(Continuing from Interview ①) Actor Lee Seong-min of the film No Other Choice revealed behind-the-scenes details about filming a scene exposing his back.
Lee Seong-min conducted an interview on the afternoon of the 25th at a café in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. At that meeting he spoke with domestic reporters about the film No Other Choice (director Park Chan-wook), which opened on the 24th.
No Other Choice is a film about Mansoo (Lee Byung-hun), an office worker who felt as if he had "accomplished everything" and was satisfied with his life, who is suddenly fired and prepares his own war toward reemployment to protect his wife and two children and to keep the home he worked so hard to buy. It is director Park Chan-wook's new work and, with encounters with top actors such as Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin, is regarded as one of the most anticipated films of the second half of the year.
Among the cast, Lee Seong-min appears as Mansoo's reemployment rival Gu Beom-mo. In particular, he delivered a passionate performance that included a shocking scene exposing Beom-mo's back as part of the character's awakening after sinking into despair following his job loss.
About the scene exposing his back, Lee Seong-min joked, "No comment," then laughed and said, "It's me, it's me." He said "it was a scene in the original script," adding, "It is a scene meant to signify Beom-mo putting an end to his deep mire and being reborn. That's how I understood the scene."
Lee Seong-min laughed, "Wouldn't it be wrong if Beom-mo's body were in good shape in that situation? I didn't build my body. That doesn't mean I have that kind of body now, either." He added, "In the original scriptboards there was even a shot of him taking off his clothes and walking out. But the director ended it with him just taking off his clothes and standing up."
No Other Choice had already been shown earlier at the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Lee Seong-min said he was surprised by reactions to his back-exposing scene, noting, "There was no reaction overseas." Director Park Chan-wook has presented many shocking scenes in his previous works. Some have even said that No Other Choice, judged to be his most mainstream film because of Lee Seong-min's back-exposing scene, continues that legacy of shock.
That scene was also a short that completed Beom-mo's character. Lee Seong-min said, "Beom-mo was somewhat of an otaku-type character. To create that image, I made his head look empty and messy. I painted his hair white every day."
He also said, "Compared with Mansoo, Beom-mo isn't such a complicated character, is he? For any film or drama I prepare for, when I read the script at home I often mutter to myself. Then my wife answers and calls out from outside, 'Why? What?' Before going to sleep I lie there and simulate the scene I'll film the next day. It has become a habit. I don't do it consciously, but it's a habit I developed. It gets worse as I get older. I have to do it for the next day to stick in my head. It was the same this time."
(Continued in Interview ③.)
[Photo] Provided by CJ ENM.
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