Director Son Jae-koon: "Kang Dong-won even performed a headspin... so hardworking it made me feel sorry" (Wild Thing) [Interview 1]

*This content was translated by AI.

Director Son Jae-koon of "Wild Thing" expressed his gratitude toward Kang Dong-won.

On the 28th, we met with Director Son Jae-koon, who directed the film "Wild Thing," at a café on Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and had a wide-ranging conversation.

"Wild Thing" is a comedy film about the three-member mixed dance group "Triangle," which once dominated the music industry but was unexpectedly involved in an incident and disbanded overnight, as they seize a chance for redemption after 20 years through a reckless challenge.

Director Son Jae-koon, who has built his own comedy world by adding surprising imagination to everyday subjects in every work, returns with "Wild Thing" after "Not Harming Anyone" (2020).

He stated, "It has been six years since I released a film, and I can feel that time passing. Whatever the profession, changes happen quickly, so I am adapting to the changed environment."

"Wild Thing" is a work that runs solely for "laughter." Director Son Jae-koon explained, "Most films are mixed genres, but it has been a long time since I made a complete comedy as a single genre. Although I haven't made many films, I have long worked on projects where the first genre is another genre and the second genre is comedy."

He continued, "While working on the script this time, I tried to recall the feelings of the past. As I kept repeating to myself, 'I am a comedy director,' I actually became optimistic and felt a good mood for the first time in a while. I even thought, 'Why did I avoid working on comedy-focused scripts for so long?'"

Regarding the decision to set the protagonist as a mixed group called "Triangle," he said, "I think a mixed group is good for providing various feelings. I thought it would lead to a more interesting story cinematically." He added, "In the past, I would have included a love story, but it wasn't a must, and I didn't think it was necessary for me to do so."

He further clarified that he did not work with a specific singer in mind. He stated, "There are parts I already knew and many points I referenced. However, during the production process, I forgot about specific singers. After the characters were fleshed out and the actors were cast, I focused on that." He emphasized, "I believe there will be real singers that the audience will definitely recall. However, I did not base the work on copying a specific singer during the production process."

Kang Dong-won, who plays the role of Hyun-woo, was the first member of Triangle to be cast. Director Son said, "Since I decided to work on this project from the beginning, he was one of the people who knew the film best among the production team. He also had a high level of understanding of the style and atmosphere of singers from that era." He added, "It seems he also wanted to try this kind of comedy acting."

He continued, "Kang Dong-won really enjoys comedy acting, and the actor's ideas were reflected a lot in the musical aspects. Originally, the script only had a setting for breakdancing, but we added details like headspins. I thought it was necessary to create a character setting that suited the actor Kang Dong-won even more, pushing to the extreme."

He also said, "I was worried about how the actor would accept the setting of doing a headspin at that age, but he said he would do it. It seems he didn't think it should be done at an appropriate level." He added, "We delayed the choreography filming as much as possible. We showed consideration so he could practice more until then, even renting a practice room in a local area during breaks. He worked so hard it made me feel sorry."

He added, "No matter what work he does, I once again felt the actor's attitude of never taking anything lightly."

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*This content was translated by AI.