The Face Genius Actor

Episode 043

“I Will Cast Love” developed with stories of three main couples.

First, the main couple dealt with the story of WW Networks’ CEO ‘Jang Hyuk-jun (Park Jun)’ and PR team employee ‘Kim In-young (Jung Se-hee)’.

The content was about them starting with an absurd contract relationship, growing their love while bickering, and developing into a couple.

Next, the sub-couple was the story of WW’s second-in-command ‘Yoon Jung-hoon (Gong Hyung-jun)’ and single mother ‘Kim Jung-hee (Lee Mi-hwa)’.

It was about two people who cherished their faint first love, accidentally reuniting and developing a special love.

The last couple was the narrative of ‘Kim Won-young (me)’, who jumped into society right after graduating high school, and ‘Lim Hee-joo (Lee Joo-yeon)’, a lawyer in WW’s legal team.

The main point was that these two people, with a big difference in age and social status, have a love that overcomes these barriers.

Scene 11 of Episode 13 depicted the moment when the emotions of these two people deepened, their views on love clashed, and they eventually broke up.

Kim Won-young held the position that they could love eternally without necessarily getting married.

Lim Hee-joo was contemplating whether it was right to keep seeing Kim Won-young, as missing this timing would make marriage more distant.

‘Like in any relationship, it’s a situation where you can’t say one person is right.’

It wasn’t for nothing that love was called timing.

If Kim Won-young had been just a little older and had different thoughts.

If Lim Hee-joo had been a bit younger and had the mindset that just dating was fine.

This situation wouldn’t have occurred.

But the two were in a situation where they inevitably clashed, either not meeting at the right time or passing it by.

Writer Kim Hee-soo perfectly caught this point and created the Kim Won-young – Lim Hee-joo couple.

Moreover, she cleverly built the narrative and emotions in a way that made it difficult to solely support or criticize one person.

This was a part where you could understand why “I Will Cast Love” was considered Kim Hee-soo’s masterpiece.

It was surprising that even the narrative and emotions of the third lead couple were flawless.

Given that “I Will Cast Love” had such a perfect structure, Scene 11 of Episode 13 was extremely important.

It could be considered the critical point where the conflict between the Kim Won-young – Lim Hee-joo couple explodes.

The challenge was to act in a way that revealed the thoughts of the two people ultimately choosing to part ways.

While at the same time, capturing the emotions so that viewers couldn’t take sides with either party.

In this respect, the difficulty of acting in Scene 11 of Episode 13 was considerable.

For this reason, Lee Joo-yeon and I worked hard to perfectly digest this scene.

It wasn’t for nothing that Seo Myung-hee told me I had put in effort to film this scene well.

In reality, I did my best to act this scene excellently.

Of course, I received help from Seo Myung-hee, and I practiced the same scene countless times using the method mask.

Moreover, I utilized the fact that the content inside the method mask changes according to script analysis.

I performed with various versions of Lim Hee-joo, each with slightly different expressions.

It was like practicing to perform my own unique acting while matching breath with hundreds of different versions of Lim Hee-joo.

In this way, I practiced to be able to perform perfectly no matter which version of Lim Hee-joo I encountered…

Perhaps thanks to that.

“Good work!”

“That was great! Actor Lee Si-joon!”

“Excellent! Both of you worked hard!”

Fortunately, that effort paid off.

The moment I took a few steps with Lim Hee-joo behind my back.

The moment I thought I wanted to sit down right away and cry because I couldn’t take another step.

I received the okay sign from Director Kang Han-sung.

‘I did it….’

It was very satisfying to finish such a scene without a single NG.

Because of that, joy quickly filled my face as if tears had never been there.

“You worked hard, Si-joon.”

The voice of Lee Joo-yeon, who had just been acting as Lim Hee-joo, was also filled with satisfaction.

I also didn’t hold back on praising Lee Joo-yeon.

“You worked hard too, senior. It was really great acting.”

I meant it sincerely.

If Lee Joo-yeon hadn’t shown good acting, I couldn’t have felt this level of satisfaction.

‘Moreover, senior…’

She performed the best version of acting among the many Lim Hee-joos I had met through the method mask.

The catch was that there were several excellent versions because it was such a difficult scene to act.

Anyway, pulling out one of them was impossible with ordinary effort.

“You fool. Why are you here?”

It was impressive how this line was imbued with deep sadness along with a premonition of farewell.

But surprisingly, there was a hidden joy in it.

This was my idea of the best Lim Hee-joo.

Only then would it reveal that Lim Hee-joo was contemplating until the end whether this parting was right.

It was extremely difficult to mix all these emotions into a single line of dialogue.

‘Because of that, I was worried if I could meet the best Lim Hee-joo on set…’

It was an unnecessary worry.

Lee Joo-yeon successfully found and acted out the best Lim Hee-joo as if to prove me wrong.

After that, what I thought was the next most difficult part after “You fool. Why are you here?”

She perfectly handled the twice-repeated “Won-young” with different emotions each time.

It was a moment where I could once again realize what a great actor Lee Joo-yeon is.

It made me think it wasn’t for nothing that Lee Joo-yeon enjoyed immense popularity after “I Will Cast Love”.

‘There were times when her concentration seemed scattered and she couldn’t perform her best acting… But this level is enough.’

It would be best to act well in every scene.

But not being able to do so was an unavoidable reality.

It wasn’t for nothing that actors say they have regrets left after finishing a work.

Acting was something that inevitably left a bit of regret almost every moment.

In the end, the most important thing for an actor was to excellently digest the acting in the parts that become focal points.

In that respect, Lee Joo-yeon fulfilled her role 200%.

She deserved to enjoy tremendous popularity.

But Lee Joo-yeon didn’t seem to think so.

“No, I’m far behind compared to you. How do you not miss even a single scene? Every time I act with you, I’m amazed. I can’t even recall the Lee Si-joon from the Sorisaem days.”

Lee Joo-yeon seemed to sincerely think this way.

The fact that I had already heard the same praise more than thirty times was proof of that.

And of course, it was all possible thanks to the method mask.

I didn’t even think I had acted satisfactorily in all scenes.

I too was leaving regrets in almost every scene.

It wasn’t for nothing that I felt elation after performing perfect acting with Park Jun.

‘I’m lacking a lot too, well.’

But no matter how I said this, the response I’d get was predictable.

As Seo Myung-hee often did, I’d probably hear something like, “Si-joon, your excessive modesty is a problem.”

So I just smiled once without giving any particular answer.

Then Lee Joo-yeon smiled along and added one more thing.

“Don’t keep smiling at me with that handsome face. I’m getting attached.”

***

After finishing the filming of Episode 13.

Finally, the day of the drama’s first broadcast dawned.

Unfortunately, this time I couldn’t watch the first broadcast with my family.

It was a planned tragedy.

We couldn’t gather as a family because my brother was at Paris Fashion Week.

And one more thing.

The situation was settled that way as I suddenly received a phone call.

It was a call from Park Jun.

“Hello?”

-Si-joon.

“Oh? Senior Park Jun?”

-Yes, it’s me. Surprised by my sudden call?

“Yes. I really didn’t expect you to call.”

-It’s natural to call if I got the number. I also wanted to get closer to Si-joon when I had time. What are you doing this Friday?

“This Friday… Shouldn’t we be watching the first broadcast of ‘I Will Cast Love’?”

-That’s perfect. I was planning to do that too. How about watching it together? Se-hee and Senior Gong Hyung-jun will be coming that day too. Se-hee said she’d ask Mi-hwa separately if she wants to join.

It was an unexpected invitation, but it seemed like almost all the lead actors would be gathering.

For such an occasion, I couldn’t possibly miss it.

Especially since Director Kang Han-sung had set Friday and Saturday, the broadcast days of ‘I Will Cast Love’, as days off.

I couldn’t even use filming as an excuse.

“I can’t miss something like that. But would it be okay to invite Senior Lee Joo-yeon?”

-Of course. I was actually going to ask you to contact her. You’re the only one among us who has Joo-yeon’s number.

“I see. Then I’ll contact her to see if she can join us that day.”

After hanging up the phone.

I immediately received a message from Park Jun with the address.

It asked me to come to the meeting place in time for the first broadcast.

‘Was there an agency here too?’

I tilted my head looking at the address that started with ‘Seorae Village, Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul’.

Not just the address itself, but there was no indication of which building it was.

As if it were someone’s house.

‘Is it a restaurant?’

But thinking Park Jun would have chosen a good place, I soon dropped the thought.

Then without hesitating twice, I called Lee Joo-yeon.

Fortunately, Lee Joo-yeon was very pleased and accepted Park Jun’s invitation.

So, a few days later.

Finally, Friday evening came, and I moved to the address written in the message with Yeo Kyung-chan.

And I was quite surprised.

As expected, the place we arrived at wasn’t an office of any production company.

Nor was it a restaurant.

It was a luxurious high-end house, presumed to be privately owned.

I realized at a glance that this was Park Jun’s house.

“I was a bit curious while driving, but it really is a high-end house.”

“Indeed.”

“If we’re being invited to a home, shouldn’t we have bought something?”

“Ah. I think we should have. How much time do we have left?”

“We left 30 minutes early, so we still have time.”

“Then we should look for a place to buy a gift.”

“I’ll call Team Leader Kim and ask if there’s a good place nearby.”

“Yes, please do.”

I watched as Yeo Kyung-chan called Kim Bo-mi, then took out my phone.

I thought I should let Lee Joo-yeon know about the situation too.

-What? That place is Senior Park Jun’s house? Oh my. Then shouldn’t we buy something?

“That’s why I called you. We’re about to go buy a gift, and I thought it would be good to get yours too.”

-As expected of our Si-joon! Taking care of your senior even in a sudden situation! I’m telling you, you’ve got sense!

“You’re on your way now, right? I’ll send you the address, so please come there.”

So, I bought a bottle of reasonably priced wine each with Lee Joo-yeon.

Then we headed back to Park Jun’s house, making sure not to be late.