The Face Genius Actor

Episode 130

It felt quite different from when “I Am Not a Villain” was called for the Jury Prize.

The moment my name was called, all noise seemed to disappear at once.

I couldn’t help but sit still in my seat for a while.

It was only when Director Choi Seo-young, who burst into tears once again, covered her mouth and called me that I came to my senses.

“Actor… Actor Lee Si-joon!”

“Yes?”

“It’s your turn now. You need to go give your acceptance speech.”

“Ah. Yes.”

Only after responding like this did I realize that congratulations were pouring in from around me along with applause.

I slowly got up and walked towards the stage.

Anna Bressler, the actress in charge of presenting the Best Actor award, was smiling at me.

As I approached her, she handed me the trophy along with a bouquet.

“Congratulations, Actor Lee Si-joon.”

As I received this greeting from Anna Bressler,

Only then did I recall my acceptance speech and checked if the interpreter was beside me.

Fortunately, the interpreter was standing close by, fully prepared for the acceptance speech.

I quietly asked the interpreter.

“Is it possible to change the content of the acceptance speech a little?”

Fortunately, the interpreter nodded without hesitating twice.

“Of course. I might even become famous like the interpreter for ‘The Ant Worker.’ Just make sure to pause well between sentences.”

I agreed to do so and then stood in front of the microphone for my acceptance speech.

Then, clearing my throat, I began to share the story I had long held in my heart.

“I feel uncomfortable as it seems I’m completely denying what Director Choi Seo-young said in praise of me earlier, but to be honest… There was a time when I was truly a poor actor.”

As I said this, I felt as if people held their breath.

This meant that the people gathered here were focusing on my words.

Observing this, I continued speaking.

“I was someone who had to repeat hundreds of times at home to imitate something others could do in one go.

Even now, it’s the same. I practice hundreds of times for a single action and think and practice thousands of times to express a single emotion.

But I never curse my innate talent. Even in the toughest times, I was grateful to have the profession of an actor, and I was grateful that there were people who loved me as an actor and places where I could act.”

I paused here, and while the interpreter relayed my words in French, I observed the reactions around me.

During this, I noticed Anna Bressler’s eyes shining with interest.

I gave Anna Bressler a smile before continuing my acceptance speech.

“I have something I want to say to those who are dreaming now. If you are dreaming now, I support you.

It’s okay if you don’t become the best. Because you are the most wonderful being who doesn’t give up on the greatest treasure called a dream even in the hardest moments.

Lastly, thank you to my mother, father, brother, friends, staff, and all our Syrup who have always supported my dream. From now on, I will continue to be an actor who lives with dreams. That’s all.”

As I finished my acceptance speech and started to walk down from the stage, I saw someone standing up.

Surprisingly, that person was Junior Cashfl, and following his lead, everyone stood up and gave a standing ovation.

A standing ovation for an acceptance speech.

This was uncommon even at the Cannes Film Festival, where standing ovations had become a kind of event.

It was even more so for the Best Actor award.

That’s why I was once again deeply moved.

‘I’ve gained so much from this Cannes Film Festival.’

Invitation to the Cannes Film Festival competition section, 11-minute standing ovation, Jury Prize, Best Actor award.

All of these were achievements from just one attendance at the Cannes Film Festival.

* * *

Even after the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival, we had to fulfill the interview schedules we had set up in advance.

Meanwhile, news about “I Am Not a Villain” spread domestically, and related community reactions were buzzing.

-Wow… Is the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award real?

-Lee Si-joon is amazing lol He only got the Rookie Award at Baeksang and Blue Dragon, but now this in one go lol

-But is “I Am Not a Villain” that good? Considering it won two awards at Cannes?

-You need a hot on-site reaction to get an 11-minute standing ovation in the first place, yeah

-The foreign press reaction is crazy too lol In France, they’re praising Lee Si-joon as a genius of the era lol

-The Spanish and Italian articles are insane too lol There’s even an article that repeats the word ‘genius’ 7 times in one paragraph lol

-At this rate, it’s fair to say all of Europe is obsessed with Lee Si-joon lol

-Lee Si-joon… I wanted to keep him to myself, but he’s being exported like this…

-Am I the only one moved by Lee Si-joon’s acceptance speech?

-I was moved too ㅠㅠㅠ Somehow, it felt like I received encouragement ㅠㅠㅠ

-Personally, I found Choi Seo-young’s acceptance speech interesting lol

-Right lol How amazing of a person is Lee Si-joon really lol

-Even the director he works with becomes a fan, Lee Si-joon’s charm…

-Did you see Junior Cashfl’s interview? He said he immediately recognized “I Am Not a Villain” as an excellent work ;;;

-I got goosebumps when he firmly stated that Lee Si-joon would make a significant mark in the world film industry

-How can he even get recognition from Junior Cashfl? What did he do in Cannes?

-It’s not just Junior Cashfl lol Anna Bressler is also hanging around wanting to take a picture with Lee Si-joon lol

-I saw that gif too lol Is it like you fall for him just by looking at his face?

-It seems like you can’t help it once you see Lee Si-joon in person lol

-So when is “I Am Not a Villain” going to be released domestically?

-They say they’re setting the schedule, I’m curious too lol I really want to see it lol

-Looking at foreign articles, it doesn’t seem like the movie has a particularly joyful content…

-Even the synopsis released on the portal gives a dark feeling lol

-But with all this buzz, aren’t you curious about what kind of movie it is?

-I’m also waiting to go see it as soon as it’s released lol

-Honestly, with Lee Si-joon, you can trust his acting without question…

-They say at the fan meeting that you can see a new side of Lee Si-joon through this movie lol

-Was it something like a psychopath role? Scary but… he’ll be handsome, right?

-Definitely handsome lol A work where you should trust his looks even more than his acting

-Ah… I wish it would be released domestically soon! I’m getting dizzy!

The community reactions always ended with questions about when “I Am Not a Villain” would be released.

The domestic media articles were the same.

At first, they focused on reporting news from the Cannes Film Festival or relaying foreign press reactions, then they poured out news about the domestic release.

They said things like which distributor they were close to, how many theaters nationwide would show the film, how many weeks the film would be screened.

These kinds of stories were constantly being reported.

It was a testament to how many people were paying attention to the news of “I Am Not a Villain”‘s release.

And meeting these expectations, the film quickly found a distributor and began screening in earnest.

Thanks to this, I had to go around theaters nationwide with Director Choi Seo-young, diligently doing stage greetings.

It was a schedule with absolutely no time to rest.

The one fortunate thing was that I didn’t need to appear on variety shows separately to promote “I Am Not a Villain”.

This was possible because it had already been sufficiently promoted domestically.

In the first place, the stage greetings were more about expressing gratitude than promotion.

So “I Am Not a Villain” was screened in all theaters nationwide and ultimately achieved the result of attracting 7.11 million viewers.

It was a result that far exceeded our expected performance.

This was thanks to the expectations for “I Am Not a Villain” being raised even higher after receiving the Jury Prize and Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Most people who saw the movie in theaters also left positive reviews.

‘I was worried about how domestic fans would react, but it seems those concerns were unfounded…’

I concluded my thoughts like this, reflecting on the long journey of “I Am Not a Villain”.

Although OTT sales and such were still left, there wasn’t much I needed to pay attention to in that area.

So it was time to move on to the next stage.

However, there was one problem related to this.

* * *

‘What should I do for my next work?’

Even while doing stage greetings, this thought kept coming up in my mind.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like the scripts that were coming to me.

There were certainly many excellent works in both films and dramas.

After the success of “I Am Not a Villain”, amazing film projects were coming in.

However, among these works, there weren’t many that I could choose.

Almost all of them were works by already famous directors and writers.

And as I explained earlier, I had decided not to follow the predetermined future.

This was because I didn’t want anyone to be indirectly harmed because of it.

In that sense, I had decided not to work with Director Choi Seo-young on the next project either.

Director Choi Seo-young expressed her wish to work together on the next project, but I politely declined.

From my perspective, Director Choi Seo-young was already skilled enough to complete a work on her own.

The fact that several production companies were paying attention to Director Choi Seo-young’s next work was proof of this.

By the way, Director Choi Seo-young had also secured investment from Festa Entertainment for her next work.

“I really wanted to work on one more project with you, it’s such a shame…”

Because Director Choi Seo-young spoke with a voice full of sincerity, I smiled and replied.

“Director, you can certainly complete an excellent work with your own screenplay. Have confidence.”

“I’ve gained quite a bit of confidence, but it still feels empty like I’ve lost a reliable support. Could I perhaps ask you for a cameo appearance?”

“Of course. If it’s a request from you, Director, I’m always welcome. Just let me know.”

Having concluded our conversation about going our separate ways, my worries deepened.

No matter how much I looked, there was no work I could choose.

‘Is there really only one way?’

While deep in thought, holding scripts and screenplays in both hands, I shifted my gaze towards the laptop.

Then I sat in front of the laptop and started writing something in earnest.

At the top of the Word file, the following title was written:

‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam (退魔幻野談).’

This was the title of the new drama I had decided to write.