I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 35

The bombshell that director Woo Hyun-gu dropped around lunchtime on the 23rd turned into a nuclear bomb by nightfall, detonating all over the internet. The scale was immense.

『Victims of Film Industry Giant Director Woo Hyun-gu Speak Out: “That Director Touched Me Openly”』

It was utter chaos.

This year’s first major entertainment scandal, coupled with the immense reputation of director Woo Hyun-gu, fueled the flames. The entertainment industry froze solid in an instant.

Given the situation:

-Shocking!! The Hidden, Ugly Side of Master Director Woo Hyun-gu! Sexual Harassment Was the Least of It?! All the Victims Cried.

-Issue King TV

-3,107,335 Views

The video from ‘Issue King TV,’ which fired the first shot, reached 3 million views. The impact was enormous. Woo Hyun-gu’s ugly true colors spread like wildfire across various online communities, social media, and YouTube.

-Wow… I watched movies made by this kind of bastard… Disgusting…

-LOL, old man, if you’ve eaten that many years, shouldn’t you act your age???? Idiot.

-Investigate properly so the victims aren’t left feeling wronged.

-Looks are science, lol. He’s exactly as he looks.

-I hope he gets back several times the pain he inflicted on others.

-Makes me want to throw up.

-Master, my ass, lol. He’s just a leech, a leech, lol.

-Woo Hyun-gu, you criminal bastard, take down all your damn movies.

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It was beyond the point of being able to stop it. As the grand finale, Woo Hyun-gu appeared on the TV news that closed out the day.

“Victims are coming forward, claiming they were sexually harassed by director Woo Hyun-gu, who is called a master. This is Kim Dae-bin reporting.”

He was on TV, not just the internet, and it was clear that the situation would escalate further by tomorrow morning through radio and word of mouth. While Woo Hyun-gu’s train to hell was picking up speed, many people were busy talking about Kang Woo-jin.

Like PD [Production Director] Song Man-woo and writer Park Eun-mi.

“Huh? Really? That happened without me knowing??”

“Yeah, I told you to focus on your writing, Park.”

“…Oh my god.”

Even Choi Sung-gun and Hong Hye-yeon from the same agency.

“Hey, isn’t Kang Woo-jin’s family from a shaman background??”

“…That’s ridiculous.”

“It might be true! We don’t know anything about his past or circumstances.”

“Anyway, what if Woo-jin had gone with that bastard Woo Hyun-gu? That kind of thing is really innate. Why has someone like him been hidden until now? I can’t ignore Woo-jin’s instincts from now on.”

On the other hand, there were people who focused on their work, unconcerned by the chaos. Director Shin Dong-chun of ‘Heungshins’ was holed up in the production company’s editing room. Including the editor, director Shin Dong-chun had a stubble of a beard.

“Let’s go back to that last cut again.”

“…Yes.”

All three of them were exhausted from how much they were focused on editing. The dark circles under their eyes were a testament to that. They looked like beggars.

“But director Dong-chun, this guy Kang Woo-jin? You said he’s a rookie, right? The more I see it, his acting is, well, crazy.”

“Hmm—honestly, the camera didn’t capture everything. It’s beyond words when you see it live on set.”

“I can imagine. How can a rookie have this kind of expression? It’s kind of poignant and pitiful, but his eyes are full of urgency. It’s amazing.”

“His expressions are intense, or rather, it’s like he’s experienced the situation itself hundreds of times. That’s how much he analyzed the script.”

“I’ve been editing movies for over a decade, and these kinds of expressions are rare even from veterans. He’s a rookie with a promising future.”

Here, the square-jawed Shin Dong-chun felt a sense of regret with the recently completed cuts. The more he watched Kang Woo-jin’s acting on the monitor, the more he felt that the editing was lacking.

‘Is it really okay to be satisfied with this?’

It was because the material was too good. The material was this good, but it felt like the editing was killing the tone. Especially since ‘Heungshins’ was a short film and a piece to be submitted to film festivals. The situation was different from commercial films that draw in tickets with the power of the actors. They had to put several times more effort into the editing.

Many films are ruined in the post-production editing phase.

In the end, the content of a film is born from the hands of the director. No matter how amazingly the actors perform, if the director’s skills are lacking, the film will be branded a failure. Director Shin Dong-chun didn’t want to give Kang Woo-jin such a shoddy reputation.

It would be an act of betrayal to the affection and resentment he had received.

‘Arrogance is a thousand times better than a bad reputation.’

Director Shin Dong-chun imagined Woo-jin’s pride soaring thanks to the high quality of the work.

“No, this won’t do. Let’s revise this cut and the one before it.”

“…Huh?? Director, this is the third time we’ve revised this part? And we’re on a tight schedule, aren’t we?”

“No, we have to fix it if it’s not enough, even if it’s ten or a hundred times. The actor showed this much sincerity with his acting, so the director can’t ruin it with the editing.”

“Well, that’s true, but will you ever be satisfied? If you’re too greedy, it might backfire.”

“Let’s try a bit more. There was a full shot here instead of the bust cut, right? Let’s use that.”

“Ah… Yes, yes.”

Director Shin Dong-chun became more and more determined and awakened.

A little more, a little more, just a little bit more.

‘Even if it can’t be perfect, it has to be done properly.’

Meanwhile, Kang Woo-jin, the center of all this.

-Thud!

He had just entered the subspace. It was to delete director Woo Hyun-gu’s ‘negotiation’ scenario. What was interesting was.

“Huh?”

Woo-jin tilted his head, seeing white rectangles in the endless dark space.

To be exact, he saw the white rectangle of ‘Heungshins’.

“It suddenly went up too?”

The reason was simple.

-[1/Scenario (Title: Heungshins), Grade A]

The grade of ‘Heungshins’ had risen to A.

The next day, morning.

When Kang Woo-jin arrived at BW Entertainment, Choi Sung-gun introduced him to his new team. A road manager, a stylist, and Choi Sung-gun as the general manager. It was only three people, but it was enough for Kang Woo-jin in his current state.

“This is Jang Su-hwan, who will be your road manager! And this is Han Ye-jeong, who will take care of your styling. By the way, Han Ye-jeong came over from Hye-yeon’s team.”

Woo-jin’s first impression of the road manager, Jang Su-hwan, was that he was just like Kim Dae-young. Because he was huge.

‘If I put him next to Kim Dae-young, there won’t be any fights.’

However, Jang Su-hwan had a very thin and high-pitched voice compared to his large build.

“Hello! Woo-jin hyung [older brother]! I’m younger, so please feel comfortable with me!”

The stark contrast between his bear-like build and thin voice caused a moment of crisis for Kang Woo-jin. He almost burst out laughing because he was reminded of his friend Kim Dae-young. That damn Kim Dae-young. Whatever the case, Kang Woo-jin forced himself to swallow his laughter and greeted him in a low voice.

“Nice to meet you.”

Next was the stylist, Han Ye-jeong. She had a black bob with streaks of green in it. Her voice was slightly rough.

“Hello, I’m younger than you too, oppa [older brother]. And I’ve already seen the ‘Hanryang’ style concept, and I’m preparing the clothes.”

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

Kang Woo-jin finished his greetings, which included a bit of his concept, to both of them. Jang Su-hwan and Han Ye-jeong internally gave their short impressions of Woo-jin.

‘He has a very heavy aura? But he seems nice! I have to work hard.’

‘He’s very chic for a rookie.’

Choi Sung-gun looked at the four of them, including himself and Kang Woo-jin, and smiled brightly.

“This is Kang Woo-jin’s team, hahaha! Let’s all do our best!”

It was the moment Kang Woo-jin’s first team was formed.

At that time, at a large film company.

MVP Film, a large film company near Sinsa Station, was an omnivorous film company that produced not only commercial films but also art films. Of course, its main area was commercial films, but it also had quite a few awards in the art film category.

Thanks to this, there were many unfamiliar movie posters displayed in the lobby.

Inside a medium-sized conference room of MVP Film, an old man was sitting alone in the middle of a square table. It was the generally affable master director Kwon Ki-taek.

“Hmm-”

He was sitting alone, looking at a tablet screen. The screen displayed the articles about director Woo Hyun-gu that had been causing a stir since yesterday.

“Tsk, you fool.”

The pot-bellied director Kwon Ki-taek clicked his tongue briefly. When this kind of incident happens, the film industry freezes. More than anything, he didn’t get along with director Woo Hyun-gu, but they had spent many years together, so he couldn’t feel good about it in many ways.

“Well, what can you do? He brought it on himself.”

But there was no turning back. Even now, various portal sites were full of talk about director Woo Hyun-gu. His criminal acts were not light either.

In other words.

“It’s over.”

Director Woo Hyun-gu’s master-like career would end here. There was no need for end credits. The splendid filmography he had built up would disappear into a handful of ashes. At least, that’s what director Kwon Ki-taek thought.

Soon, as director Kwon Ki-taek let out a small sigh and shook his head, there was a knock.

-Knock knock.

The sound of knocking echoed from the glass door of the conference room. Several men entered behind him. The man with small eyes at the front stopped. It was because of director Kwon Ki-taek’s stern expression.

“Ah, director. Should we come back later?”

Director Kwon Ki-taek chuckled as if to say it was okay.

“No. It’s okay. Let’s start.”

Soon, the men sat across from director Kwon Ki-taek, and the man with small eyes handed the papers and transparent files he had brought to director Kwon Ki-taek.

“First, director, please check the military uniform concept drafts.”

“Hmm.”

“We’ve prepared the tops and bottoms for now.”

Director Kwon Ki-taek looked down at the concept drafts for a while. He looked down with great concentration as if it was important. Then, director Kwon Ki-taek raised his index finger.

“Let’s narrow it down to these three. This one, this one, and this one.”

“Understood.”

The man with small eyes, who was nodding and collecting the concept drafts, suddenly changed the subject.

“Ah, director, what are you going to do about tomorrow’s schedule? You said you were going to the first filming set of ‘Profiler Hanryang’.”

“I have to go. I’ve received the time and place, and I’ve told PD Song, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Then, the number of people.”

“Let’s just go with the three of us, including you and me. We can’t disturb someone else’s important set. We shouldn’t stand out. We just need to quietly watch Ryu Jung-min’s form and leave.”

“But wouldn’t it be unnecessary for you to go and see it yourself? The rumor that he’s improving his acting quality is just a rumor.”

“Well, I have to go and check it out. If I see that Ryu Jung-min in person, my worries will be eased a bit.”

Then, director Kwon Ki-taek smiled with his arms crossed.

“I want to know if he really improved his acting form, and if he did, I’d like to know the reason why.”

On the 25th, early morning.

The time was around 8 a.m. The place was a huge set complex in Ilsan. It was a place where a total of seven studios, which looked like logistics warehouses at first glance, were combined. Each studio was huge. In front of ‘Studio A’ was a crowd of people even though it was early in the morning.

There were several mini-buses and vans.

There seemed to be at least 10 of them, and all the cars had papers with the title ‘Profiler Hanryang’ attached to their front windows. Dozens of people poured out of those cars.

“Start setting up the filming team! Please check the filming concept and prepare!!”

“Our team doesn’t have walkie-talkies!”

“Ah! Here are the walkie-talkies!”

Just by looking, there were easily over 50 people. They moved frantically as soon as they got out of the vehicles. They weren’t orderly, but their eyes were all the same. They all seemed full of passion.

Around this time.

-Swish.

A man with a stubble got out of the van in the first parking space. He looked exhausted. Of course, it was PD Song Man-woo. He had a script in one hand, and he stretched out as he looked at the large set studio in front of him.

“Ugh! Whew—it’s starting.”

The answer to what was starting was very simple.

Principal photography or the first filming.

Starting today, Wednesday the 25th, the first filming of ‘Profiler Hanryang,’ in which big names participated, would begin. That’s why all the dozens of staff members had a fighting spirit in their eyes. Of course, PD Song Man-woo, the head of the site, was the same.

At that moment.

-Beep!

A staff member’s voice came from the small walkie-talkie clipped to his waist.

“PD-nim [PD-sir]! Please check the interrogation room props here!!”

“Okay, I’m going.”

The production team, including PD Song Man-woo, entered the set.

An hour later.

-Squeak!

A familiar black van stopped in the parking lot, which was full of staff cars. Then, the back door of the van opened, and a man with a cynical expression got out.

“……”

He was looking straight ahead indifferently. However, his feelings as he looked up at the large set studio were not calm.

‘Woah—this is crazy, it’s so huge?’

‘It’s just like a logistics center??’

It was actor Kang Woo-jin, who played the role of ‘Manager Park,’ and he was the first actor to arrive on set. Anyway, as he was internally expressing his admiration for the large studio without showing it.

Three men naturally passed by in front of Woo-jin. Of course, Kang Woo-jin didn’t notice them because he was looking up at the studio.

However.

-Swish.

The man at the front of the three, a man with a mask and an affable feeling. That is, master director Kwon Ki-taek, glanced back at the expressionless Kang Woo-jin, who was looking up at the large set.

‘He seems surprised. Is this his first time at a large set complex? He looks like an actor with that mask, but I’ve never seen his face before.’

Then, director Kwon Ki-taek, who was walking again, smiled faintly.

“Is he a rookie? He’s cute.”

He muttered to himself.

“I wonder if he’ll be nervous and make mistakes while acting.”

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