Park Hae-il, four years after 'Decision to Leave' and 'Hansan: Rising of the Dragon'... "Did he wait for 'Assassins'" [Interview ①]

*This content was translated by AI.

Actor Park Hae-il shared the reasons behind his joining 'Assassins' and the process of developing his character as a journalist living in the 1970s.

On the 10th, we met with actor Park Hae-il at a café on Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, to discuss the film 'Assassins' (directed by Heo Jin-ho).

'Assassins' is a story that traces the suspicions and masterminds behind the assassination of the First Lady, an event that shocked South Korea on August 15, 1974.

Park Hae-il portrayed 'Jae-hwan', the head of the social affairs department at a newspaper who persists in uncovering the truth of the incident despite countless instances of censorship and pressure. This marks his second collaboration with director Heo Jin-ho following 'Deok-hye Princess'.

Returning to the screen four years after 'Decision to Leave' (2022) and 'Hansan: Rising of the Dragon' (2022), Park Hae-il recalled when he was first offered the role of 'Assassins', saying, "I think I had been waiting for director Heo Jin-ho's film."

He added, "The director and I occasionally drank makgeolli together and talked about life. While meeting so casually, he proposed the project and gave me the script. After reading it, I thought, 'Did he wait to do this?' I told him a week later that I would take on the role."

The fact that the story is set in the 1970s also sparked Park Hae-il's curiosity. He explained, "This is the first time director Heo has tackled a story about the 1970s. Although I was born in the 1970s, it deals with major events that occurred before my birth. It was an incident that happened when I was just crawling around, unaware of anything. I think I started with the mindset of gradually learning more while filming."

However, he did not start with firm conviction about the character and the film from the beginning of production.

Park Hae-il revealed, "Even after finishing the first shoot, I hadn't planted the word 'conviction' in my mind yet. It felt like crossing a stone bridge by tapping it first. As I took each step forward, I kept asking myself, 'Is this the right direction?'"

He further added, "I also had conversations with the director and communicated with the main staff and fellow actors to continuously confirm whether we were capturing the feel of that era."

Especially when portraying the journalist Jae-hwan, his first concern was 'naturalness'. He said, "Since my role is a journalist, my first task was to look as much like a journalist as possible within the space where journalists sit. I thought a lot about what would feel natural."

He also referred to materials related to the incident and the era at that time. Park Hae-il explained, "There were historical documents and documentaries available, and it was an event frequently covered on terrestrial broadcasts. However, my intention was simply to grasp the general outline. Rather than accumulating too much information, I started with the mindset of entering the creative world given to me."

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*This content was translated by AI.