From The Straits Times    |

How did you feel when you first read the script? Did you relate to your character in the movie and how did you prepare for your role?

Gang Dong-won: From the beginning, I was able to relate to this character. A lot of people ask if it’s quite tough because this character didn’t really have any history [to work with]. But I believed in this character so I just tried to be him from the beginning.

Kim Woo-bin: In the movie, he’s double dealing between Jin and the detective, so the character is confusing everyone. I myself was both confused and curious about what he’s thinking. So I wanted to convey those dual feelings to the audience. And I wanted to bring across the chemistry and relationships that this character has with all the other characters in the movie.

 

It’s the first time that you’re working together. How was the chemistry?

Gang Dong-won: Of course, everyone’s the same. When you meet a new actor or actress, you are pretty nervous. But he [Kim Woo-bin] was very kind from the beginning, so it was fine. And we then we got friendly so fast, and we had action shooting in the Philippines for a month, so it was good.

 

In the movie, Woo-bin’s character kind of fools around and he’s quite funny. So is Woo-bin like that in real life?

Gang Dong-won: He’s very polite and kind to everybody.

Kim Woo-bin: Since we’re like a family working together and I’m one of the youngest in the team, they like to compliment me a lot, more than I deserve.

 

Woo-bin, your character was badly beaten up by Lee Byung-hun in one of the scenes. Was it difficult to film?

Kim Woo-bin: Lee Byung-hun is a very experienced action movie star with a lot of experience in filming action scenes, so he made sure that I wouldn’t get injured. And to be honest, I’ve also filmed action scenes before. It’s easier to get beaten up than to hit someone because I will feel sorry [for my on-screen opponent]. So I was actually more comfortable getting beaten up.

 

Gang Dong-won and Kim Woo-bin, you have many fans in Manila, so were there many disruptions during filming?

Gang Dong-won: Actually I don’t have many fans in Philippines so it was no problem. I was fine but he [Kim Woo-bin] is surprising. He had really many fans. I was wondering why he had so many fans. And I asked them, “How did you know Kim Woo-bin”? And then they told me like, “I saw his TV drama”.

 

Dong-won, we heard you had to stop fans from taking pictures with Woo Bin.

Gang Dong-won: Yeah, I did. Because they were hiding themselves and they tried to take a picture of him. I was right next to them so I was like, “Hey, don’t do that”.

Kim Woo-bin: Yes that may be true, but I also did the same for Dong-won. Because there were a lot of local fans of Gang Dong-won, on top of the tourists from all over the world. Some of them were trying to take photos of him secretly, so even if Gang Dong-won was unaware of their presence, I was actually stopping them from taking photos.

 

How was it like to film in the slums in Philippines?

Gang Dong-won: I have mixed feelings about that area. It made me think about a lot of different things. Because like what you [the reporter] said, it’s a slum and it’s quite a challenging environment, but the children were playing with innocent faces, so it made me think a lot.

Kim Woo-bin: Aside from the hot weather, there was a slaughterhouse beside us too. It was quite tough for a few days but we got used to it. So we started shooting and eating and doing everything there and it became fine. And as mentioned by Gang Dong-won, I also saw kids playing around. They looked bright and cheerful and appeared happy. So it made me think a lot. My experience filming with local actors and local staff made me realise that despite our different backgrounds, we’re essentially all the same.

 

Dong-won, since it’s your first role as a police, how did you prepare for this role?

Gang Dong-won: I wanted to make this movie more special so I practised boxing. Because we don’t have many action scenes, I wanted to do all the scenes myself to make sure they stood out – other than the really dangerous ones, of course.

 

We heard that you got injured during the car-chase.

Gang Dong-won: We were working with some gunpowder. The gunpowder was so strong that bits of shattered glass hit my face.

 

Gosh! Was it a big shock to you?

Gang Dong-won: I’m not the kind of person who’s like, if I see something, I will get surprised and lose control. I was just thinking, “So my face is bloody. Wow. Wow, this is terrible.”

 

And you had to pull out the glass shards yourself, right?

Gang Dong-won: Yeah, I did. Beacause I was sitting there, and everybody was shocked, and nobody dared to touch me. I was thinking, “Why is everybody just watching me?” so I had to do it by myself.

Kim Woo-bin: He was really calm, actually. All the staff and director were really shocked about the situation. But Gang Dong-won was really composed.

 

There was a scene in the movie where you were inspired by Beyonce when you did your dance. Was it difficult to pull that off?

Kim Woo-bin: Actually, I’m not someone who can sing or dance in front of other people and at that point in shooting, I wasn’t really close to the team yet. I thought I wouldn’t be able to rehearse at the filming location so the night before at home, I actually set up a camera to practise the scene. I showed the video to the director in the morning, and he liked it. I tried to express as much of Beyonce as I could. But after the shooting, no one knew could tell I was channelling Beyonce. Only the costume designer came and said, “Oh, I actually knew it’s Beyonce!” But it’s okay. Because of copyright issues, I just hummed a little and I couldn’t sing out the entire melody, so it was understandable that no one could get it at first.

(Trivia: We heard from Director Cho Ui-seok that there was no background music at all when they were filming the dance scene, so he was dancing by himself with all the staff staring at him with a straight face!​)

 

What were your favourite scenes?

Gang Dong-won: I liked the ending the most. One of the reasons why I chose this movie was because of the ending scene. I liked the director’s intentions and thoughts for the ending. Even while shooting, I was smiling a lot.

Kim Woo-bin: The farewell scene at the end. During the scene, I was on the verge of tears. We met as strangers and got pretty close in a short span of time, just like the characters Jang-gun and Kim Jae-hyun. And also during the shooting of the ending, I felt that the atmosphere was quite different and special. Even when I was watching the movie later on, I thought to myself that I really liked that scene.