(Following interview ④) "I'm not the top; the top I think of is Yu Jae-seok, Jae-seok hyung." Actor Lee Dongwook returned with the scaled-up "A Shop for Killers 2" without losing his characteristic chicness. His calm self-objectification kept making people look forward to what comes next.
Lee Dongwook conducted an interview on the afternoon of the 23rd at a café in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. At this event he met with domestic reporters and talked about the new Disney+ series "A Shop for Killers season 2" (abbreviated as "A Shop for Killers 2").
"A Shop for Killers season 2" is a stylish action series in which Jian (Kim Hye Jun) becomes the new head of the mall after a harsh handover and launches a full-scale counterattack against the mercenary company Babylon Global together with Jin-man (Lee Dongwook), who has come back to life. Season 1, released in 2024 as an eight-episode run, not only ranked No. 1 on Disney+ for three consecutive weeks but also earned praise from The New York Times in the United States as "this year's best Korean series."
Back after two years, "A Shop for Killers 2" boasts larger-scale settings such as sea and ship shoots. To this, Lee Dongwook said, "It's not me; from my perspective I mostly watch other characters, so I can't say I have a lot of screen time, but I suffered filming sea and ship scenes for nearly a month. I went on location to Thailand. I worried about the weather for the Thailand shoot, but fortunately when I went in November it was more bearable than I expected. The local staff were veterans who had done a lot of Hollywood work, so it went smoothly. That was unusual. Normally overseas shoots have many variables, but this wasn't the case," he said.
He added jokingly, "I think the scale got bigger because Disney+ increased the budget," and explained, "On the surface the scale has grown and the universe has expanded; the fact that mercenaries from East Asia were deployed instead of the original Korean Babylon seems to be an entertaining element. If you go deeper, the story is still about Jian's growth, so season 2 can show a bit more how Jian grows and how Jin-man views the growing Jian."
When asked whether season 2 would receive favorable reviews as season 1 did, he joked, "I would be happy if global media recognize it in that way. I naturally think we'll be number one. If not, it's the director's fault." He added with confidence, "They say season 1 was No. 1 for three consecutive weeks, and even on the Monday of the season 2 press conference season 1 was holding the No. 2 spot on Disney+. Only episodes 1 and 2 have been released so far, but please wait for the viewing points. It will be more fun."
So can he be sure about season 3? Lee Dongwook laughed, "I'm not preparing at all," and said, "I don't think it's something anyone can just decide they want to do. It will depend on the success of season 2. Personally, even when I talk with the director I haven't actually discussed season 3. When I ask if we'll do it again, the director says, 'How would I decide that?' It's not for us to decide. But I wonder if the director might have another idea in his head." He added, "If Disney offers it again, I'd prepare and bulk up so I haven't aged in two years."
While returning with "A Shop for Killers 2," Lee Dongwook has kept working without rest, even appearing in a 10th-anniversary travel variety show for "Goblin," maintaining his status as a "top actor." Yet Lee Dongwook calmly said, "I don't think I'm in the top position. That's the secret."
He emphasized, "The top star I think of is Yu Jae-seok. A top star is someone who spans generations and embraces the whole nation. Unless it's someone like Jae-seok hyung, you can't even put 'top' in your mouth," and added, "I simply kept doing my job steadily and continuously, without taking particularly long breaks, so I became familiar to viewers' eyes and I don't think I fell out of favor."
Of course, Lee Dongwook also experienced slumps. Lee Dongwook said, "At those times I feel I have to move. If I stay still, hide at home and avoid contact with outsiders, the slump feels like it gets deeper. There's no choice. To get out of it I feel I have to move. The more that is so, the more I try to move," and stressed, "Personally, I've never felt burnout. I'm not someone who loves work excessively; that's not my personality. But I think it's good for a person to continue doing something after being born. When a slump comes it's clear: keep challenging new projects, go through the process to break the slump and receive another evaluation. Those things are important to me."
Perhaps because of that, in the "A Shop for Killers" series, while Jung Jin-man is the lead, his screen time is relatively limited, and Lee Dongwook sometimes appears to yield substantial screen presence and many scenes to junior actor Kim Hye Jun. His special appearance in the film "Harbin" was also an unexpected choice. About such choices, Lee Dongwook said, "Rather than worrying about how much screen time I have in a work, I think it's good if the overall story and my character shine at least once. I'm not someone who pays much attention to screen time. I think Kim Hye Jun is the true lead of the 'A Shop for Killers' series. I kept telling her, 'You work hard.'"
He said, "What I most want in a project is to challenge new characters and new genres. That's important and also a criterion for choosing projects. I don't think the amount of screen time is that important. I do variety shows because they're fun. A reason many around me do variety is because it's fun. I'm entering my late 40s, and things like enjoyment and laughter have become truly important. Life is short; isn't it better to enjoy it? Also, I don't think doing variety would do me major harm."
Furthermore, Lee Dongwook confessed, "I do want to try doing a talk show again. But when I tried it was very difficult. Maybe my ability is lacking, but I don't know where to put more emphasis. Is it laughter or information? Distinguishing those is very hard, and talking about socially sensitive issues is uncomfortable and not easy. I can't know everything in every field, so studying something new every week is not easy. I want to, but I might not be able to do it, and there might be no one to give me that job."
The day before the interview he also filmed the Netflix original new series "Love Affair." He said, "Yesterday I filmed until 11 p.m.; that's for 'Love Affair.' The shoot is going very smoothly. The director comes very well prepared. It's a pleasant set where actors are not thrown off or in difficulty. We're shooting well while finding the rhythm. I think we'll shoot until around autumn," and, working tirelessly like an ox, "Uk-dong-i," kept making people look forward to Lee Dongwook's next projects.
[Photo] King Kong by Starship, provided by Disney+.
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