The Face Genius Actor

Episode 030



Episode 030

To be honest, reporter Jung Dong-hyun seemed suspicious from the first impression.

He gave off the same vibe as a reporter I met in the past who tried to put me down at all costs.

My instincts were on high alert, and that feeling peaked when Jung Dong-hyun frowned over the recording issue.

‘He’s definitely going to do something unexpected.’

I thought this to myself and prepared mentally.

But contrary to expectations, reporter Jung Dong-hyun only asked pre-agreed questions.

Although I felt uneasy, it seemed like we could finish the interview without much difficulty if things continued this way.

Just as I was starting to relax a bit, suddenly reporter Jung Dong-hyun’s brow furrowed.

Sure enough, a question that didn’t exist anywhere on the questionnaire emerged.

“…What do you think about this aspect?”

Knowing it was coming didn’t make it any less surprising.

I was momentarily flustered when the unagreed question suddenly popped up.

Yeo Kyung-chan also seemed taken aback, even though he must have anticipated this situation.

The fact that he was about to protest without realizing it was a trap was evidence of this.

“Manager, it’s okay. I’ll answer.”

I quickly stopped Yeo Kyung-chan and gave him a meaningful look.

Fortunately, Yeo Kyung-chan understood my intention and backed down.

In truth, I had already prepared answers anticipating questions that weren’t agreed upon in advance.

Not just me, but the business planning team had also predicted similar situations and provided expected questions.

Festa Entertainment hadn’t sent just Yeo Kyung-chan and me without any thought.

So I quickly modified my pre-prepared answer to fit the question and began to speak.

“Your question, reporter…”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“It’s difficult for me to express either a positive or negative opinion. I’m even more hesitant because I think a careless answer could cause further harm. Could I ask you to clarify the intention of your question a bit more?”

Hearing my response, reporter Jung Dong-hyun’s expression hardened.

‘He was probably hoping I’d give an answer he could pick apart out of confusion… or avoid answering altogether.’

But with this counter-question, reporter Jung Dong-hyun couldn’t write the article as he wanted.

To get provocative material from me, he would have to risk revealing his intentions.

And of course, reporter Jung Dong-hyun couldn’t say, “Some people are suspicious about the source of the leaked performance footage. They say the production company or broadcasting station intentionally spread it for publicity.”

If he said that, I could immediately counter with, “Is that from a reliable source? This is the first I’m hearing of it,” which would put reporter Jung Dong-hyun at risk.

It wasn’t for nothing that Yeo Kyung-chan had taken out the recorder, knowing there might be uncomfortable situations.

It was all to prepare for situations like this.

In the end, reporter Jung Dong-hyun shook his head as if displeased with the situation and answered.

“Ah, I didn’t have any particular intention. As you said, it’s a question that could lead to misunderstandings, so it’s better not to answer. Let’s move on to the next question.”

Reporter Jung Dong-hyun reluctantly backed down, and after this, he didn’t ask any more questions that weren’t pre-agreed upon.

Thanks to that, we were able to finish the interview without any further difficulties.

* * *

A few days later.

My interview article was published through News Economy.

Fortunately, the News Economy interview article was cleanly organized as I wanted.

Moreover, the name of the reporter in charge had been changed below.

It was now Park Kyung-hoon, the reporter who had accompanied us to take photos during the interview.

‘The business planning team handled things well.’

There was a reason behind this change of reporter.

After the interview ended, Yeo Kyung-chan immediately called the business planning team and explained everything that had happened during the interview.

I told him it wasn’t necessary, but Yeo Kyung-chan took action, saying we needed to prevent any bad articles from being published, just in case.

The business planning team, unable to hide their anger, made a complaint call to News Economy.

Since reporter Jung Dong-hyun had slipped away like a snake, an active protest wasn’t possible.

But it was entirely possible to subtly express their displeasure.

As a result, the name of the reporter in charge changed from Jung Dong-hyun to Park Kyung-hoon.

And of course, the change in the reporter meant that the content of the article had also changed.

-Rookie actor Lee Si-joon maintained his composure throughout the interview. It created the illusion of interviewing a seasoned actor.

-This instantly shattered the small prejudices that still linger in our society about handsome actors. It also made me, the writer, have expectations for the actor named Lee Si-joon.

-Perhaps that’s why I naturally blurted out, “It might not be easy to interview you again, actor.” I had a feeling that Si-joon would soon shed his rookie label and soar.

The slightly old-fashioned writing style was a bit bothersome, but considering that Park Kyung-hoon was originally a photo journalist, it wasn’t too bad.

Rather, I should have been grateful that he wrote such a positive article.

Yeo Kyung-chan also seemed satisfied with how well the article turned out.

“Thanks to you, manager, we got a good article. You worked hard.”

“I just did what I should do as a manager.”

“You’re really reliable. By the way, how long until we arrive?”

“Probably… we should be able to reach the reading room in about 15 minutes, to be safe.”

As you can infer from the conversation, I was currently on my way to the public script reading for “I Will Cast Love.”

Early in the morning, I stopped by a shop in Cheongdam-dong for makeup and then headed straight out.

This was my first and last schedule for today, as there was a company dinner planned after the public script reading.

‘This is my first script reading since returning.’

For , my role wasn’t significant enough to participate in the script reading.

Later, when I took on the role of high school student Shin Han-jae, it didn’t make sense to have a script reading for reshoots.

The time was already too tight just for the reshoots.

‘So…’

I couldn’t even imagine a public script reading like this, gathering not just actors but also staff, and even filming for YouTube uploads.

‘I’m a bit nervous.’

Thinking about the scale of the public script reading made me feel anxious.

It’s not that I hadn’t done public script readings before my return.

But it was my first time taking on such a significant role in a big drama.

After all, even as the third lead, Kim Won-young was barely considered a main character.

To ease my tension, I reached for the script that had almost no blank spaces left.

Seeing this, Yeo Kyung-chan spoke up as if he just remembered something.

“Actor, if you look behind the driver’s seat, there should be a clean book script. You can use that for today’s reading.”

This was something I had asked Yeo Kyung-chan for in advance.

I was a bit concerned about bringing a script that was not just lacking blank spaces but almost falling apart.

Empty vessels make the most noise, as they say.

Bringing a script without blank spaces might unnecessarily raise others’ expectations, which wouldn’t be good.

After all, the bigger the disappointment, the bigger the expectation.

“Needing a new book script… How can you be so diligent, actor? Don’t you also write separate notes for analyzing the work?”

“It’s nothing special. I’m just working hard because my skills are lacking compared to others.”

“Oh my. Don’t be so humble. Don’t say things like that elsewhere, even if you mean it. Some people might criticize you for being too humble.”

Seo Myung-hee had said similar things several times during acting lessons.

Being too humble about my skills could actually be harmful.

But I still wasn’t satisfied with my abilities.

I was certain that if it weren’t for the Method Mask, no one would say such things to me.

It would take more time to fully make the Method Mask’s abilities my own.

‘Still, I should be careful, as my teacher and manager say. Others don’t know about the Method Mask, after all.’

Thinking this, I slowly examined the familiar script book.

And shortly after, we arrived at the location for the script reading.

* * *

Befitting a rookie actor, I arrived a bit earlier than the appointed time at the headquarters of ‘Rool West’, a drama production company located in Nonhyeon-dong.

Rool West is one of Korea’s leading drama production companies and is in charge of producing “I Will Cast Love.”

The fact that Rool West was involved showed just how large-scale the drama production was.

As we parked in Rool West’s underground parking lot and were about to move, 

Bzzt.

A vibration sound was heard, and when I checked, it was Yeo Kyung-chan’s phone.

The screen displayed the word ‘Mother’.

“Ah…”

“Go ahead and answer it. I’ll go up first.”

“But…”

“It’s fine with me. Don’t feel uncomfortable, just answer it. You should always be more diligent in answering calls from close ones, right?”

Yeo Kyung-chan bowed his head apologetically.

“Thank you, actor.”

“It’s nothing, really.”

I moved ahead so he could answer the phone comfortably.

From behind, I heard Yeo Kyung-chan saying, “Hello? Yes, Mom. Are you doing well?”

Unlike most sons, Yeo Kyung-chan seemed to answer his mother’s call affectionately, like a filial son.

That was a good thing.

‘That way, he’ll have fewer regrets in the future.’

This thought came to me because I had once lost my father.

I suddenly felt that I should be better to my father.

‘By the way, when did Dad say his health check-up was?’

Pondering the date of my father’s health check-up, I got on the elevator and easily found the reading location.

The place where many people were coming and going was today’s promised location for the script reading.

Fortunately, looking inside, it seemed no other actor had arrived earlier than me.

Only staff members of “I Will Cast Love” were busily moving around.

It looked like they were finishing up setting the seats and installing cameras in various places.

‘The name tags aren’t even attached yet… Where’s my seat?’

To check my seat, I approached the nearest staff member.

“Hello, I’m Lee Si-joon, cast as Kim Won-young. Where should I sit?”

The staff member, who was busily checking something, turned towards me.

At the same time, the staff member’s eyes widened.

They looked surprised.

“Ah!”

Reacting to that sound, other staff members also looked in my direction.

Naturally, silence fell over the busy reading location.

Faced with this familiar yet uncomfortable situation, I thought to myself,

‘Did I overdress?’

It seemed that putting too much effort into my appearance for the public script reading might have caused an issue.


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