Actor Cha Hak-yeon said he asked Jung Kyungho for advice to play a genius math teacher.
On the morning of the 11th, an interview with Cha Hak-yeon of the Coupang Play series Absolute Value of Romance was held at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Absolute Value of Romance is a high‑teen comedy series that stars handsome teachers and follows a high school girl who used to write romance novels as she meets them in real life at unexpected moments and becomes the protagonist of a turbulent school life; it is released every Friday at 8 p.m. In the series, Cha Hak-yeon appears as Ga Woo‑soo, a new math teacher at Murim High School who boasts an IQ of 156 and mensa membership and striking handsomeness, showing his presence.
Cha Hak-yeon, who showed a major acting transformation through Absolute Value of Romance, said the reason he chose the project was, "When I first read the script, I felt the scent of youth. I wanted to talk about youth, and I felt like I would get to experience school days again."
He added, "I felt there would be a lot of acting I could do from the script. I felt I wanted to convey youth well, and I think I laughed the most on set while acting. It felt like a work that let me relive my school days."
Asked what made him laugh, Cha Hak-yeon said, "First, Hyang‑gi's comic acting was so funny. When doing comic scenes on set, you normally try not to laugh, but I laughed without fail, and it was so funny that the laughter caused NGs. Hyang‑gi said it was her first time doing comedy, but I saw she was very proficient and I found that amusing."
On his acting challenges, Cha Hak-yeon said, "There were many visual challenges. I think there was a lot of hair and makeup, and we prepared 40 to 50 outfits and spent five to six hours fitting. I challenged myself visually to that extent, and in recent episodes there was one where I had a long hairpiece attached; the director asked, 'Will this be okay?' and then said it was good."
He explained, "There was a process of showing a lot of that and refining it. I didn't confine myself to acting; when I rehearsed by myself, I tried movements that weren't typical, movements that felt like I might go over a sofa or over a desk. I think I worked on those movements."
In particular, Cha Hak-yeon expressed pressure about the class scenes as a genius math teacher with an IQ of 156. He said, "The thing that made me most nervous was the scenes of memorizing math formulas. Since he is a math genius with an IQ of 156, I thought focusing would drop if I looked at paper while writing on the board. So I asked Hyung (Jung) Kyungho as well, and he told me not to try to understand it."
Jung Kyungho also transformed into a star lecturer through the previous work Ilta Scandal. Recalling the advice he heard from Jung Kyungho, Cha Hak-yeon said, "He said he tried to understand but that made his lines slower and his board‑writing less dynamic. He told me to memorize until it came out when prodded. I tried to study, but I realized I was trying to follow someone who had studied for a long time and was trying to be clever. So I worked to memorize the formulas and then to internalize them."
Cha Hak-yeon added, "I watched many people's lectures. I tried to follow one lecturer but everyone's style was different. Since there isn't a specific math teacher, I tried to create my own Woo‑soo and found my style by watching lecturers. I also learned a lot about props: there are chalks that don't produce much dust, chalks that write well, and high‑quality clips. I discovered many such prop items and ordered a lot from Coupang."
Cha Hak-yeon, who said he also rehearsed alone, said, "I set up a space at home where I could teach and prepared by writing on the board. There was too much dust, so I learned a personal method after hearing about dust‑free chalk and chalk that writes well. I practiced teaching alone a lot for this role. One day I even sat my nephew down and taught a class."
[Photo] Provided by Coupang Play
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