The Face Genius Actor

Episode 093

A few days later.

Upon arriving at the filming location, I first sought out Director Kim Pil-sung.

I then talked about the scene I had discovered yesterday.

It was the scene where Yoon Woo-sung and Kim Sung-yeon assassinate a pro-Japanese collaborator just before leaving Gyeongseong.

It was Scene 14.

“There’s a problem with Scene 14?”

“It might be my mistake, but… it feels out of place in the overall context.”

Given Yoon Woo-sung and Kim Sung-yeon’s personalities, they could certainly assassinate a pro-Japanese collaborator.

Moreover, this collaborator wasn’t simply someone with pro-Japanese sentiments.

He was a figure who had taken the lead in selling out the country, causing suffering to countless people.

Assassinating such a character would not only provide a sense of satisfaction to the audience…

It could also show how Yoon Woo-sung and Kim Sung-yeon were working towards a greater purpose.

However, the act of assassinating the pro-Japanese collaborator in Scene 14 lacked plausibility.

This was because the two had secretly entered Gyeongseong under orders from the provisional government to secure funds for the independence movement.

But to abandon their mission and make themselves targets of the Japanese army by taking the initiative to eliminate a pro-Japanese collaborator…

From the audience’s perspective, this would be difficult to understand.

This was especially true considering that after Scene 29, Yoon Woo-sung and Kim Sung-yeon struggle to secure independence movement funds and return to Shanghai.

To the audience, this sequence of events could feel like they were putting shackles on their own feet.

“So, Actor Lee Si-joon, you’re saying that Yoon Woo-sung and Kim Sung-yeon need a decisive reason to assassinate the pro-Japanese collaborator.”

“That’s right.”

“There’s certainly merit to that. Let’s discuss this further when Actor Ji Jung-hyun arrives later.”

In other words, even though I had pointed out a flaw, Director Kim Pil-sung accepted my opinion without any other intentions.

Shortly after…

Ji Jung-hyun arrived, and we began to discuss this part in earnest.

After hearing my explanation, Ji Jung-hyun thought for a moment and then nodded.

“I understand what you mean. I kept feeling like something was off… So it was because of Scene 14.”

Director Kim Pil-sung asked after hearing Ji Jung-hyun’s response.

“How should we modify Scene 14 to add plausibility?”

We had a deep conversation about this part.

And soon, we were able to reach a conclusion without much difficulty.

It was about giving plausibility to each character in line with the emotions of Scene 89.

As explained earlier, Scene 89 was where Kim Sung-yeon breaks down in tears upon seeing the cold discovery of siblings who had formed an unexpected bond.

It was also the scene where he decides to stay put and kill Japanese soldiers instead of simply crossing the border into Gando.

However, Kim Sung-yeon was not originally a character who was swayed by emotions like this.

Although he had a seemingly light-hearted side, he was a character who focused on his mission more thoroughly than anyone else.

He could be described as having the opposite personality to Yoon Woo-sung, who appeared calm but tended to handle things emotionally due to his strong sense of justice.

Scene 89 was meant to show Kim Sung-yeon, who originally displayed this personality, having an awakening triggered by the siblings’ deaths.

For this reason, Scene 14 needed to clearly show that Kim Sung-yeon was not a character swayed by emotions, in order to highlight the dramatic change in Scene 89.

However, unfortunately, this aspect of Kim Sung-yeon’s character was not well portrayed at present.

And this wasn’t just a problem with Scene 14.

All the scenes shot before Scene 29 were unsuitable for bringing out Kim Sung-yeon’s character.

The character wasn’t clearly defined.

‘That’s why Kim Sung-yeon ended up being buried in .’

Originally, this might not have been a big problem.

However, the Kim Sung-yeon I created had a more definite presence.

‘That’s probably why Ji Jung-hyun and Director Kim Pil-sung also felt something was off.’

In a situation where Kim Sung-yeon’s character could dominate the entire content of the film…

We had no choice but to reach one conclusion.

“This won’t do.”

“We need to reshoot everything.”

“I think so too.”

However, reshooting wasn’t an easy task.

Reshooting everything from Scene 1 to 28 would not only take a long time, but there was actually an even bigger problem.

It was a practical issue.

To proceed with reshooting like this, a huge amount of funding was needed.

While Ji Jung-hyun and I could forgo our reshoot fees for the sake of a better production…

It wasn’t right to demand sacrifice from the on-set staff as well.

In fact, in situations like this, it would be appropriate to earnestly request their participation in the reshoot with additional pay, rather than asking for sacrifice.

From the perspective of the on-set staff, they would have to adjust their schedules for upcoming projects to participate in the reshoot of .

So, there was a major obstacle in the form of funding.

But was not in a position to easily attract further investment.

Even the current funds had been barely gathered through Ji Jung-hyun’s hard work.

As a result, neither I, Ji Jung-hyun, nor Director Kim Pil-sung could easily make the decision to reshoot.

After a long silence…

Director Kim Pil-sung spoke up, seeming to have made a decision.

“Let’s just reshoot Scenes 5, 8, and 14. This should be enough for us to somehow form Kim Sung-yeon’s character that we’re aiming for through editing.”

Certainly, in a situation with no funds like now, this was the best option.

However, this approach would inevitably lower the quality of .

It was quite disappointing for me, who had been expecting the birth of an far superior in artistic quality compared to before the regression.

‘Of course, even with this conservative approach, a better work than the pre-regression will be completed.’

It was fortunate that we discovered the problem before it was too late.

However, I wanted an even better work than this.

I felt this way even more strongly because I had been immersed in the work recently and my affection for had increased.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one thinking this way.

After a moment of silent contemplation, Ji Jung-hyun looked at Director Kim Pil-sung.

“I would like to become a more complete work.”

“But we don’t have the funds…”

“Yes, we don’t have sufficient funds. However, if we give up now, we’ll forever lose the chance to improve the quality of .”

“Ah…”

“I’ll try my best to move around and secure investment. So please don’t give up and wait a little longer.”

Ji Jung-hyun spoke emphatically, as if trying to persuade Director Kim Pil-sung.

But in reality, Ji Jung-hyun wasn’t in a comfortable situation either.

He had already mobilized all his connections to secure funding for .

Moreover, Ji Jung-hyun had invested all the money he had saved for a long time into .

I learned about this by chance during a company dinner.

‘I heard that FQ, Ji Jung-hyun’s agency, did invest in , but…’

It seemed they hadn’t put in a large amount.

From the beginning, FQ had been displeased with Ji Jung-hyun showing interest in projects like .

So it was clear that it would be difficult for Ji Jung-hyun to get help from FQ.

Director Kim Pil-sung, knowing this fact, looked at Ji Jung-hyun with worried eyes.

Even though Ji Jung-hyun showed enthusiasm for reshooting, the atmosphere didn’t seem to improve.

‘It’s good that I prepared in advance.’

Having organized my thoughts, I spoke to the two of them.

“Um… excuse me for interrupting, but…”

“Go ahead.”

“Yes, please speak, actor.”

“I have a way.”

Ji Jung-hyun and Director Kim Pil-sung were surprised to hear my words.

“A way?”

“Is that true?”

I nodded and replied.

“Yes. Actually, after realizing there was a problem with Scene 14, I thought we would inevitably need to reshoot. Naturally, the issue of investment funds came to mind.”

“Yes, that’s inevitable.”

“Do you think we can get additional investment?”

I shook my head as I heard Director Kim Pil-sung’s worried words.

“It would be difficult through conventional methods. But there is a way. First, I’ll invest the money I’ve saved so far into .”

“Hmm…”

“Gasp? Really?”

“However, the amount isn’t that large. With the amount I invest, we’ll barely be able to reshoot three or four scenes.”

Although I had appeared in three works since the regression, I hadn’t earned a lot of money yet.

The pay for was very low, and for , I barely recovered the investment cost and received a small settlement.

The only time I received proper pay was for , but even this wasn’t an enormously large amount.

If I hadn’t appeared in commercials, it would have been impossible to invest even enough for three or four scenes.

“Indeed, it’s still too early to have saved a large sum. But even an amount enough for three or four scenes will certainly help. Thank you. It’s encouraging.”

Ji Jung-hyun patted my shoulder as he said this.

He seemed quite moved that I had readily offered to help.

The act of patting the shoulder might not have much meaning to others, but it was different for Ji Jung-hyun.

For Ji Jung-hyun, this was his best expression of emotion.

will be a good movie.

I decided to invest because I had no doubt about that.

But what I had in mind didn’t end there.

Offering to invest the money I had saved was just a way of keeping up appearances.

I had already found another way to fund the reshooting of .

“Thank you, senior. But my story isn’t over yet. Actually, anticipating the need for reshooting, I called a company.”

Director Kim Pil-sung spoke up as if he had sensed something.

“Don’t tell me…”

I smiled at Director Kim Pil-sung and replied.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s Festa Entertainment, my agency. Fortunately, Festa Entertainment showed great interest in investing in .”

* * *

A week later.

Festa Entertainment officially invested a substantial amount in .

The amount even matched the original investment in .

A massive investment.

Thanks to this, the filming of proceeded smoothly.

At the same time, news of Festa Entertainment’s investment was reported in articles.

[Festa Entertainment! Confirmed Investment in ‘Escape’!]

[‘Escape’ is Festa Entertainment’s First Investment Project…]

[Will Definitely Surpass the Break-Even Point? Festa Entertainment CEO’s Confidence!]

[CEO Jung Yoon-seok, “Festa Entertainment Will Officially Enter the Film Business”]

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly as I checked through the articles.

It reminded me of having to meet Jung Yoon-seok, the CEO of Festa Entertainment, not long ago.