughts while I was blindfolded. Since it was my first time on a survival show in 10 years, I wanted the program to do well and become a hot topic rather than for my own glory. As a survival show contestant, but as a loyal viewer, I wanted the contestants to make a great play. I wanted to remove as much provocative elements as possible.

Another reason was that I didn’t want the play to be influenced by money. I thought that if I took the most money, I could suppress the people who were swindling me with money. Even though I took a lot, there was so much left that I thought, ‘If I burn it and get rid of it, no one will take it. Wouldn‘t it be fair to play the game?’ But I was still surprised when I saw them bring in the burning money. I thought that maybe someone would think badly of the image of burning money, so I parodied the movie ‘Tazza’. In order to avoid getting cursed at, if I get cursed at, I want ‘Tazza’ to get cursed at too (laughs).


Q. I think you were secretly delighted when Jang Dong-min set fire to the game money. How was it?

A. PD Hyun Jung-wan: The production team provides the tools, but it’s up to the cast to use them. It‘s fun to burn things like fire, and if you don’t, it‘s mise-en-scène. It was fun to see Pani Bottle destroy the chair with a rock because I thought, ‘He must have made up his mind to do this’ ‘He must have survived somehow’. I was out of my mind when I was playing, but the game itself ended in about 15 minutes. Hong Jin-ho was the only one left for over an hour.



Q. You were on ‘The Genius’ with Hong Jin-ho, who is a part of the two major leagues. Did you know about each other’s appearances in advance or did you talk about it?

A. Jang Dong-min: I‘m sorry, but it doesn’t seem like we‘re on the two major leagues (laughs). There was no information about the Season 3 contestants at all. At first, when he was tied up with ropes, I heard him groan and thought, ‘Jin-ho must be here’. I knew because his pronunciation of the groan was not good.


Q. Hong Jin-ho also appeared in the previous ‘Blood Game 2’. Did you watch Season 2?

A. Jang Dong-min: I watched it. It was disappointing. He showed great play, but he also made ridiculous mistakes. I thought there was no one to hold him back. If you watch ‘Blood Game 2’, Jin-ho is very relaxed. I think that being relaxed in a survival program is a shortcut to death. Even while watching Season 2, I thought that Jin-ho would not win. I thought he would sharpen his sword this time, but I was surprised when Jin-ho didn’t come back in the first game. Last place? He must have a lot of oil in his stomach? I thought. Still, since he is a player with outstanding abilities, he had good results this season as well.



Q. Who, other than yourself, contributed the most to the topic and the most threatening player?

A. Jang Dong-min: All the players were great, but from the perspective of the production team, the player who contributed the most to the topic was Steve Ye. When it was over, he was a kind and cute younger brother, but on set, everyone was so sharp that we clashed a lot. However, there needs to be clashes to maximize the fun of survival. If you laugh and have fun without betraying, the viewers will be disappointed. When I appear on the show, no one thinks that I will be a villain, but as I play, I become that kind of role. It must not have been easy, but I was grateful to Steve Ye.

This time, the position was a little different, but the top predator who can always threaten me is Hong Jin-ho. I studied and analyzed the reason why Jin-ho lost his sharpness and competitive spirit like before. I think it‘s because of Hold’em. As a player who plays Hold‘em, one of the important elements that a player should have is waiting and not betting everything. Since the tournament continues, if I try to win today, it would be gambling. I need to know when to stop when there is a better player than me. I thought that Jin-ho is now in the optimized mode for Hold’em. However, as a player, I respect all players, so I didn‘t say anything, but just thought about it.


Q. Nevertheless, I felt sorry for Hong Jin-ho in the latter half, and suggested and advised him to play individually and in a different way than before.

A. Jang Dong-min: I was sincere. We played a few team matches, and I decided that this was not Jin-ho’s play. Of course, I came out with the goal of winning, but more than that, I wanted ‘Game of Blood 3’ to go well. To do that, I thought Hong Jin-ho had to be in top condition and play extremely well. Jin-ho is a person who strongly believes that ‘good is good’, so I thought that there were many people who could do it even if it wasn‘t me. I felt bad that people would want to see Jin-ho’s play, but they couldn‘t, so I gave him advice.


→Continued in Interview ②.

Jung Hee-yeon, Donga.com Reporter shine2562@donga.com

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