The Face Genius Actor

Episode 041 

Suddenly, he burst into laughter.

I tilted my head, not knowing why Park Jun was laughing.

But what was surprising was that Jung Se-hee, who was watching the scene, was also laughing.

What was going on?

Just when I was finding it hard to hide my confusion, wondering if this was some new form of bullying on set,

Park Jun, with remnants of laughter still on his face, opened his mouth.

“Ah. You really don’t know. Why I was able to give such a performance today.”

A response automatically sprang from my mouth.

“What? Well… It’s because of your original outstanding skills…”

But Park Jun interrupted me and asked:

“Was my acting in ‘I Will Cast Love’ really okay?”

“Uh…”

“It’s okay. You can be honest. Actually, I wasn’t satisfied with my acting either.”

“Ah.”

“Until our last script reading together, I couldn’t accept it. How terrible my acting was.”

“It wasn’t that bad…”

“No. It was the worst. You know, there are things you can tell even if the writer and director try not to show it, right?”

“Hmm.”

“But even after going through that, I didn’t come to my senses. I thought I’d show my real skills somehow. I was confident until I arrived on set the first day.”

Certainly, Park Jun was overflowing with confidence that day.

It was true that his skills had improved since the script reading.

But I didn’t think Park Jun’s acting was sufficient even then.

Rather, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was bouncing off the role due to exaggerated parts.

But to think that Park Jun was feeling the same problem.

It was unexpected.

How could that be?

Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long to hear the reason directly from Park Jun.

“But the moment I finished my part of the shooting and saw Si-joon’s acting, I couldn’t help but be shocked. Because there was the acting I wanted to show others.”

“That’s too much praise… Thank you.”

“It’s not an exaggeration. It was really shocking. It was amazing to see someone act so comfortably as if they were born for that role. After that, I thought a lot about my acting.”

“No way… So?”

“Yes. That’s right. That’s why I kept watching Team B’s shooting. After seeing Si-joon’s acting, my problems became a bit clearer. They were problems I couldn’t have identified in the first place if it weren’t for Si-joon.”

“…I see.”

“That’s right. And my problem was that I challenged a new role without completely breaking away from my previous work. When I should have been desperately trying to become the new role, I acted complacently as if I were a spectator… Inevitably, there were discrepancies.”

It seemed Park Jun had identified his problem exactly as I had thought.

This fact was surprising and at the same time, somewhat embarrassing.

The fact that an excellent actor like Park Jun realized his shortcomings because of me.

It was hard to believe.

So, words naturally came out of my mouth denying Park Jun’s story.

“Maybe… Senior, you would have found a way to overcome this problem on your own.”

Hearing my answer, Park Jun thought carefully and then nodded.

“Yes. Maybe I would have. However, I’m not the only one who received good stimulation thanks to Si-joon.”

Then he turned his head to one side.

There stood Jung Se-hee, who had been listening to our conversation all along.

Realizing the attention was on her, Jung Se-hee smiled.

“That’s right. Thanks to Si-joon, I was able to realize that I had the same problem. It wasn’t just Park Jun who couldn’t break away from his previous role.”

As it turned out, the two of them had known each other from before, having been in the same company before going their separate ways.

They got along well and were able to frankly exchange opinions about this situation.

In the process, they were able to find problems with their acting.

‘To think that the main male and female leads of ‘I Will Cast Love’ received good stimulation and corrected their acting because of me.’

It was a bit bewildering.

At the same time, I was reminded of what Seo Myung-hee had said before.

“It’s not a situation where someone else can solve the problem, but…”

“But what?”

“If we were to find a solution, there is one way.”

“What is it?”

“It’s for Si-joon to do his best in acting so that the main male and female leads can snap to attention.”

“What? Will that really solve the problem?”

“We can’t know. But if they’re responsible main leads, they’ll show some reaction to Si-joon’s acting. If there’s an overwhelming difference in acting skills, the reaction will be even better.”

“…I hope so, but I’m not sure if I can show overwhelming acting. Haha.”

“Anyway. Si-joon, you really don’t believe in yourself enough.”

When I heard this from Seo Myung-hee, I didn’t think for a moment that something like this would actually happen.

I didn’t know how seriously the main leads were thinking about their acting.

It didn’t make sense to think that such a dramatic change would occur.

It was too optimistic a thought.

Even Seo Myung-hee added that I shouldn’t worry about it because the possibility was too slim.

She just brought it up hoping that I would focus a bit more on my own acting.

‘But maybe…’

I thought that Seo Myung-hee might have seen some possibility.

Because an ordinary, average actor wouldn’t have received this kind of stimulation just from seeing good acting.

Park Jun and Jung Se-hee.

Park Jun and Jung Se-hee were the main leads who had to carry “I Will Cast Love”.

They were also top actors who had experienced the pinnacle of acting through their previous works.

They were in a situation where they had to take responsibility for their own acting skills.

‘But to think that an actor who’s only the third male lead is showing such good acting…’

From their perspective, they couldn’t help but be stimulated.

This was different from seeing good acting from a veteran actor.

It was easy to take it for granted when a veteran actor performed well.

But I was younger and less experienced than Park Jun and Jung Se-hee.

That’s why the two seemed to be more stimulated.

After organizing my thoughts this way, I could roughly understand how the situation had unfolded.

Along with this, I felt proud that my acting skills had stimulated the two and brought about a dramatic change.

It was also surprising that this happened despite the slim possibility.

Thinking I had grasped the situation, Park Jun opened his mouth.

“Anyway, although it wasn’t intentional, thanks to Si-joon, we were able to correct our acting. Thank you. I really wanted to say this.”

“Yes. Me too. It’s fortunate that we were even able to quickly proceed with reshooting after discussing it with the director. I shudder to think what people would have said if it had gone on air as it was.”

Jung Se-hee followed up on Park Jun’s words, smiling as if it was really fortunate.

This was a part where I could clearly understand why Team A had been busy reshooting.

I was relieved again that this wasn’t the cause of the internal conflict rumor.

‘I guess the internal conflict rumor really did stem from external misunderstanding.’

As everything seemed to be going smoothly, I was curious about this part again and could reaffirm it.

All of this was clearly a result of misunderstanding.

When viewed from afar, why wouldn’t the main leads’ acting skills be the same as before?

There was nothing better than the internal conflict theory to find an answer.

But thinking there was internal conflict, all the people involved in “I Will Cast Love” were too nice.

There’s a reason why successful dramas are successful.

I thought it wasn’t a coincidence that it exceeded 15% viewership even before the regression.

“From my position, it’s like catching a mouse while stepping back, so I’m not sure what to say. I’m glad things worked out well in the end.”

When I said this, both of them burst into laughter again.

“That’s right. From Si-joon’s perspective, it must be bewildering for us to bring this up.”

Jung Se-hee responded to Park Jun’s words as if scolding him.

“Of course, you wouldn’t have known what today’s shooting meant. I was nervous too, seeing how much they were setting the mood for days. Even during the first shoot earlier, I struggled pretending not to know Park Jun’s thoughts.”

Then Park Jun bowed his head apologetically.

“It was my first scene with Si-joon, so I wanted to do well. If I made anyone uncomfortable, I’m sorry to both of you.”

I hurriedly waved my hands.

“No, senior. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t uncomfortable at all, but thanks to you, I had a good experience. Especially, I was glad to be able to act in such a tense sync with someone.”

So, the three of us chatted happily until the next shoot was prepared.

In the process, I thought that perhaps the outcome of “I Will Cast Love” might be even better.

* * *

After that day.

The shooting of “I Will Cast Love” picked up speed.

It was natural for the speed to pick up since there were no more obstacles.

In the meantime, I was experiencing a new kind of fun.

There were not many, but occasionally there were scenes where I acted one-on-one with Park Jun.

Every time, I could feel an exhilarating sensation.

Park Jun seemed to feel similarly, enjoying the shoots with me.

When the shooting for episode 7 ended, I received a call from writer Kim Hee-soo.

“Actor, thank you so much.”

“Pardon?”

“I heard that thanks to you, the main leads were able to receive good stimulation.”

“Ah. If it’s about that, it’s not because of me. I just acted as usual.”

“I thought you would say that. But I can’t help but be very grateful. Actually, I was worried because the main leads’ acting wasn’t coming out as well as I had thought.”

“Ah.”

As expected, writer Kim Hee-soo had been concerned about the main leads’ acting skills.

She was so worried that she wondered if she should continue writing the script as it was.

She said she had seriously discussed with director Kang Han-sung about modifying the latter half of the script.

‘If that had happened, there would have been quite a backlash from the main leads… Maybe the internal conflict rumor wasn’t entirely baseless?’

Thinking this, I humbly accepted writer Kim Hee-soo’s praise.

Anyway, all’s well that ends well.

In the end, everything was resolved well, and that was enough.

As such, the possibility of internal conflict had completely disappeared.

It was natural since the main leads’ acting skills had improved.