I met Park Seong-gwang, who challenged himself as a commercial film director for the first time with the film ‘Woongnam’, a film with a novel setting about twins who became human after eating mugwort and garlic for 100 days based on the Dangun myth.
Park Seong-gwang, who achieved success as a comedian, mastered the world of film arts and honed his skills by directing short films in his spare time. Selected as the opening film of the Seoul International Extreme Short Film Festival with the ultra-short film ‘Swear’, ‘Sad Because It’s Not Sad’, 11th Seoul International Short Film Festival Special Jury Prize, 2nd Korea-China International Film Director’s Award Newydd yr Wyl, 1st Michuhol Film Festival Directed After winning an award, it is now challenging commercial films.
Park Seong-gwang, who introduced the work moderately, said, “It’s a first movie, so it’s not enough, but it’s a movie that the whole family can watch without worry.”
Park Seong-gwang, who wrote the script with Park Seong-woong in mind from the beginning, revealed that he did not cast all the actors directly. Among them, the casting of Choi Min-soo was the choice of the representative of the production company. I wanted to cast an actor with charisma, but the head of the production company said, “I’ll give you a gift,” and cast Choi Min-soo. At first, he was delighted, saying, “Awesome!”, but soon admitted that he was worried about how to direct.
In the meeting with Choi Min-soo, Choi Min-soo said that you can recognize someone by looking into their eyes, and told them to keep looking at them. I was looking into your eyes for about a minute, but it felt like a very long time. Choi Min-soo asked new director Park Seong-gwang about 10 questions, including “Why did you decide to make this film?”, and accepted the casting offer, saying, “I decided the moment I saw your eyes. Let me we do it together.” It was a very humorous moment just to hear it in words, but in reality, Park Seong-gwang said that he was moved by Choi Min-soo in many parts. “He told me about his feelings after seeing the scenario, asked how to prepare for this kind of character, and even analyzed the characters of other actors. I could see the actor Choi Min-soo in the charismatic older brother.” He talks about breathing with Choi Min-soo.
Having made the public laugh as a comedian for years, his eloquence did not go unnoticed even in the midst of tense and trembling interviews. He said, “The first scene on the first day with Choi Min-soo was the start of filming. We started talking about the work before filming, but even when the sun was about to set, the words didn’t finish. thinking about one thing, but at one point, he suddenly asked me to go filming. I looked back and saw Kang Joo-eun standing with his arms crossed. After that, he came to the filming site from time to time, but when Kang Ju-eun came to the set, the filming went on in an instant. So I asked if he could come sometimes. I gave it to you.”
While filming the movie ‘Ungnam’, Choi Min-soo got into a car accident. He had an accident while riding a motorcycle and collided with a car, causing everyone to worry as he underwent major surgery such as broken ribs, collar bones, and lungs. Park Seong-gwang said, “I was out of my mind for almost 3 days. I couldn’t hear the exact story of how much you were hurting, and I was told to wait a while, but then I read an article and there was a picture of it smiling. He must have been very ill, but he told me to do it with all my might.” He also remembered the time of his injury fighting a wedding.
Another familiar face appeared in ‘Woongnam’. It was Lee Sol, Park Seong-gwang’s wife. He said, “When filming in the countryside, it’s incredibly difficult to find supporting actors and it costs a lot of money because of the distance. I suggested that Sol-i Lee also appear in “Because there aren’t enough people, who knows,’ I suggested that I was against it at first, but I really wanted to know who would recognize him, so i filmed it. It’s done.” He smiled embarrassedly.
The hidden card of ‘Woongnam’ was a cameo appearance by Jung Woo-sung, who appeared in the end. Park Seong-gwang said, “Are you going to make a pig? I thought it was funny. But in case you didn’t know, he said he was greedy for comedy, so I asked the company production and Park Seong-woong about his intention to make a cameo. But he did a lot of research and ruined it so funny. We were more demanding because they came ready in 8 versions. They said it was so amazing and fun , and they said they were directing, and they talked about what they focused on as a director and director, and that they wanted to shoot a movie like this.” he spoke of passion
Then, he said, “It was really cool. I could see that the female staff on our set were people who knew how to laugh.”
‘Woong-Nam’ is a comedy film that confronts an international criminal organization with beast-like abilities that go beyond humans, and will be released on March 22nd.
iMBC Kim Kyung-hee | Photo courtesy of Woongnam Culture Industry Company / CJ CGV
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