2PM member and actor Hwang Chan-sung shared his thoughts on challenging a villain for the first time in Bloodhounds 2.
Hwang Chan-sung recently met fans through the Netflix original series Bloodhounds 2, which was released to popular acclaim. Bloodhounds 2 is a drama that depicts Geon-woo (Woo Do Hwan) and Woojin (Lee Sang Yi), who after beating a vicious illegal loan shark ring, deliver another satisfying straight hook against a global illegal boxing league dominated by money and violence.
Following Bloodhounds season 1, which was released in 2023, season 2 was released three years later, and Hwang Chan-sung gave a passionate performance as Tae-gum, the right-hand man to the villain Baek-jung (Jung Jihoon) in season 2. Recently, we met Hwang Chan-sung at an office in Yeouido, Seoul, and talked about the work and his recent situation.
Tae-gum is the first villain Hwang Chan-sung has challenged since debuting with 2PM in 2008. He expressed his nervousness, saying, "After it was announced, I watched the parts I appear in almost like monitoring. I enjoyed watching the parts I don't appear in."
About how he came to appear in the work, Hwang Chan-sung said, "Director Kim Joo-hwan had a special appearance in the earlier film Midnight Runners. We had known each other before and were close. Back then he asked me once to do it, and I said okay and went out, taking a day from my schedule. After that we kept in touch, met, chatted occasionally, and after the first season of Bloodhounds ended I said I watched it very enjoyably, and then when season 2 came up he suggested, 'Would you think about doing a villain once?'"
He explained, "I was grateful to receive the offer and was very happy. I had never done such a villain, and I had to do action, but I wasn't completely unable to use my body and thought I had some sense for it. I also rewatched season 1 and, after much deliberation, talked a lot about the role. That is how it started."
Hwang Chan-sung continued, "Director Kim Joo-hwan said that since I had never shown a villain in my acting career so far, it might be good to have a turning point in my career through this work. I was also at a time when I was considering such points. I wondered how to make a change. I was thankful that this offer came, so I worked really hard."
In the story, Tae-gum is a former special forces soldier who was dishonorably discharged after being unable to pay his wife's hospital bills during her battle with pancreatic cancer and even borrowing from loan sharks, and then came to work under Baek-jung. Leaving his only daughter with his mother, he earns money under Baek-jung for his family and acts as the only villain with a backstory in Bloodhounds 2. Hwang Chan-sung emphasized, "Tae-gum, compared with the villain side in Bloodhounds 2, does not have similar characters. They are villains with clear differentiating points. Among them he is rational, quick to judge, and quick to act. He also fights better than expected. Those aspects came across as attractive. While acting, there were many moments to show a new side as an actor, and those points were appealing."
He added details about Tae-gum's action, saying, "Basically everyone has a boxing base, but when we incorporated kicking, wrestling techniques and MMA techniques into full-scale action, that brought its own pressure. Boxing action focuses on punches, so the speed feels extremely fast. But when I tried it, it was hard to meet the expected speed in kicks, close-range action or jiu-jitsu techniques. Kicks also have big movements. I struggled in training to make those movements fast. A certain level of quality had to come out, so we couldn't fall behind."
So how did they balance the villain side? Hwang Chan-sung said, "Basically I had many discussions with the director. Because Baek-jung is so fiery, hot-tempered and violent, the director directed that there should be a somewhat rational and cold person beside him who can be a boundary that enables some control. After all, running illegal gambling matches, Tae-gum would have acted as a fixer who controlled and handled other matters. In the setting we categorized the differences between Baek-jung and Tae-gum."
He added, "Man-bae (Lee Si-eon) has a setting where he has some connections in Korea and joined when they did work, and because Man-bae is differentiated by being a character obsessed with 'money', when shooting, I did not calculate things like 'Since others do it this way I should do it differently' or 'I should make my character like this' out of consciousness. I had the comfort of knowing I could focus only on my justification for action and how to respond to situations."
Like an idol group 2PM member, Hwang Chan-sung said, "Memorizing action sequences wasn't that difficult," adding, "We are people who practiced choreography. In a way action is also about sequence." He also admitted, "Action is not about sequence but about developing form, which was difficult. Since this was my first action, even if a person throws kicks and punches, there had to be a certain form. Putting style aside, the person needed to be someone who could plausibly overcome the situation. That was a bit hard. That is why I trained with the action team. Now rather than confidence about action and playing a villain, I think I could do better next time. Anyway, because I watched it like monitoring and couldn't enjoy it, I feel I did okay but could do better in more detailed aspects."
Bloodhounds 2 features many scenes of action after undressing. Hwang Chan-sung was also tense about getting his body in shape. He laughed and said, "I was losing weight when filming began. It was when I had lost about 8kg, and even though the script had no undressing, I was anxious that it might happen later. But the director firmly said, 'Tae-gum does not take his clothes off.' I was really relieved."
Hwang Chan-sung said, "But when wearing clothes, if body fat is stripped away, you get too slim a body. Ji-hoon hyung is big, Tae Won Seok is big, and I worried I might look small by comparison. So later I regained 4kg and filmed." Nevertheless, he laughed and expressed the difficulty of shaping his body, saying, "I wasn't disappointed that there were no shirtless scenes. Not at all."
So was his thirst as an actor quenched by this first villain role? Hwang Chan-sung said, "Honestly, I had no sense of the outcome until I saw it. I focused on the role and the work and couldn't even imagine 'what kind of reaction will come?' I had no sense until it was released. Of course I was focused. Still, thankfully many people gave positive feedback saying my acting was good, and I am grateful for that."
(Continued in interview ②)<
[Photo] Provided by L July Entertainment.
[OSEN]