The Face Genius Actor

Episode 079

The shooting had been prolonged because I couldn’t respond to the ad-lib.

For that reason, I thought others would naturally be dissatisfied.

But for some reason, none of those watching the shoot expressed any dissatisfaction.

The commercial director wore a satisfied smile, and the staff applauded and encouraged us generously.

The reaction of the senior actors, in particular, was unexpected.

“They really made that work.”

“I told you. Kids these days act even better.”

Cha Jung-in and Koo Han-jin muttered.

“This is why I don’t like Director Kim. Who could endure that?”

“I know. He torments you till the end without giving even a single hint. Ugh.”

“Still, it ended early. When Jung-hyun started ad-libbing, I thought it would go on, but Si-joon did well too. Wasn’t that last bit of acting good?”

Yoon Hee-jung, Han Hye-yoon, and Chun Kyung-wan had a separate conversation.

Baek Joo-sung and Kang Yoon-ah didn’t say anything, but expressed their emotions with surprised expressions.

What kind of reaction was this?

I looked at Ji Jung-hyun with a dazed feeling.

Ji Jung-hyun also seemed satisfied with the current situation.

“You worked hard.”

Only then could I roughly grasp the situation.

The people gathered here thought I had successfully responded to Ji Jung-hyun’s ad-lib.

As an ad-lib.

But it wasn’t intentional.

In a state of extreme tension, Ji Jung-hyun’s question had hit me, and I just felt deflated.

The “What?” question had popped out without me realizing it in this process.

‘But to elicit such a reaction…’

Thinking about it again, it seemed possible.

Given the flow of the scene, it was more natural to be dumbfounded by Ji Jung-hyun’s question than to counter it with a witty ad-lib.

As I was organizing these thoughts, Ji Jung-hyun quietly muttered.

“There are directors like this. Pretending to give actors autonomy while pushing them to their limits.”

“Ah…”

“If it were someone else, we probably would have filmed for another hour.”

“An hour…”

“I’m telling you, there are so many crazy people in this industry in various ways.”

Ji Jung-hyun was right.

There were certainly many unique people in this industry.

I had just forgotten this fact for a while, luckily meeting decent people after my regression.

But my thoughts didn’t continue for long.

Because the commercial director approached us, laughing heartily.

Ji Jung-hyun also closed his mouth without saying anything more.

“Hahaha. Good job, everyone. The ad-libs were amazing. As expected, Jung-hyun is true to his reputation. While I was admiring that, Si-joon caught it perfectly. The last part was referencing a recent meme, right?”

The recent meme he was referring to seemed to be ‘Face genius who doesn’t know why he’s loved.gif’.

Indeed, the situation where I was flustered and questioned Ji Jung-hyun’s question seemed similar to that.

So I nodded vaguely to smooth over the situation.

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“I knew it! Thanks to you two, we got a proper shot from the first filming! Good job!”

I replied to the commercial director, “Good job.”

But Ji Jung-hyun didn’t answer immediately and sighed, “Whew.”

Then he looked up at the commercial director and said one thing.

“Next time, I’d like to discuss ad-libs in advance.”

The commercial director laughed awkwardly and replied,

“But then it feels like the acting doesn’t come alive somehow…”

Ji Jung-hyun was right.

The commercial director seemed to have deliberately conducted the shoot this way.

It was certainly not a pleasant method.

I had fundamental doubts about whether it was right to push someone like this without agreement.

There was an error in thinking that ad-libs wouldn’t improve if agreed upon beforehand.

Rather, agreeing to some extent before shooting could lead to better ad-libs.

Of course, ad-libbing was about improvising performances not in the script.

But that didn’t mean you couldn’t discuss it before shooting.

Even if you didn’t discuss in detail what kind of improvisation to do, you could at least mention that you’d like ad-libs here.

Then everyone involved could enter the shoot with some mental preparation.

In fact, this was a matter of ‘etiquette’ rather than ‘art’.

I wondered if Ji Jung-hyun and I were the only ones thinking this way.

Yoon Hee-jung, who had been watching the situation from the side, joined the conversation.

“That’s right, Director Kim. What just happened was your mistake. Moreover, this is Jung-hyun and Si-joon’s first KC commercial.”

When even the veteran actress Yoon Hee-jung stepped in, the commercial director scratched his cheek awkwardly and reluctantly bowed his head.

“Yes, ma’am. I think you’re right. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“Good. Let’s do that. So who’s next for shooting?”

“It’s Baek Joo-sung and Kim Yoon-ah.”

“You shouldn’t make the two sports stars do ad-libs, right?”

“Haha. Of course not. Please just follow the script, you two. The original script is funny enough, so it should be fine.”

With that, the commercial director hurriedly moved to prepare for the next shoot.

It was obvious he was moving quickly to avoid being scolded further.

Ji Jung-hyun watched the scene and then spoke to Yoon Hee-jung.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“What are you thanking me for? I was planning to say something today anyway. He did the same to me last time.”

“To you too, ma’am?”

“That was before I won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. He must have looked down on me as an old person.”

“Ah, I see.”

“It’s fine. He’ll come to his senses now. If not, I’ll teach him another lesson. By the way…”

Yoon Hee-jung suddenly turned her head towards me.

Although we had greeted each other earlier, I couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous meeting Yoon Hee-jung’s gaze like this.

Yoon Hee-jung was an actress who had recently won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in .

As the tension was rising, Yoon Hee-jung continued speaking.

“You’re even more handsome up close. Your ad-lib earlier was good. Good job.”

Yoon Hee-jung gave a faint smile and said this before walking away.

It was a brief word of encouragement, but somehow it felt empowering.

* * *

As everyone moved towards Baek Joo-sung and Kim Yoon-ah’s shooting area,

Ji Jung-hyun asked,

“Are you just going to leave?”

I immediately shook my head.

“No. Since we’re here anyway, I’d like to observe the other shoots before leaving.”

“Yes. That’s right. By the way, I’m looking forward to Baek Joo-sung and Kim Yoon-ah’s shoot.”

Ji Jung-hyun said this as he started walking first.

I followed behind him, recalling the script for Baek Joo-sung and Kim Yoon-ah.

‘Come to think of it, those two’s script…’

It contained quite embarrassing content.

Since it was related to me, I had already reviewed and approved the script at the request of the advertising agency.

So I knew the content well.

‘Suddenly, I just want to go home.’

But it was a good opportunity to watch the performances of other skilled actors.

I couldn’t miss this chance just because it was embarrassing.

As I walked on, Baek Joo-sung and Kim Yoon-ah were exchanging lines.

The concept itself wasn’t much different.

Like Ji Jung-hyun and I had done, they were waiting on set for the KC commercial shoot.

Kim Yoon-ah asked Baek Joo-sung, who was fiddling with his phone:

“Oppa. Have you ever seen Lee Si-joon?”

“I have.”

“Really?”

“Yes. On TV.”

“Oh. What…”

“But he was really handsome.”

“Right?”

“He was crazy good-looking. I understand Ji Jung-hyun’s feelings.”

“Park Jun’s too.”

At that moment, someone approached the two who were in the middle of their conversation.

In the setup, I was supposed to be approaching them.

In reality, a staff member was playing that role.

“Oh? He’s coming this way.”

“Stay calm. Smile casually like you’re a sports star.”

“Pretend to be a sports star…”

“Yes. Pretend to be a sports star.”

As the two awkwardly smiled at the camera…

“Cut! That was good! Let’s do it one more time!”

That’s how the shoot was supposed to end.

I felt my face burning up as soon as the director called cut.

It was inevitable.

Everyone was looking at me and smiling.

Ji Jung-hyun nodded once, seemingly satisfied with something, and then looked at me.

“How was it?”

“…What?”

“Just curious.”

“……”

For some reason, I felt like Ji Jung-hyun was teasing me.

Feeling that this was unbearable, I was about to leave for a moment when one of the staff approached me.

“Actor Lee Si-joon…”

“If you have time, could you actually act out this part?”

“You want me to really walk over there?”

“Yes… I think it would help the two of them immerse themselves in the acting…”

As soon as the staff finished speaking, laughter erupted on set once again.

I wanted to refuse out of embarrassment, but I couldn’t.

“If that’s really the reason, I can’t refuse to help those two.”

Ji Jung-hyun preemptively said this.

“That’s right, Si-joon. If you’re just going to watch anyway, come over here and help us out a bit.”

Yoon Hee-jung chimed in like this.

I had no choice but to sigh and step forward.

* * *

Fortunately, Baek Joo-sung and Kim Yoon-ah’s shoot ended quickly.

As previously discussed, the director didn’t want improvisation from the two.

Next came Cha Jung-in and Koo Han-jin’s shoot, with Yoon Hee-jung, Han Hye-yoon, and Chun Kyung-wan wrapping things up.

Perhaps because they had already shot KC commercials before, the filming didn’t take long.

It seemed they had prepared how to improvise in advance.

‘Even so, it’s impressive…’

All five actors showcased high-level improvised acting.

Their skills were on par with Ji Jung-hyun’s.

As a result, I was able to learn a lot just by watching their performances.

And I found myself wanting to try spontaneous acting like them someday.

For now, I was still focused on memorizing the character’s expressions, gestures, and way of speaking with the Method Mask.

But if I could truly immerse myself in the role through repeated practice, it seemed possible.

‘Especially in a movie where the beginning and end are all laid out in the script, it might be possible…’

I was thinking this when…

Finally, all the filming was finished.

“Good work everyone!”

“Thanks for your hard work!”

“See you next time, sir!”

“Yes! Take care on your way home!”

Because there were so many people gathered, even saying goodbyes took quite a while.

“I hear the filming of is ending soon?”

“Yes. It should be finished after shooting episodes 15 and 16.”

“By then, I should be able to get an answer about whether you’re interested in appearing in the movie.”

“I think so. I’ll contact you soon, senior.”

Just as I was exchanging farewells with Ji Jung-hyun…

“Excuse me…”

Someone cautiously approached me.

When I turned my head, the person standing there was Kim Yoon-ah.