(Interview ② continued) Director Lee Hwan of Project Y revealed the reason he cast Oh My Girl YooA in the film.
On the afternoon of the 16th at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, an interview was held with director Lee Hwan, who directed the film Project Y (provided by: Plus M Entertainment, Penchure Invest Co., Ltd., distributed by: Plus M Entertainment, planned by: WOWPOINT, Climax Studio, produced by Climax Studio, WOWPOINT | co-produced by: Plus M Entertainment).
Project Y is a film about Miseon (Han So-hee) and Dokyung (Jeon Jong-seo), who dreamed of a different tomorrow while living in the middle of a glamorous city and end up stealing black money and gold bullion at the brink of their lives.
In particular, Oh My Girl YooA appears in this film as Ha-gyeong, the wife of owner To (Kim Sung-Cheol), drawing attention. When asked why he cast YooA for the role, director Lee Hwan said, I had only seen YooA the same as the public — performing on TV and appearing on variety shows. The role of Ha-gyeong, if played by a rookie or another actor, wouldn't leave a strong impression and would just function to convey information. Since she holds the key at the beginning of the story and it starts with a single line from this person, I thought I wanted to give it a bit more weight.
He said, I like the phrase good betrayal, and I thought about which actor could give that kind of good betrayal. The team Oh My Girl has an innocent, fairy-like image. To give the sense of betrayal from that, I wondered what it would be like if someone who was like this did something like that, so I met with YooA. After the meeting I said I would like to work together, and she said she would appear. I got worried then and hesitated and requested another meeting. Because to be active in that line of work probably required a long period of effort. I grandly called it a good betrayal when casting, but I felt that what she had built up until now and what the public recognized could be ruined if mishandled, he said, expressing concern about possible harm to Oh My Girl YooA.
He continued, When I requested the second meeting I said this and told her you don't have to do it. If she was going to act anyway, there would be many good projects and many good characters, so you don't have to do it. But YooA expressed her own thoughts. There are many cases of idols transitioning to actors, and usually they choose a continuation of their fancy, image-like roles. She said she could do a lot of those, but for her first start she wanted to show a side she hadn't shown before and said she would appear in the film. I was very grateful to work with her, he said.
However, for YooA, Project Y was not only her first screen debut but her only acting experience had been the 2017 web drama Let's Walk the Flower Road. When asked whether he had concerns about casting an actor who had not yet been greatly proven in acting, director Lee Hwan explained, From my perspective, as I mentioned earlier, when you view YooA's public image as limited to the film, I focused on the fact that she could overturn expectations and provide a strong, good betrayal.
He said, Regarding acting, I basically had confidence from seeing things like her variety show appearances that she would do very well. I thought she would do well enough. It was a difficult request, but I asked her to read, and she showed a range of emotions. After deciding on the cast, we did workshops with some actors and worked intensely and enjoyably. Watching them act, we exchanged opinions without harming the content and revised the script to complete the scenes, he said, expressing satisfaction. (To be continued in Interview ④)<
[Photo] Plus M Entertainment
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