Director Son Jae-gon of the film Wild Sing revealed the surprising casting backstory of the introverted Um Tae-goo.
Son Jae-gon conducted an interview on the morning of the 28th at a café in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. At that meeting he spoke with domestic reporters about the new film Wild Sing.
Wild Sing, which opens on June 3, is a comedy about a three-member mixed dance group called "Triangle" that once swept the music charts but disbanded overnight after an unexpected incident, and now takes a reckless challenge to seize a comeback opportunity that comes 20 years later. It is the new work from the producer of Extreme Job, the 2019 comedy that thrilled about 16.26 million viewers and topped comedy box office numbers, directed by Son Jae-gon.
In particular, Wild Sing has drawn attention because actors Gang Dong-won, Park Ji-hyun and Um Tae-goo play Triangle members Hyun Woo, Do-mi and Sang-gu respectively, preparing for the roles by practicing actual dance and song. Actor Oh Jung-se adds to the humor by playing ballad singer Choi Seong-gon, the group's rival.
Asked about the casting backstory, Son Jae-gon laughed, saying, "I had very mixed feelings," and added, "Everyone was probably excited and nervous. But this isn't just about this film — based on personal experience, you can't be sure of anything because the audience's reaction in theaters matters. Even if we laugh thinking it's funny on set, the theater can show a different reaction, so I was personally conflicted. But the team making the film really liked it from the styling stage onward."
Among them, the casting of Um Tae-goo, known as the "entertainment world's representative introvert," stood out as the most surprising element. Son Jae-gon said, "The reason we cast Um Tae-goo is probably the same as most people's thoughts. 'Wouldn't it be funny if Um Tae-goo became a rapper?'"
However, he explained, "Um Tae-goo was cautious and couldn't decide easily. You can't know everything an actor is thinking, and not every actor can decide quickly. A director can't be solely responsible. But he seemed to want to try something like this and to break away from his existing acting patterns."
Moreover, Um Tae-goo had earlier received praise for a surprising image in the drama Woman Who Plays. Son Jae-gon acknowledged, "I think the experience he had on the drama with Han Seon-hwa right before also had an influence."
Nonetheless, Son Jae-gon said, "Even though the decision was made so carefully, Um Tae-goo seemed very stressed afterward about what would happen if he couldn't convincingly pull off 'Um Tae-goo rapping will be funny.' So he received very obsessive training related to rapping," expressing regret.
He added, "Um Tae-goo had never tried rapping like in the film, and I didn't expect an adult who isn't 20 to go in and out of JYP so often for the sake of fun. I learned later that during the training process Um Tae-goo was the one who was more eager about the set schedule."
(Continued in interview ②)<
[Photo] Provided by Lotte Entertainment.
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