(Interview 1 continued) The Judge Returns director Lee Jae-jin expressed admiration for the acting battles by actors including Jisung.
Recently, at the MBC headquarters in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, a press conference was held for Lee Jae-jin, the director of the MBC Friday-Saturday drama The Judge Returns.
Based on a web novel of the same name, The Judge Returns is a justice-implementing time-return drama about corrupt judge Lee Han-young (played by Jisung), who lived as a slave to a giant law firm and returned to 10 years earlier to punish great evil through new choices.
Jisung, who plays the protagonist Lee Han-young, is in a situation where he has secured a residence in New York state, U.S., with his wife Lee Bo-young for their children's education and is living there. Accordingly, director Lee Jae-jin reportedly made the effort to go to New York, where Jisung was, to cast him for this work.
Director Lee Jae-jin recalled, I went tightly for about three days. Anyway, from a director's standpoint I want to work with good actors, but aren't there things you're curious about? I wanted to cast him but he wasn't in Korea, so I thought it was necessary to meet and talk directly, so I requested to go to the U.S. one last time to meet him, and I was sent on a business trip so we met briefly. I didn't expect we could talk for long. I thought I'd meet once or twice to check his current condition and talk about the work, but when I said I would go he was pleased and scheduled more frequent meetings.
He said, Of course (Jisung) was busy in New York, fighting alone with the children, picking them up at night, but we could talk a lot during the daytime. Through that, it became an opportunity to reorganize our thoughts about this drama. Senior Jisung also frankly shared many of his thoughts, and we reflected many of those in discussions with the writer to set direction and such. I briefly mentioned it at the production presentation, but we didn't want to offend the original fans. But because there was so much material it was hard to follow the original exactly, so deciding what to cut and what to fix was influenced greatly by those New York conversations.
He recalled his time in New York, saying, For things like glasses we talked a lot about what concept to use and what changes to make, such as glasses and fashion. Reflecting those parts allowed us to work on the script, and since a return in the script would be unrealistic, we wanted to strengthen the character's thoughts and concerns about that, so we gradually added those elements. It was a precious time.
When asked about moments during filming when he was impressed by Jisung's acting, Lee Jae-jin said, Because senior Jisung's acting has always been excellent, it's hard to single out one or two things, but what amazed me from the script reading was the scene after the first return where he tells Kim Sang-jin (played by Bae In Hyuk), 'You're going to be executed, you son of a bitch.' The first episode was heavy and the atmosphere sank during the reading, but in that part I thought, 'This is fun, this is good, it will work.' Seeing it again on set gave me goosebumps. Before the courtroom scene, he jumps around saying 'I want to go back now' and I felt, 'Are you showing this like this? Amazing. He changed completely.'
He said, While talking in New York we agreed to make a drama that was completely different before and after the return to surprise viewers, and I thought he really showed that through his acting. And when he was stabbed and fell, I thought, 'He truly lives up to his reputation.'
He added that the reason viewers who switched over after the conclusion of competing SBS show Taxi Driver 3 didn't leave was also thanks to the actors' acting skills. Lee Jae-jin said, In the end, since this is a fantasy hero work I wanted to make it feel bright and lively. Before the returns in episodes 1 and 2 I wanted to scrape at viewers as much as possible, so we put uncomfortable sounds into the audio and did things like that, then it suddenly changed and the story became lighter and more upbeat. In that sense the actors performed well, so I think viewers enjoyed watching the acting.
He said, I think the actors did a good job with character play. Senior Jisung acted very well, and senior Park Hee-soon (as Kang Shin-jin) also did well. In addition, Oh Se-young (as Yoo Se-hee), Tae Won Seok (as Seok Jeong-ho), Hwang Hee (as Park Cheol-woo), Won Jin-a (as Kim Jin-a), Baek Jin-hee (as Song Na-yeon) and many other actors showed good performances in their roles. People seemed to enjoy seeing the chemistry and relationships among those characters. Because of that, viewers probably continued watching and were able to empathize well even in parts that could have been boring or sagging.
He confessed, We tried casting against the existing actors' typical characters in some cases. For example, Jung Jae-sung as Lee Bong-seok, the father of senior Jisung. I looked into many things and found he had never played a poor and pitiable role. He had played villains or at least managerial roles, so I thought about giving this person some pathos. I worked with senior Kim Tae Woo (as Baek I-seok) several times and I think he's a great actor who made me reflect as a director. Since viewers remember him for playing villains well, I wanted to put him in a heroic role. I also think Hwang Hee acts well, but working together this time I thought, 'Was he this good?' He has many ideas and the power to create an atmosphere. Tae Won Seok, who always complained that there was never a double on his sets, showed delicate acting hidden by physicality and action, which I really liked.
He expressed satisfaction, Jin-hee and I worked together on 'My Daughter, Geum Sa-wol' a long time ago and met again after 10 years; she retained her freshness while becoming more mature. She's not a very bright personality but she acted a bright character and I was impressed thinking, 'She's quiet but does it well.' Won Jin-a is also a really spirited and sharp character. Having done a lot of melodramas so far, she seemed to want to try a newly strong-feeling role, so she joined and gave me a sense of a small giant. My favorite scene is when she first appears after the return as Kim Jin-a. The scene where she crosses her hands behind her back and blocks the car to catch Jang Tae-sik (played by Kim Beom-rae) was cool. I think she did that part well. Se-young is someone who did well in her previous work and I wanted to work with her in the next project; she did very well and there was nothing but praise for the actors, so I often thought, 'I just have to do well.'
However, viewers had mixed opinions about the character Yoo Se-hee, Lee Han-young's wife. Lee Jae-jin said, In my feeling there seem to be more likes than dislikes. I'm grateful that people liked and found that relationship pretty more than expected. Regarding the romance portion in the work, he said, I don't think it's a romance drama, but I thought a little would help. That doesn't mean I want to emphasize that part. I knew Yoo Se-hee was a relatively popular character in the original comic/webtoon. It was one of the castings I hoped wouldn't disappoint people who read the original. Asking Se-young, who could be considered a newcomer and unfamiliar, to take that role, I was confident. I believed she would do well. On one hand I was nervous, but fortunately people liked it so I'm thankful and grateful she did well. She had many concerns and before starting we talked a lot. We rehearsed a lot on set, and I think those were fortunately well received.
He added, I never intended to force the romance, but I thought a lot about whether viewers would find this character funny, cute and pretty and feel a slight flutter from the romance. But not too much. The ongoing concern was to include some romance but not let it become main or excessive. So I told the writer, 'We don't need to go this far' about parts that might make the romance seem overly included, and when we had to edit because of time during filming I also cut back on parts that felt too much. Supporters of that love line might be angry saying, 'You cut that?' but that's the story behind it. (Continued in Interview 3.)<
[Photo] MBC
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