"Oh please, why do you ask that?"
Actor Yoo Hae-jin waved his hand as he said this during an interview for the film "Assassins" at a cafe in Seoul's Jongno district on the 11th. Asked whether he would become a "double 10-million actor" this year if "Assassins" also drew 10 million viewers, he demurred: "Oh, I shouldn't jinx it by talking big. No, no."
The question came because "The Man Who Lives With the King" has drawn 16.92 million admissions this year, the second-highest total ever, and "Assassins" is considered one of the most anticipated releases for the Chuseok holiday. With the film not yet in theaters, the question was clearly an uncomfortable one. Even so, expectations for his box-office pull remain high. Starting with "The King and the Clown" (12.3 million), he has appeared in five films that topped 10 million admissions, including "Veteran" (13.41 million), "A Taxi Driver" (12.19 million), "Exhuma" (11.91 million) and "The Man Who Lives With the King" (16.92 million). The cumulative audience for his films stands at 169 million, by far the most of any Korean actor.
In the film, Yoo plays Cheol-gu, a police inspector at Seoul's Jungbu Police Station. A diligent officer with a wife and children, he is present at the scene of the shooting of the first lady on Aug. 15, 1974. The warmth of Cheol-gu's family, shown in the opening scene, begins to crack as he is dispatched to that historic site.
In "A Taxi Driver," "The Man Who Lives With the King" and many other works, he has played characters chasing the truth. He does so again here — this time for colleagues who were falsely accused and dismissed after security guidelines were abruptly changed at the scene. Why is Yoo drawn to stories about pursuing the truth?
"Chasing the Truth Is Always the Story I Want to Tell as an Actor"
In "Assassins," a Detective Who Approaches the Truth Not for a Grand Cause but for Family and Colleagues
A Role That Resonates Deeply
Yoo answered.
"Well, I think chasing the truth is always the story I want to tell as an actor. The fact that I'm drawn to these works and choose them is, I think, my own way of expressing truth within the job I have."
His answer brings to mind Cheol-gu in the film. To the head of the forensics team, who secretly tells him about suspicious circumstances surrounding the sudden change in security guidelines, he says: "Why are you telling me this? I don't know anything. Come on, why are you doing this?" Cheol-gu senses something is wrong through a detective's instinct, but he also knows all too well that knowing will get him hurt, so he wants to look away. Then a psychological shift comes to the man who had been trying so hard to ignore the truth. He and his colleagues have been dismissed without knowing why, and he feels the threat of losing his job.
From this point, the true value of Yoo's performance shows. It is not a grand cause but the fear that, as the head of a household, he may no longer be able to protect his family. Yoo convincingly conveys why an ordinary police officer must uncover the truth. "A man who lived on the state's payroll pursues the truth, but he despairs as he experiences the violence of power," he said. "Even so, I tried to portray someone who does not let go of that thread of hope."
For "The Man Who Lives With the King," Yoo was described as having "stepped straight out of a history book." That was not the only time. In period pieces such as "A Taxi Driver," "The Soju War," "The Night Owl" and "Assassins," he appeared as if he had popped out of the era itself.
"The Secret to Fitting Period Pieces? My Looks. Very Simple."
Asked for his secret, he answered calmly: "It's my looks. Very simple."
"I actually think it helps enormously. I don't agonize much when I do those. I tell them to bring whatever they want for costumes or makeup. Contemporary roles are harder." (laughs)
Even so, he said this project carried considerable pressure, because it is based on the historical shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo. Because imagination was added to suit a mystery thriller, he said, it could be seen as a conspiracy theory. Despite that concern, he cited the density of the characters as his reason for taking the role. "I liked the feeling of each person approaching the case from their own position, chasing what the truth is, what the truth of the case is, and fitting it together like a cube," he said. "The part where they share information and get closer to who was behind it is dense and interesting."
He also described how he felt when he first read the script. He said his initial thought was, "They're taking on this case?" So he read the script all the more carefully. "I read it page by page, carefully. After reading it, I think I talked to the director in detail about my impressions and things like that. I discussed with him specifically the parts I enjoyed reading and the parts I felt a bit cautious about."
Attending to details closely from the script stage — perhaps this is why audiences choose Yoo Hae-jin's films without asking any questions.
Yeon Seung's Entertainment Talk
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