An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 166

166 #30 – The Weight of a Lead Role (4)

Finally, the first day of filming arrived.

After sleeping in the car all night, I stretched as I watched the sunrise.

“Hyung, aren’t you tired?”

Kim, the manager, shook his head, focused on driving, and replied,

“No. I slept beforehand since I was driving. Did you get some sleep?”

“Yeah, thanks to you.”

Kim looked at me in the rearview mirror and said,

“We’re almost there.”

“Namwon is quite far.”

He agreed with me.

“Yeah, it’s in Jeollabuk-do [North Jeolla Province], so it’s far. Plus, it’s located at the end of Namwon, so it’s even farther.”

I shook my head at his words and looked out the window.

The filming location for this drama, ‘Doctor,’ was in Namwon, Jeollabuk-do.

It used to be a hospital affiliated with Buknam University.

But now it’s an abandoned hospital, and that place has been borrowed to become the set for this drama.

I looked out the window and said,

“Still, we’ll be filming this drama relatively leisurely.”

“That’s right. Because it’s pre-produced.”

This drama was pre-produced, not filmed and aired simultaneously.

So, we don’t have to film in a hurry or edit and broadcast it on TV immediately after filming, like a live broadcast.

Unlike regular dramas, pre-produced dramas don’t divide into Team A and Team B to film.

It’s a method where Director Hong takes charge of all the filming, like a movie.

So, pre-produced dramas are generally of higher quality.

Of course, not all dramas are like that.

Compared to dividing the team and having multiple directors film, having one director direct the whole thing makes the quality more consistent.

The car drove for another few tens of minutes and then stopped at the filming location.

“Hyung, thanks for the hard work.”

“Thanks. Let’s get out and greet them.”

“Okay.”

We quickly got out of the car.

And approached the place where Director Hong and the staff were gathered.

“Hello.”

“Oh, Hee-sung, you’re here?”

Director Hong waved at me happily.

The actors around me also greeted me.

“Hello.”

After a brief greeting, we immediately started filming.

The setting was so perfect that you couldn’t even tell it was an abandoned hospital.

It felt like patients and medical staff had been here until just a moment ago.

“Wow, it really feels like a hospital….”

An actor was admiring the set on one side.

I could tell at a glance that he was a minor actor.

A face I hadn’t seen at the script reading.

And seeing him admire the set like this, I knew he wasn’t someone who had been to a filming set often.

Looking at him, I couldn’t help but recall my days as a minor actor.

And at that moment, our eyes met.

“Oh?”

He froze with a surprised look.

I smiled and greeted him.

“Hello.”

“Ah… hello. My name is Kim Min-gyu.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He shook my hand and bowed his head.

Then he shouted in a loud voice.

“Please take good care of me!”

I smiled brightly at his words and replied.

“I look forward to working with you too.”

“Yes.”

At that time,

“We’ll start filming.”

The staff’s voice was heard.

I gave Kim Min-gyu a look and hurried to the set.

After filming a few scenes on the first day.

“Good job, everyone.”

The filming was finished before sunset.

Everyone gathered.

The staff began to explain about the accommodations.

I already knew about the accommodations through Kim, the manager.

“We’ve rented a pension [a Korean-style guesthouse] near the hospital, so we’ll divide the rooms in front.”

“Yes.”

The supporting actors and minor actors shouted in unison at the staff’s words.

And the staff approached me, Song Yu-na, and the main supporting actors and opened his mouth.

“I told you through your managers, but the actors will be staying in a nearby hotel, not a pension. Did you hear that?”

We nodded at the staff’s words.

“If you move to the hotel, there will be staff waiting there. Tomorrow’s filming schedule is….”

Our accommodation was a hotel away from the pension.

It was an accommodation that considered the lead actors and main supporting actors.

The minor actors were walking away in a group in the distance.

Looking at them, I recalled my past self.

There was a time when I was like that too.

Before I knew it, I had become a small group and was heading to a hotel instead of a pension.

***

Filming continued for several weeks.

I dragged my tired body out of the hotel and headed to the filming location with Kim, the manager.

“Hee-sung, are you feeling okay?”

He asked me with a worried expression.

I shrugged my shoulders and replied.

“Yeah, it’s just the beginning.”

He got into the car and said,

“There aren’t many scenes to film today anyway. We’ll film a few in the afternoon and finish in the early evening.”

“Oh, it starts late today, so I got to sleep in and relax for the first time in a while.”

“I know, it’s a relief. Tomorrow’s filming will start in the morning.”

“Okay.”

I leaned back in my chair and opened the script.

“Hyung, I’m going to look at the script.”

“Okay.”

Kim, the manager, almost turned off the music at my words and focused on driving.

We arrived at the set in no time.

“Hello.”

The filming was in full swing.

A staff member quickly ran to me at my greeting and spoke to me.

“Hee-sung, you’re here?”

“Yes, can I get ready right away?”

Holding the script, I asked him, and the staff member made a troubled expression and said.

“Well… the previous scene is getting a bit long.”

“Ah, is there still a lot left?”

One of the basic virtues of an actor is ‘waiting’.

There’s a saying that what actors do most on set is waiting rather than practicing, so they’re always waiting on set.

It’s not like starting on time according to the schedule and starting the next scene an hour later.

The first scene has to be okayed before moving on to the next scene.

But getting an okay in one scene at once is harder than you think.

You can make a mistake while saying your lines, or the director might not like it, or the actor might not like it, so there are NGs [No Good takes].

So, filming continues until a perfect scene comes out.

That’s why you can’t set an end time in advance.

So, there is an expected start time, but it’s not really followed.

So, if you have your own filming schedule on a regular day, you arrive at the set in advance and wait.

You don’t know when it will start, but you have to be put into the field as soon as it’s your turn.

So, in my minor role days, I had to arrive at the set from dawn without missing a day.

Because I didn’t know when I would be filming.

On the days when I had a scene, I waited at the set for several hours.

After filming, I went on indefinite standby for the next scene.

But now I was in the position of a lead role, not a minor role.

Now, I would receive a call from the staff at the expected time when filming would start and come to the set.

Even so, I couldn’t avoid waiting.

But unlike before, I didn’t have to stay on set all day.

The staff member lowered his eyebrows and bowed his head with an apologetic expression.

“I’m so sorry. There were too many NGs in the previous scene….”

I smiled at his words and replied.

“It’s okay. Well, it’s not hard for an actor to wait.”

“Thank you. Then I’ll check the situation on set and tell you the time again.”

“Okay.”

He hurried to the set.

Kim, the manager, pointed his chin at the car and said.

“Do you want to take a nap in the car?”

“No. I slept well, so I’ll just wait outside.”

“Really?”

I nodded and started wandering around the set.

Sometimes, when the wait was long like this, I didn’t bother spending time alone in the car.

Since I was spending time alone in the accommodation anyway, I didn’t think I needed to be in the car on set.

I saw the actors gathered and waiting on one side of the set.

I ambled over there.

Whoosh-.

The wind brushed against my cheek, and I sat down on a bench while feeling the breeze.

At that time.

The voices of the minor actors gathered next to me reached my ears.

“Hey, they said we have to wait 4 hours for the next scene?”

“If they said 4 hours… it’ll take at least 5 hours more.”

They sighed, looking at the time on their cell phones.

“Haa… what do we do for 4 hours today….”

I also had days as a minor actor, so I could fully understand their sighs.

There were no lines to practice the script properly.

And I didn’t have my own car where I could rest alone.

So, all I could do during the waiting time was chat with fellow actors.

Because I didn’t have enough money, I gathered money and played together.

“Shall we go bowling?”

“Oh, good idea?”

They were talking about going bowling to pass the time.

My gaze was directed at the air, but my ears were focused on their conversation.

“There’s a bowling alley right in front of here.”

“That’s right. Let’s go there and play one game.”

“Anyone want to come with us?”

They asked the minor actors around them.

“I want to go too!”

“Wow, me too.”

I glanced at them out of the corner of my eye and smiled.

It felt like I was seeing my past self.

‘I used to be like that….’

I was also sitting here blankly while waiting, but among those many groups.

Not a single person came to me and suggested bowling.

Now, my level was different from spending time with minor actors.

It wasn’t that I thought I had to play by dividing levels.

But it had become difficult for them, who were the lead role, to come to me and say, “Let’s go bowling to pass the time together.”

I looked at their backs as they laughed and went to play in the tiring and exhausting filming set, and I nodded my head.

“It was fun in those days… I miss it a little.”

I made a sound and picked up the script next to me.

Even if I combined all of their lines from today’s filming scene, it would be shorter than my one scene.

I couldn’t go out and play with them.

The intensity of the work, and the distance as an actor.

***

“Good job, everyone.”

As soon as the filming was over, we all greeted each other.

The staff immediately began to organize the equipment.

And the actors were divided into exactly two groups.

The lead and supporting actors who would go to the hotel with me.

And the minor actors staying at the pension.

“Hey, shall we make teams by room and play games today?”

“Haha, good. Then it’s exactly 4 people per team, right?”

“Yeah, there are 5 people in our room, so we’ll just make a team of 5.”

The road back to the pension seemed quite enjoyable for them.

Well.

If 4 or 5 people gather in one room, it’s fun to talk and play every day like you’re on a trip.

Of course, we gathered here to work.

But after filming, we drink with the actors and have fun playing.

I just smiled as I looked at them.

After saying goodbye, I got into the car.

The car quickly arrived in front of the hotel.

After becoming a lead actor, I now receive the best treatment wherever I go.

The best hotel, a suite I use alone.

A quiet and peaceful place to rest, not a noisy place.

After acting in front of the camera all day, I was so happy to have a space where I could rest alone like this.

But on the other hand, I couldn’t erase the feeling of loneliness.

I came into the empty hotel room.

“I should study the script.”

I sat alone in this wide place and opened the script for tomorrow’s filming.