I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 278

The Cannes Film Festival, considered the pinnacle of the world’s three major international film festivals. Also known as the Festival de Cannes, it’s a prestigious event attended by numerous renowned filmmakers from around the globe. While it may not have the same global reach as the Academy Awards, the Cannes Film Festival is still a massive event for actors.

Its impact and influence are significant.

Because of this, even top Hollywood actors vie for awards at Cannes. While there have been some appearances from the Korean side, most were directors, and it’s rare for a Korean actor to win an award.

France, the Cannes Film Festival.

Somehow, these words felt surreal to Kang Woo-jin, who still had his phone pressed to his ear.

‘Cannes, huh? Is it because I haven’t experienced it in person? I don’t feel particularly nervous.’

Of course, he had seen it on TV and in articles a few times, but that was it. The atmosphere would probably be similar to the Blue Dragon Film Awards [a major South Korean film award ceremony]. Maybe a bit grander. Anyway, even after hearing Director Ahn Ga-bok’s words over the phone, Woo-jin didn’t feel particularly excited. It was just, ‘Ah, the Cannes Film Festival opens on September 30th?’ That was about it.

He could imagine it, but it was quite vague.

Nevertheless, Woo-jin lowered his voice. He needed to sound serious to Director Ahn Ga-bok.

“September 30th, I’ll remember it.”

“Hmm. It’s not something to take lightly, but you don’t need to be too focused on it either. It’ll only make you anxious. There’s still time, so just keep it in mind.”

“Yes. I’ll keep it in mind for now.”

“I don’t need to contact CEO Choi separately, right?”

“Of course, I’ll pass it on.”

“Alright. Let’s meet when you return to Korea. Ah, right, this is just an old man’s worry. Even if you’re working on many projects, don’t forget ‘Park Ha-sung’ from ‘Leech’.”

What does this old man think of me? Still, Woo-jin somewhat understood Director Ahn Ga-bok’s concern. How many projects was Woo-jin handling right now? Moreover, he was in Japan, not Korea.

‘Well, it’s probably just genuine worry rather than suspicion.’

Kang Woo-jin was the only Korean actor handling this insane schedule. Of course, it would be the first time in Director Ahn Ga-bok’s decades of experience seeing something like this.

As if to confirm this, Director Ahn Ga-bok’s old voice was heard again over the phone.

“Hehe, as you get older, you just worry more.”

Kang Woo-jin thought he should offer this worried old veteran some reassurance.

“‘Park Ha-sung’, I’m always keeping it in mind.”

“…It’s more reassuring to hear you say that, Woo-jin. Alright, let’s hang up now.”

“Yes, director.”

-Click.

Kang Woo-jin slowly lowered his phone. He was currently in the outdoor parking lot of ‘A10 Studio’. Woo-jin had stopped walking to take the call, and seeing that Han Ye-jeong and the other team members were waiting, Kang Woo-jin gave a small nod.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Kang Woo-jin’s team started moving again. Meanwhile, Woo-jin walked at the back, searching for the Cannes Film Festival on his phone. As expected, a flood of information and data appeared.

A huge amount from the past to the present.

In the news section, he also saw what Director Ahn Ga-bok had mentioned.

『[Overseas IS] Cannes Film Festival Confirmed to Open on September 30th, How Many Works Will Be Invited This Year, Including Director Ahn Ga-bok’s ‘Leech’?』

With a serious expression, Woo-jin muttered to himself.

‘Anyway, it’s quite impressive. Judging by the atmosphere, it feels like just being invited to Cannes is a big deal?’

He was talking about the Korean film industry. In reality, Korea’s presence at Cannes was minimal. In terms of results, Japan was ahead. Then, Woo-jin, who had been looking at Cannes Film Festival-related content, put his phone in his pocket.

‘I don’t know—I’ll find out when the time comes. More than that, I’m really looking forward to going to France? Damn, how many times am I going abroad this year?’

Then, he changed the subject of his thoughts.

-Swish.

As he got closer to the ‘A10 Studio’ building, Woo-jin took out the script he had tucked under his arm. What else could it be? It was the script for the first episode of the anime ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’. For today’s script reading, they would only be going through the first episode.

‘Right now, this is more important than Cannes.’

He was focused on dealing with the immediate task rather than the distant future. It was understandable, as not only was Cannes a first for him, but being a voice actor for an animation was also a first for Kang Woo-jin. From the moment he received the voice acting offer from ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’ until now, he had been researching and studying whenever he had the chance.

The conclusion was clear.

Acting as an actor and voice acting were definitely different.

Choi Sung-gun, who had been looking through voice acting-related materials, had also said that while acting as an actor would definitely help, voice acting was a completely different field. However, he had added that they could proceed step by step.

It was the right approach, but for Kang Woo-jin.

-Thud!

He had a cheat item, the subspace. Before entering ‘A10 Studio’, Woo-jin first entered the subspace. Then, he looked at the white rectangle of ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’.

-[10/Script (Title: Childhood Friend: Remake), SS Grade]

Since he had no real experience as a voice actor, he had to do a lot of reading (experience) in the subspace. At least, that was Kang Woo-jin’s judgment.

“Plus, the anime world is super fun.”

To enjoy the feeling of having been to another world, Kang Woo-jin’s fingers moved.

[“……Preparation complete. The script or scenario is very well-written. The implementation rate is 100%. Starting the reading.”]

Soon, a large grayness enveloped him.

How much time had passed?

He had been immersed in the world of the anime ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’. Kang Woo-jin, who had returned to reality, was.

‘Oh, it’s still super fun.’

He was satisfied. As expected, the world of animation was novel and full of things to enjoy. The anime ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’ was based on the original ‘Childhood Friend’, but it was adapted with a unique Japanese anime style. The overall setting was completely different, and many parts of the characters and content had also changed.

In other words, it was a completely different world from ‘Childhood Friend’.

First of all, the setting was a high school. Naturally, the character names also changed. ‘Han In-ho’, whom Woo-jin played in ‘Childhood Friend’, was ‘Sengoku Toru’ in ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’. A musical genius in vocals and piano, but with past wounds. He had sealed them away in the present.

‘Lee Bo-min’, whom Hwa-rin played, was changed to ‘Enma Kyoko’.

‘Enma Kyoko’ was ‘Sengoku Toru’s’ childhood friend and was the most popular girl at school due to her good looks. However, she had a fierce personality. The anime ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’ begins when Woo-jin, or ‘Sengoku Toru’, who had no presence, suddenly starts an incident by cosplaying at the school festival.

As he transforms, ‘Sengoku Toru’s’ hidden handsomeness is revealed.

Then, Kang Woo-jin, who was thinking about the world of ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’ and voice acting at the same time, entered the first-floor lobby of ‘A10 Studio’ and muttered to himself.

‘More than that, everything’s been imprinted—voice acting doesn’t seem that difficult either.’

There was no reason for it to be difficult.

Meanwhile, in the main conference room of ‘A10 Studio’.

A conference room with various famous anime characters on the walls, where numerous desks were already set up in a U-shape. It was the largest of the many conference rooms in the huge ‘A10 Studio’ building.

This conference room had already been transformed into a script reading venue.

The desks were arranged, with character sheets and water bottles on top, extra scripts, and temporary chairs surrounding the U-shaped desks, with dozens of staff members busy with the final setup.

The voice actor introduction and script reading for ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’ was similar to the reading of any other work. The only differences were the microphones on the desks and the huge monitor at the front of the conference room. The reason for the monitor was simple. The key was to match the voices while watching the completed ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’ anime.

In any case, looking at the U-shaped desk arrangement, it was clear that at least a dozen voice actors would be attending today’s reading.

About 70% were famous, top-tier voice actors.

Among them was Asami Saya, who had a deep connection with Kang Woo-jin. Looking at the seating arrangement, Kang Woo-jin, the male lead, was directly to the left of the director’s seat, and Asami Saya was on the opposite side of Woo-jin.

Meanwhile.

“Did you know? The voice actors don’t have a good opinion of Kang Woo-jin’s casting.”

Some of the staff members who were finishing the setup quietly whispered. Of course, in Japanese.

“Ah—I’ve heard the rumors too. But even if I were a pretty successful voice actor, I think I’d feel a bit uncomfortable.”

“Ehh, really??”

In reality, the current view of Kang Woo-jin in the Japanese voice acting industry was not favorable. Of course, there were those who felt good about it, but more than half were expressing discomfort. The Japanese voice acting market was quite large, just like the acting scene.

In other words, they had no need to feel sorry.

Just like with movies and dramas, script analysis was important for animation. However, since faces and expressions were not visible, speech and voice were the focus.

In addition, various techniques were important and had to be used.

Clear pronunciation, such as diction, as well as matching the voice to the character, breathing like the character, voice tone according to the situation and events, emphasis, timing of the lines, speed control of the lines, nuances, rhythm, and numerous other techniques besides pauses in long lines.

Voice acting may seem similar to acting at first glance, but it was completely different.

Acting was about the actor becoming the character itself, but voice acting felt like becoming the voice of an already existing character. That’s why it required even more delicacy. It was a difficult area that could be seen as quite demanding.

That’s why novice, rookie voice actors often made mistakes from their first line.

It was difficult to even grasp the timing of the lines.

In short, the problem was starting with becoming one with the anime character. Of course, everyone in voice acting went through those numerous mistakes and trial and error.

It was just a difference in experience and years of practice.

“Honestly, from the voice actors’ perspective, Kang Woo-jin is kind of like a stone that suddenly rolled in.”

“Ah. But I think it might bring a fresh perspective.”

“It certainly would, but it’s not like our voice acting industry is struggling. It’s actually booming. I think there’s also a feeling of unfamiliarity.”

“But I think he’ll be much better than rookie voice actors. At least his diction is guaranteed. And also his ability to grasp the emotional lines.”

Opinions were sharply divided.

Additionally, Kang Woo-jin was a Korean actor. Conversely, ‘Childhood Friend: Remake’ was a Japanese animation. Therefore, he needed to have a native-level command of Japanese as a default, and he also had to express the abilities and emotions of the male lead in the story.

It was already his first experience, and there were too many obstacles.

Even though acting and voice acting were similar but clearly different fields, Kang Woo-jin, who had become a huge hit in Japan and knew nothing about voice acting, was cast as the male lead? From the perspective of Japanese voice actors, it was obvious that Woo-jin was cast because of his popularity. There were a huge number of aspirants in the Japanese voice acting scene, and it was as difficult as passing through a needle’s eye to succeed.

Because of this, many voice actors were worried or jealous.

Well, it wasn’t a strange phenomenon.

After all, the same situations were commonplace in the Korean entertainment industry, where connections, regional ties, school ties, and even bad ties were all intertwined.

Therefore, Kang Woo-jin was a hot topic among Japanese voice actors.

This was also the case for some of the male and female voice actors who had already arrived and filled their seats in this reading room.

“Oh, is Kang Woo-jin coming today??”

“Of course. He’s the male lead of the work, there’s no way he wouldn’t come.”

“Haa—I’m so excited. I watched ‘Childhood Friend’ on Netflix to better understand the work after being confirmed for this anime? I became a huge fan of Kang Woo-jin there.”

“Is that so? But I’m not a big fan.”

“Eh…why?”

“Well, it feels like he was cast because of his popularity and buzz.”

“Ah.”

“Of course, I know he’s good at acting. He’s also the lead in that director Kyotaro’s work. So, he’ll definitely be good at analyzing the script for the anime. But voice acting is a completely different technique.”

The main topic of conversation among about five people who knew each other was, as expected, Kang Woo-jin. Even the voice actors who left the reading room, went to the restroom, and walked down the hallway were whispering the same thing. But they kept the volume to a minimum.

“Kang Woo-jin’s casting has definitely increased the buzz, but somehow—doesn’t it seem like the voice acting industry is being seen as a bit easy?”

“Ah, I can definitely see that point.”

“The senior voice actors don’t see it favorably either.”

“It’s not easy for professional voice actors for each work, but to cast a current actor—and a Korean actor at that—as the male lead. First of all, I think his Japanese pronunciation will be a problem.”

“Hmm. When I watch the videos of him doing interviews in Japan, his pronunciation is still pretty good? He’s good at Japanese for a Korean.”

“It’s different from just being good. You need to put everything of the character into the lines, and you also need the technique of going in and out according to the animation.”

The voice actors who had not experienced Kang Woo-jin could only have a normal standard for him.

Or perhaps it was a form of territorialism.

“It seems like ‘A10 Studio’ has been having a lot of misses lately—it’s good to have buzz, but I hope they’re not being reckless.”

“Anyway, today is going to be a bit tiring… Kang Woo-jin is probably an amateur, so he’ll be making mistakes constantly.”

“How about a bet?”

“What kind of bet?”

“Whether he’ll stumble from his first line or not.”

It was then. A cold male voice suddenly cut in behind the voice actors who were opening the glass door of the conference room or reading room entrance.

“I’m in.”

It was a low-toned Japanese.

“Let’s bet.”

Instantly, the startled male voice actors turned their heads back. A man with a dark, firm face was standing there. The voice actors quickly recognized who he was.

“K, Kang…Woo-jin.”

As if to say that was the correct answer, Kang Woo-jin, accompanied by his team, approached them with a poker face. Then, he spoke again.

A cold, uncompromising tone.

“Let’s bet on who stumbles more, me, an amateur, or the voice actors, including you two professionals. What do you say?”

Of course, everyone in the reading room heard it as well.

End