I Was Mistaken As A Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 328

There was no way global superstar Miley Cara would be in Bangkok, Thailand. Surely, anyone would think that. Why would she, who had been busy with her new album, suddenly be in Bangkok? The thoughts of the giant Joseph Felton and the entire group of foreigners were no different.

Therefore, Joseph, Megan, and the rest of the group calmed down the pot-bellied executive from the distribution and film company ‘Universal Movies.’

“Hahaha, Miley Cara? That’s out of the blue. This is Bangkok, Bangkok.”

“I know, right? Was the flight too long? I think we need to go rest soon.”

“Did you see a hallucination or something?”

“Where? Where is Miley?”

Joseph and the group spoke jokingly, but the pot-bellied executive narrowed his eyes, his smile gone.

“No—definitely. That woman.”

Soon, Joseph and everyone’s gaze followed the direction he was pointing. But unfortunately, the woman the pot-bellied executive had seen had already disappeared.

“Are you really not feeling well?”

“Let’s check in quickly, I’m seriously worried.”

“Are you okay?”

The joke turned into genuine concern. Megan, with her brown bobbed hair, patted the executive’s shoulder.

“Sit on the sofa for now, and calm down.”

“······Ah, okay.”

“What’s with the sudden talk about Miley Cara?”

“The blonde woman who just passed by—her vibe was like hers. Though it doesn’t make sense.”

“It seems like your desire to cast Miley was too strong. You must be tired too.”

The pot-bellied executive looked up at Megan Stone’s face, then slowly lowered his head. He then pressed his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

“Hoo—I guess that’s it. Miley Cara······”

He admitted that what he saw was wrong. There was a long flight, and jet lag was also an issue. Moreover, a top star like Miley Cara would be coveted by any Hollywood film company. They would beg to cast her. That would be a bargain. Soon, the team members around the pot-bellied executive chimed in.

“Still, it was a bit exciting to hear Miley Cara’s name.”

“Haha. Miley Cara is known to be hard to cast. Isn’t she probably busy with her new album right now?”

“That’s right. She must be very busy.”

“If Miley appeared in Bangkok, it would be noisy here and in Hollywood.”

The pot-bellied executive forced a smile.

“Sorry, I’ll go rest a bit.”

Megan was quick to reply.

“Okay. I’ll check in as quickly as possible.”

It was at this moment.

“Joseph.”

Someone called out to Joseph Felton from the huge lobby of the hotel behind them. It was in English, a man’s voice. Everyone, including the giant Joseph, turned their heads, and a tall, foreign man with a big nose was walking towards them, smiling.

It was Ethan Smith, the stunt team leader of ‘Beneficial Evil.’

Everyone except Joseph and Megan reacted immediately.

“Oh, Ethan.”

Everyone knew that Ethan was the stunt coordinator for ‘Beneficial Evil,’ and Ethan, who had approached, shook hands with Joseph first, then Megan, and then several others. What was unusual was that the people with Ethan were not team members but Koreans. There were a total of three Koreans with Ethan.

Ethan naturally introduced them.

“These are the production staff of ‘Beneficial Evil.’”

The Koreans who came with him were the production staff of ‘Beneficial Evil.’ Including an interpreter.

Joseph, Megan, and the group of foreigners had come to see the filming of ‘Beneficial Evil.’ Although there had been some prior discussions, they needed to share the schedule again on-site. Of course, it was thanks to PD [Production Director] Song Man-woo’s consideration. The ‘Beneficial Evil’ staff briefly informed them about the filming, and about five minutes later, they handed out papers to Joseph’s entire team.

It was a non-disclosure agreement.

The content was to keep everything related to the filming and the site confidential. As soon as Joseph received the non-disclosure agreement, he thought.

‘Ironclad security.’

But he didn’t find it strange. Such cases were common in Hollywood. If secrets about the filming of a project were leaked, that information, whatever it was, would harm the project. It would affect not only the promotion and marketing but also the outcome of the project. It was a serious issue.

Therefore, if the non-disclosure agreement was violated, the person would face a hefty penalty. The agreement that Joseph and everyone had received was of the same nature. Megan, who knew Kang Woo-jin, understood.

‘Well, they even hired a stunt team from Hollywood, so… they must have put a lot of emphasis on Kang Woo-jin’s action and CQC [Close Quarters Combat], and there must be a lot of key directing.’

However, some of Joseph’s team members, the stunt team, and some of the executives from ‘Universal Movies’ thought.

‘Do they have to go this far? Why?’

‘It’s quite thorough, is there a reason?’

‘Signing a non-disclosure agreement for a drama shoot—it seems a bit excessive.’

They had slightly puzzled expressions.

Meanwhile, in a suite room in the same hotel.

A blonde woman was sitting on the sofa in the spacious living room with her legs crossed. It was Miley Cara. On the table in front of her were the hat and mask she had been wearing, and Cara spoke to her manager, Jonathan, who was sitting across from her.

“Did you see? Joseph Felton was in the lobby.”

Jonathan was slightly surprised by Cara’s typically cool tone.

“What? Joseph?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure, but there were a lot of familiar faces? I saw people from ‘Universal Movies’ too.”

“Huh—I heard they were preparing a movie, is that why?”

“The scale is too small for location scouting. It must be for another reason.”

“What… could it be ‘Beneficial Evil’?”

“If Joseph is handling it, it’s possible. He’s also obsessed with Kang Woo-jin.”

“Joseph came all the way to Bangkok to see Kang Woo-jin? That doesn’t make sense. Kang Woo-jin is virtually unknown in Hollywood.”

Cara shrugged and chuckled softly.

“Well, we’ll see on the filming day. But if they came to see Kang Woo-jin—things are getting interesting.”

What would be the reaction of Joseph and his group if they saw not only Kang Woo-jin’s acting but also his action or CQC, and the filming that included Miley Cara? Cara herself was very excited, as her expectations were at their peak. At the same time, she was also pleased.

“Maybe the house I bought for Kang Woo-jin in LA, he might be using it sooner than I thought.”

“Hmm?”

“Kang Woo-jin is gradually making an impression on people in Hollywood, isn’t he?”

Then, Cara suddenly changed the subject.

“Anyway, Jonathan, about the movie Joseph is working on. Check it out, what’s it like.”

Early the next morning.

As soon as the 20th dawned, Kang Woo-jin left the hotel with the entire ‘Beneficial Evil’ team. Today, the Bangkok sun was scorching as well. PD Song Man-woo explained to Kang Woo-jin in between.

“Today, we’ll mostly be doing rehearsals, checks, and practice. We also need to coordinate action with the local Thai extras, and there are car chases and explosion scenes, so we can’t check enough times.”

Their first destination was a village about an hour away from downtown Bangkok. It was quite large, but not many Thai people lived there.

‘It looks different in the morning. It’s exotic, but it feels a bit like South America?’

It was a prosperous village in the past, but now it was quiet. Therefore, there were many empty buildings, abandoned factories, and abandoned buildings. However, there were many buildings. In other words, the urban area was well-formed, so the scene was not bad. There were many shootings planned in this village. Long takes, car chases, explosions, gunfights, etc.

Of course, the arrangements had been completed long ago.

Thailand has a well-established film industry infrastructure.

Therefore, Thailand was often used by Hollywood. Because the infrastructure was good, there were many local companies, and various equipment, filming permits, and government cooperation were flexible. Because there were so many film shoots, the system was well-established.

Anyway, Kang Woo-jin and PD Song Man-woo, along with the rest of the ‘Beneficial Evil’ team, gathered at a large abandoned factory on the outskirts of the village.

There were about a hundred ‘Beneficial Evil’ staff members alone.

It was already a large-scale operation, but about 50 Thai locals were gathered in the large open space in front of the abandoned factory. Woo-jin had already heard about them.

‘Ah—are those the Thai staff??’

Overseas location shoots cannot be run solely with domestic teams. Local staff and personnel were essential. Those over 50 Thai locals were also people hired by the ‘Beneficial Evil’ team. About half were part of the filming crew, and the other half were extras. Because Thailand had a well-established infrastructure, casting actors was not difficult.

Moreover, they were selected based on their extensive filming experience.

After all, most of them were going to be killed by Kang Woo-jin. No, ‘Jang Yeon-woo,’ so the key was to be lifelike. In any case, PD Song Man-woo had all the Thai local staff and extras sign non-disclosure agreements. For reference, the hundred or so ‘Beneficial Evil’ staff members were the same.

As a result, a huge crowd gathered in the open space of this abandoned factory.

Wouldn’t it easily be over 200 people?

Soon.

“Shall we start?”

At PD Song Man-woo’s signal, the hundred or so staff members moved in a flurry. It was preparation for the rehearsal, but they couldn’t do it carelessly. The filming crew lowered various cameras, and the lighting and props teams did the same. The making team had already been filming around the abandoned factory and the large-scale filming crew.

Various teams began to take root in the open space.

The open space was instantly filled with the shouts of a huge number of people.

Meanwhile, Kang Woo-jin was.

“Nice to meet you.”

He was greeting the 50 or so Thai local staff and actors. Of course, he spoke in English, and the entire group of local actors looked at Woo-jin with quite curious eyes.

It was natural. He was already quite famous in Thailand.

Kang Woo-jin remained calm. But internally, he was also amazed by the many Thai locals.

‘Wow—this is the first time I’m filming with this many foreigners, isn’t it? And it’s even action. I’m a bit nervous.’

PD Song Man-woo, who had no idea, wiped the sweat from his brow while giving instructions. He told the Thai local staff and actors to prepare. They also moved in an orderly fashion. Around this time, the costume and makeup teams rushed to Kang Woo-jin next to PD Song Man-woo.

It was for makeup and costume changes.

After a few tens of minutes, Kang Woo-jin was transformed.

He was wearing a tattered white shirt and jeans, and his overall skin tone was slightly darker. His black hair was also tousled. He had perfectly embodied ‘Jang Yeon-woo’ who had gone into hiding in Bangkok. Woo-jin looked at the mirror that a staff member was showing him and gave a thumbs up internally.

‘Oh—awesome.’

It was almost identical to the ‘Jang Yeon-woo’ he had lived as. This was the same not only for Kang Woo-jin but also for other people watching him from a distance. Writer Choi Na-na wearing a safari hat, General Director Kim So-hyang, Choi Seong-geon with his ponytail, and a few others.

“Wow—it’s exactly like the ‘Jang Yeon-woo’ I imagined! The synchronization rate is… ha, I’m really excited.”

“Writer, didn’t you write ‘Jang Yeon-woo’ with Woo-jin in mind from the start?”

“W-well, I did, but seeing it in person, it’s even more identical?”

“Hahaha, our Woo-jin’s mask has great versatility.”

“Ah! Woo-jin has a gun!”

In fact, Kang Woo-jin had just received a firearm from a staff member. An M4 carbine. The rifle that ‘Jang Yeon-woo’ often used in the drama. Soon, PD Song Man-woo, the martial arts director, and the stunt team, Ethan Smith, gathered around Kang Woo-jin. Two Thai local staff members were also included. Among them, PD Song Man-woo gestured to Woo-jin.

“Woo-jin, try shooting comfortably.”

Woo-jin nodded calmly and quite naturally shouldered the M4 carbine and fired at the front.

-Bang bang bang bang!

In an instant, the hundred or so staff members stopped moving and fixed their gaze on Kang Woo-jin. The firing sound was also enormous. Muzzle flashes erupted from the M4 carbine, and spent cartridges flew out. The recoil was also intense. It was no different from a real gun. Kang Woo-jin, who had fired it himself, was surprised. Of course, only internally.

‘Woah—what’s the quality??!!’

The ‘Beneficial Evil’ team had also prepared the firearms to be almost identical to the real ones. Because it was the core of the production. Although they were for filming and did not fire bullets, they completed a look that was almost identical to the real thing with realistic flames and cartridge ejection. Compared to real guns, they were obviously weaker, but they were enough to be confused with the real thing.

The various prop guns to be used were prepared in consultation with local Thai experts in advance.

It was PD Song Man-woo’s firm determination to minimize CG [Computer Graphics].

Around this time.

-Screech!

Two vans stopped in the parking area some distance away from the abandoned factory, where the ‘Beneficial Evil’ team’s various cars were parked. Foreigners got out of the cars. A group of about 20 people, including Joseph, Megan, and the executives of ‘Universal Movies.’

As soon as they got out, they were amazed by the scale of the filming site.

“Wow! There are a lot of staff members?”

“Yeah. It looks like there are over 200 people.”

“They have a lot of staff, and look over there, it seems like they’ve combined with the Thai local staff.”

“The scale of the filming is bigger than I thought. Is the project size big?”

At the same time, a heavy gunshot rang out again.

-Bang bang bang bang!!

It was Kang Woo-jin firing again. But Joseph and the group of foreigners were hearing it for the first time, so their eyes widened.

“Wow, it seems like there’s a gunfight??”

“It seems like they’ve prepared the firearms at a high level.”

“Look at the man shooting the gun, his posture is already professional? Did they hire people like that?”

“Of course, hiring experts is essential.”

“No.”

The giant Joseph muttered with a smirk.

“That man is an actor.”

“······An actor??”

At that moment.

“He is an actor.”

A woman’s voice penetrated from the side. It was also in English. Soon, everyone from Joseph turned their heads. A blonde woman wearing sunglasses was walking towards them with about a dozen people. The closer she got, the more the eyes of everyone except Joseph and Megan widened.

“Oh, my god.”

On the other hand, the blonde woman, or rather, Miley Cara, who approached nonchalantly, stopped right in front of the group of foreigners and took off her sunglasses.

“That man is an actor.”

Everyone’s mouths dropped open as if they had seen a ghost. The pot-bellied man among the executives of ‘Universal Movies’ reacted first.

“I knew it!! What I saw yesterday was right!”

Megan, with her brown bobbed hair, asked Cara with difficulty.

“······Miley, why are you here?”

Cara pointed to Kang Woo-jin inside the filming site with the hand holding her sunglasses.

“Of course, I came to film.”

“Fi, filming??!”

“Yes. Well, I came 100% because of that actor.”

In an instant, everyone’s gaze was fixed on Kang Woo-jin.

And.

“That blonde woman over there. Doesn’t she look familiar?”