Choi Min-shik`s New Role – Locked Up for 15 Years, He`s All Mess Up

Who: Spending years after years locked up in a prison cell, he tries to find out who hates him this much and why. So he begins to write a memoir looking back all the wrongdoings he committed. The self-reflection amounts to 14 volumes of notebooks. What if actor Choi Min-shik writes about his wrongdoings? ˝It will be only about a half of a notebook,˝ he replied with a smile.

˝It is a rather strange story you rarely find. It will be like an experience of reviewing your life. Did I ever hurt someone`s feelings badly or does he or she still hate me so much? You now try to imagine what it will be like being a frog killed by a stone you just throw away.˝

When he explained his role, he said, `my part…` instead of `the man in the movie...,` which I found interesting.

˝An actor is a part of the whole. If you think `I deserve to be more than that,` you cannot be responsible. It is like a very expensive way of doing masturbation. You are paid hundreds of millions of won and the movie costs hundreds of millions won. It is a big thing.˝

What: ˝I cannot tell you in detail, but I like to say that `the Old Boy` is a story about the saddest revenge in the world,˝ Choi explained. There are intense feelings of happiness, sorrow, love and hatred. Even at some points, he even thought that it was too strong.

˝Yet, this movie is a stylish drama, which entertains the eyes and ears of the audience. There is humor incurred from absurd situations. Sometimes I had to ask Director Park, `Are we making a comic movie?`˝

He seemed so satisfied with the fact that he worked on this movie hard, participating in discussions from the planning. When asked why not make a movie himself, he said no, never. ˝I know myself too well. I would die of hypertension. I concentrate on a single thing. If I make a movie, I will have to think a lot of things. I can`t handle it.˝

Why: He decided to take on the role of `the old boy` after reading the comic book with the same title. I asked whether he could decide to take on a role even when the scenario has not been completed and the character has not been defined.

˝I heard the news that a man killed his friend for taking off his wig just for fun. He must have felt outrageously humiliated. Even a small thing can hurt someone`s feelings. I thought I could be the old boy if I sympathize with people like him.˝

The fact that the movie is made by Director Park, who is known of his own style, was also a lure. ˝Director Park said that he thought Choi Min-shik would make it. So we met and decided, `Let`s do it.`˝

How: He lost 10kg to be a man just released from a jail after building himself up for the revenge. In the latter part of the shooting, he will have to gain 10kg again for about two weeks to be a despaired prisoner locked up in a prison cell.

˝I am thinking about having five meals a day and drinking a lot. That will do, I think. I am not happy about it, though, you know. People say it is incredible for an actor to lose and gain weight. But basically it is a part of our jobs to become a man that best represents the character.˝

When asked he likes his messy hairstyle, which reminds people of a bum on the street, he shook his head hard. ˝No, not at all. A hairdresser came up with the idea and Director Park liked it. They are the experts so I had no choice.˝

The 41-year-old man has never worn a necktie when he goes to work.

“I have to act. This is the only thing I have known for all of my life and I have always taken my work seriously. I`d like to be an actor even after 10 years.”

“But I don`t want to be an actor for the sake of making a living. If that happens, I will quit my job. Of course, it wouldn`t be that easy,” he firmly said.

He is often referred as a nice guy but has never appeared on a movie, which he didn`t like, only to do a favor for others. “I should not look down on my work. I will never be in a movie that I do not choose myself.” This is the philosophy that he will never give up under any circumstances.

The shooting sites are the spaces of a boring wait and endurance. But they are also the places he`d be in raptures.

“A lot of people do their work for more than an hour to shoot a 1-2 min scene. After everything is ready, all of them hold their breath to watch the scene. When the director finally shouts `Cut! Wonderful!` they are extremely happy. And the happiness that I feel is beyond description. This is the moment that I feel alive.”

Hee-Kyung Kim susanna@donga.com