The Face Genius Actor

Episode 035

The reason everyone present was surprised was simple.

‘Not only does the acting of these two fall short of expectations… it’s an absolute mess.’

The situation was even more stark in comparison because the supporting leads had shown good acting.

The main leads’ acting even seemed worse than mine and Joo-yeon’s.

It wasn’t just my opinion; everyone couldn’t help but feel that way.

After all, Joo-yeon and I had honed our skills by participating in every script reading.

We had also been showing decent acting at each practice and received recognition from the writer and director.

However, perhaps because the main leads hadn’t had that time, their acting skills were far below expectations.

But this wasn’t a situation where Park Jun and Jung Se-hee could be defended.

The main leads were appearing in “I Will Cast Love” for an enormous fee, as high as public expectations.

Even disregarding the fee, it couldn’t be viewed positively that they weren’t sufficiently prepared as actors.

Perhaps because of this, the atmosphere in the practice room during the script reading became ice-cold.

The expressions of writer Kim Hee-soo and director Kang Han-sung, which had improved slightly earlier, noticeably hardened again.

Other actors also had unpleasant expressions, especially Joo-yeon, who was so shocked that her mouth was agape.

Only after our eyes met did she realize her mistake and close her mouth.

However, the main leads themselves didn’t seem to grasp this atmosphere and continued acting.

They tried to match each other’s rhythm for some give-and-take, but it oddly seemed to make things more tangled.

Even their tone and expressions were strange, making me wonder if they had misanalyzed their characters from the start.

‘No, that line shouldn’t have been delivered like that just now. The pace should have been a bit faster.’

This wasn’t the feeling of the main leads that writer Kim Hee-soo and director Kang Han-sung had explained several times during the script reading process.

That’s why everyone present, except Park Jun and Jung Se-hee, couldn’t help but be surprised at the discrepancy.

It felt like I could offer acting advice if I set my mind to it.

I was surprised that even I, in my position, was having such thoughts.

Finally, when the two finished their script reading, no one could easily speak up.

Director Kang Han-sung seemed to be thinking about how to handle this.

Even for a director, it was difficult to tell the main leads directly that their acting wasn’t good.

Writer Kim Hee-soo also seemed to be in a similar position, unable to say anything.

I was in a slightly better situation than the others.

‘It’s terrible now, but… it will gradually improve.’

When I watched “I Will Cast Love” before my regression, it wasn’t this bad.

As mentioned earlier, while it didn’t feel exceptionally good, they still showed solid basic acting.

In fact, Park Jun and Jung Se-hee’s acting skills weren’t a major controversy in “I Will Cast Love.”

Because of this, I was barely able to calm my anxious feelings.

But I couldn’t gauge how writer Kim Hee-soo, who had witnessed their acting without knowing this future, might feel.

Especially since I had seen her struggling with the pressure of ratings in previous practices.

‘Could this be the reason for the internal conflicts?’

Just as I felt I might have found a clue to the internal conflicts and anxiety was starting to grow in my heart…

“Um… By the way…”

Unexpectedly, a voice came from Park Jun’s direction first.

As the voice broke through the heavy silence, everyone’s gaze naturally turned towards him.

It could have been a somewhat burdensome gaze.

But Park Jun, befitting the main lead, calmly continued what he wanted to say despite everyone’s attention.

“I don’t understand ‘Jang Hyuk-jun’s’ emotions in this scene. If I were ‘Jang Hyuk-jun’, I think I would make a different choice in the same moment.”

As soon as Park Jun finished speaking, my heart started racing rapidly.

To throw a question about the character to writer Kim Hee-soo, who was already in a bad mood.

No matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t a good timing.

While it varies from person to person, questioning a writer about fundamental aspects of their work was something to be careful about.

It was closely related to the writer’s pride.

So I thought Kim Hee-soo would not be able to hold back and say something.

I imagined she might say something like, “Seeing your acting, Mr. Park Jun, it seems you haven’t even finished analyzing the character. Isn’t that question too premature?”

And in my mind, a heated argument had already begun based on that.

The imagined fight was so intense that I worried whether “I Will Cast Love” would be okay at this rate.

I even thought that perhaps by my joining “I Will Cast Love,” some butterfly effect had occurred that might cause this drama to fall apart.

Sure enough, a smile appeared on writer Kim Hee-soo’s lips.

It felt like a mocking smile.

‘Ah… I’m finally witnessing with my own eyes the reality of the internal conflicts I’ve only heard rumors about.’

I hastily jumped to this conclusion.

But fortunately, what I worried about didn’t happen.

Instead, writer Kim Hee-soo smiled lightly and then answered Park Jun’s question seriously and passionately.

“Ah… That’s because Jang Hyuk-jun…”

She even seemed to be careful not to hurt Park Jun’s feelings in the process.

Only then did Park Jun nod, seeming to understand the character of Jang Hyuk-jun.

“Ah, I see. After hearing your explanation, I think I understand Jang Hyuk-jun’s thoughts. Would it be alright if I ask one more question?”

And so, a full-fledged Q&A session began between Park Jun and writer Kim Hee-soo.

Park Jun asked questions ranging from what he thought were basic aspects to very complex emotions unique to Jang Hyuk-jun.

Then, as if caught up in the mood, Jung Se-hee also started asking questions, not to be outdone by Park Jun.

Before long, the atmosphere in the practice room felt like a talk with the writer.

It wasn’t a situation where a third party could casually intervene.

This was a conversation between the writer and the main leads, who could be considered the core of “I Will Cast Love.”

As a result, director Kang Han-sung and the rest of the actors could only roll their eyes until the talk with the writer ended.

Of course, this situation wasn’t entirely meaningless to me either.

Through this, I could be certain of one fact.

It was that the main leads’ character analysis was insufficient.

‘In other words, this means…’

It meant that if they could just finish the character analysis well, the two could show decent acting.

While this was somewhat reassuring, it didn’t answer all my questions.

I couldn’t understand why they had done such a poor job of character analysis.

It was also strange that Park Jun and Jung Se-hee’s acting was worse than at the public script reading.

While it would be understandable if their acting skills stagnated due to lack of practice time, it was beyond common sense for them to get worse than before.

The main leads were clearly professionals among professionals.

This fact had been sufficiently proven through the two dramas that had recently aired.

It wasn’t for nothing that Joo-yeon and I had been looking forward to their acting.

They were actors capable of delivering performances worthy of their enormous fees.

So it was incomprehensible that they showed such terrible acting today.

I thought even a bit-part actor with little experience wouldn’t show such poor acting.

‘Even their questions about the characters are strange. Even if they haven’t finished character analysis… Huh?’

Perhaps because the Q&A between the main leads and writer Kim Hee-soo had gone on longer than expected.

Suddenly, the puzzle pieces in my head started fitting together, and a hypothesis emerged.

Then I felt I understood why the main leads had shown such poor acting today.

The answer lay in the fact that the main leads had gained tremendous popularity through their recent work.

They weren’t just popular; they were receiving praise for embodying their roles 200%.

In the end, the main leads were still unable to break free from their previous characters.

In other words, Park Jun and Jung Se-hee weren’t prepared to immerse themselves in their roles for “I Will Cast Love.”

If this hypothesis was correct, it would also explain why the two actors’ performances had worsened since the public reading.

They couldn’t understand the essence of the characters by simply thinking about them with their minds elsewhere.

Rather, in trying to emphasize technical aspects, they might have distorted the essence of the characters and analyzed them in an entirely wrong direction.

This could lead to worse results than acting without character analysis at all.

‘Right. That’s why this result came about. That’s why they’re asking such basic questions about the characters.’

By this time, the Q&A session between writer Kim Hee-soo and the main leads had gone on for over an hour.

Thinking this couldn’t go on, director Kang Han-sung carefully interrupted the conversation between the three.

“The talk has gone on so long that others have nothing to do. Quite some time has passed, so how about we wrap up here and talk separately?”

Only then did writer Kim Hee-soo and the main leads realize their mistake and agree to end the session.

They apologized to us several times, so we didn’t have much complaint about the extended time.

Rather, I was only impressed by the passion of the three to make the drama successful.

So I went down to the underground parking lot and got into the car driven by Yeo Kyung-chan.

After that, I pondered how the main leads’ acting could improve, but couldn’t come up with any answers.

‘Enough. Let’s stop. Who am I to worry about whom?’

* * *

But because it was so frustrating, after much deliberation, I told Seo Myung-hee what I thought a few days later.

After hearing me out, Myung-hee said there was a good chance that could be the case.

“It often happens that actors can’t break free from their previous roles and ruin their next project.”

Myung-hee shared a story about when she played the role of a mean mother-in-law and got so immersed in the character that she said harsh things to her daughter-in-law, only realizing it later.

“It was so terrifying… What if my relationship with my daughter-in-law had soured because of that?”

I had never acted well enough to be unable to break free from a role.

So I didn’t know what that feeling was like, but if it could affect daily life to that extent, I thought my hypothesis might be somewhat accurate.

“To think that the main leads who should be carrying ‘I Will Cast Love’ are faltering…”

“Are you very worried?”

“Honestly, a bit. Is there no solution?”

I asked Myung-hee, even though I knew it would be difficult to suggest a solution.

Myung-hee thought for a moment and then started to share one solution.

I was surprised to hear it and asked her back.

“Will the problem really be solved if we do that?”