On June 30, Park Hoon-jung spoke with a news site about his most recent work, 'The Childe'.
The action noir film revolves around a Korean-Filipino boxer named 'Marco' (actor Kang Tae Ju), and the chaotic chase he is subjected to from individuals each with their own motives.
Among them is Kim Seon Ho's character, 'Nobleman' (Gwigongja in Korean), a mystery problem solver.
"When we were filming, I doubted whether this movie would be released on time. And now that it's out, it feels a little different from my previous works."
In 2021, the casting for the film 'The Childe' was underway, and the lead actor, Kim Seon Ho was embroiled in a scandal involving his personal life.
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The allegation caused the actor to lose all of his other projects, but Park Hoon-jung opted to stick with him.
Park Hoon-jung recalls that he had reservations about keeping the actor but could not think of any other options.
"I took my time when casting actors. I don't think about certain actors when I'm writing scripts. I seek the right ones after finishing it. So it's a long, careful process, and being this way prevents me from considering other actors than the one I initially thought of.", he explained.
"His scandal erupted after he was cast in this movie. There have been reports that he will be stepping down from other works, but I haven't thought of it myself. I hesitated, but I just couldn't think of anyone who could replace him. To me, the 'Nobleman' in the film was Kim Seon Ho. That's why I decided to keep him."
When asked where he found the face of 'Nobleman' in Kim Seon Ho, the director answered that he discovered a side of Kim Seon Ho that had never been revealed before.
"So I decided to be the one who uses this new side of him.", Park Hoon-jung continued, "I was confident that I was right about him after seeing how good he was in the film. He's an actor with good energy. Even though it was his first film, he was great, so competent.", he said, expressing satisfaction with his choice.
(SBS Star)