Kim Soo-hyun returns in action thriller film
SEOUL: After going on a hiatus of sorts, forgoing work on both the small and big screens, Kim Soo-hyun is set to return to the big screen. Kim recently appeared at Sungkyunkwan University’s Millenium Hall to promote his latest film in around four years.
In the noir film ‘Real’, directed by Lee Sarang, Kim plays the two main characters _ the first being Jang Tae-young, a crime boss who runs Asia’s biggest casino who is in conflict with Cho Wongeun, a man who claims half the casino’s proprietorship, played by Seong Dong-il. Kim’s other character is a man with the same name and same features as Jang, who makes Jang an irresistible offer.
The film, which is expected to open in late June, features other popular actors including Lee Seong-min, Cho Woo-jin and Choi Jin-ri, formerly known as Sulli in the girl band f( X).
Asked by a fan to describe similarities between himself and his first character, Kim said, “Jang is depicted as an ambitious figure in the movie, and I am ambitious as well.”
Kim also said playing two characters in the same film on the big screen for the first time was challenging and thrilling, but at the same time he felt burdened when he saw the list of his costars.
“I said ‘Yes’ when I saw the list of my costars, because I was happy to work with them, but then I thought to myself, now I have to do really well, and felt the burden,” Kim said during the showcase, which was also attended by Seong and Choi, who also said they enjoyed working on the action film with their great costars.
According to the teaser images, the film promises bold, colourful sets of the casino interiors, which Kim said was “overwhelming at times, but they also made the delivery of my double characters possible.”
For the movie, Kim said he trained with a boxing coach because the director requested clean- cut, sophisticated and impactful action scenes. “I chose boxing because its moves fall in line with the (director’s) request,” he said.
Seong, who plays the arch nemesis of Kim’s first character in the film, said he did not even read the script when he heard that Kim was starring in it.
“I wanted to shoot a film with Kim before I got any older,” said Seong, whose career in film spans 27 years. He said he made it clear with the director that he did not have to play action scenes.