I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 376

The female producer of ‘Pierrot,’ with her bob-length hair and sharp features, spoke.

“…You don’t seem to have any reservations at all.”

She addressed Kang Woo-jin, who sat across from her.

“As you know, Mr. Woo-jin, this pre-meeting is a stage where you could be excluded as a candidate. Will you… not regret it?”

In Kang Woo-jin’s mind, a cynical thought flickered for a brief moment.

“……”

The rating of the movie ‘Pierrot’ flashed before his eyes.

-[11/Scenario (Title: Pierrot), EX+ Grade]

It was a staggering EX+ grade. The highest grade even in that incredible subspace [a fictional space where scenarios are rated]. Outwardly, the composed Woo-jin let out a heartfelt cry with his inner self.

‘Not regret it??! If I miss this, I’ll regret it like hell! Is that even a question?!’

Honestly, Kang Woo-jin wanted to blurt out his true feelings. But now, he couldn’t afford to be frivolous. Above all, he had just come from a proper showdown with Chris Hartnett, a top-tier Hollywood actor. With his ‘my way’ image established, he had to project an even stronger persona.

‘Ugh—whatever, screw it. Just go straight. Even if they drop me, maybe another EX+ grade will come along someday.’

Maybe it won’t. However, Kang Woo-jin had a safety net. There was ‘The Beast and the Beauty,’ which was EX-grade, and Joseph Felton’s project, though he hadn’t received the script yet. And he was only in his second year. Even though his third year was just around the corner, he had plenty of time and endless possibilities.

‘Grandpa. No, it’s a bit awkward with Director Ahn.’

For Kang Woo-jin, maintaining his image was paramount. Having made his decision, Woo-jin coldly answered the female producer—or rather, the seven members of the ‘Pierrot’ team who were staring at him—in English. His answer to the question of ‘not regretting it.’

“I don’t care, but ‘Pierrot’ will regret it.”

There was no turning back or going left or right. It was just straight ahead. At this, Choi Sung-gun, with his ponytail, sitting next to Woo-jin, slightly widened his eyes. He glanced at Kang Woo-jin.

‘Hey, hey, you! Aren’t you going too far??!!’

For Choi Sung-gun, it was quite understandable. Although his English wasn’t perfect, even with a casual listen, Kang Woo-jin’s answer far exceeded expectations. In a pre-meeting before even auditioning, he just threw it out there.

Choi Sung-gun knew Woo-jin’s personality.

‘The incident with Chris Hartnett might become a rumor, but if he’s this brazen here—is Woo-jin’s image in Hollywood okay?!’

He couldn’t help but worry. He wasn’t the only one who was flustered; the ‘Pierrot’ people in the meeting room were all slightly gaping.

‘P-Pierrot will regret it?? Are they… talking about us?’

‘If we miss you, we’ll be the ones who regret it? Huh—’

The female producer and the casting director were taken aback, but especially the executives from ‘Columbia Studios’ were even more so. They had all been in the vast Hollywood for decades, encountering a huge number of actors, including those from Hollywood.

‘We’ll be the ones who regret it? What kind of absurd character is that!’

They were seeing a ‘cocky monster’ for the first time.

A little later.

Kang Woo-jin and Choi Sung-gun, having finished the pre-meeting of about an hour, left the meeting room. After Woo-jin’s ‘no turning back’ statement, the questions and answers were quite smooth. For the record, it was Kang Woo-jin who dominated the meeting, and until the end, the strange expressions of the ‘Columbia Studios’ executives didn’t fade.

Well, it must have been because the fresh shock they received from Woo-jin hadn’t worn off.

Kang Woo-jin, who had maintained his firm image throughout the meeting, became calm as soon as he left the meeting room.

‘Yeah, I think I messed up. Tsk! I’ll just take it easy.’

He became rather composed. It was like he had reached a state of enlightenment? As Kang Woo-jin walked down the hallway, foreigners who passed by glanced at him. They all looked like ‘Columbia Studios’ employees, so they probably saw the incident with Chris Hartnett or heard the rumors. Choi Sung-gun stuck close behind Woo-jin, who was cleanly ignoring them.

“U-Woo-jin.”

Kang Woo-jin, standing in front of the elevator, lowered his voice.

“Yes, CEO.”

“Well, yeah.”

Choi Sung-gun, pressing the elevator button to go down, lowered his voice.

“There’s still ‘Walt Disney Pictures’ and Joseph’s ‘Universal Movies,’ but—weren’t you too reckless?”

“Was I?”

“Dude, honestly, I was a bit nervous. The rumors about Chris Hartnett are going to spread, and this meeting will only add to it. If your image is too strong from the start… there’s a chance they’ll avoid you in Hollywood. There are so many alternatives, and the atmosphere itself feels like they don’t need to be desperate.”

Woo-jin, after looking at Choi Sung-gun for a moment, nodded. Of course, internally. But what could he do? It had already happened. Kang Woo-jin, getting into the elevator, said nonchalantly.

“It doesn’t really matter. I don’t have to be desperate either.”

“That’s true, but.”

“It’s better for them to know me clearly from the start.”

“Hmm—”

“Hollywood is vast.”

“You mean, we have many alternatives too?”

“Yes, so I’m not desperate for ‘Pierrot.’”

Choi Sung-gun chuckled, as if he was impressed.

“Yeah, yeah. Haha, that’s like you. I guess I was too nervous. But honestly, couldn’t you have made the meeting a bit calmer? Was there a reason you went so rough?”

Kang Woo-jin answered simply.

“Their tone of looking down on me was annoying.”

After that.

Kang Woo-jin, having left the building, got back into the van. Whether he messed up or not, the pre-meeting was over, and now all that was left was to wait for a response from ‘Columbia Studios.’

Of course, he could be rejected.

What could he do? Kang Woo-jin, with his strong poker face, lightly dismissed his worries and picked up his phone. He had many missed calls. However, Woo-jin accessed the internet before checking the missed calls.

At the same time.

“U-Woo-jin.”

Choi Sung-gun, with his ponytail, sitting on the right, spoke.

“About what happened with Chris Hartnett earlier. The rumors might spread. Even if you didn’t know his name, Chris is very famous here.”

Kang Woo-jin answered calmly.

“It’s not a problem.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re like that. Just keep it in mind.”

Woo-jin nodded.

‘As if that’s a big deal.’

He lowered his gaze back to his phone.

Unlike LA, which was in the afternoon of the 6th, it was morning of the 7th in Korea. In December, the end-of-year atmosphere was palpable everywhere, including the domestic entertainment industry.

Amidst a flood of various issues.

『[Film Festival] ‘Blue Dragon Film Awards’ just around the corner, two films exceeding 20 million this year, ‘Island of the Lost’ and ‘Leech’… a difficult choice』

Naturally, news about Kang Woo-jin was also included.

『Kang Woo-jin, no news since arriving in LA… SNS also temporarily suspended』

Meanwhile, ‘The Righteous Evil,’ which had finished filming two days ago, was still showing strong momentum.

『[Issue Talk] ‘Kang Woo-jin,’ ‘Miley Cara,’ etc., finish filming Part 1 of ‘The Righteous Evil’!』

Around the time Kang Woo-jin left for LA, ‘The Righteous Evil’ team, having finished filming Part 1, announced the completion of filming through various channels as planned.

‘The Righteous Evil’ already had several hot topics, so the news of the wrap-up quickly spread online. It was the first work aiming for the world, backed by Netflix. In addition, several articles featured an interview with Song Man-woo, the main director of ‘The Righteous Evil.’

『Wrap-up ‘The Righteous Evil,’ Director Song Man-woo, “Filming and editing in parallel to increase speed, scheduled to launch early next year”』

『[Star Issue] Can we see ‘Kang Woo-jin’ and ‘Miley Cara’ together early next year? Public anticipation explodes』

Thanks to this, it became even more of a hot topic.

Therefore, mentions of ‘The Righteous Evil’ rapidly increased on SNS and communities. Due to the buzz surrounding Cara’s appearance, its size had grown several times over, and by late morning, Kang Woo-jin and others were being consumed in various places, following the media.

Around that time, as if the timing was right.

『Netflix Korea, “Teaser for ‘The Righteous Evil’ to be released soon, release date set for January or February”』

Netflix stepped in. Moreover, Netflix gradually released information about ‘The Righteous Evil’ to the world. The first thing released was a character introduction video featuring Kang Woo-jin as the main character. Of course, Miley Cara was included, and this video, released on YouTube channels and SNS, quickly recorded an enormous number of views. It exceeded hundreds of views in just about three hours after being uploaded.

Of course, it wasn’t completed solely by domestic efforts. Many overseas viewers were coming and going. The various languages seen in the numerous comments were proof of that.

Even without Kang Woo-jin in Korea, his power was.

[Channel Name: Kang Woo-jin’s Sub-Character]

[38.53 million subscribers]

[104 videos]

The power continued to grow beyond imagination.

-@Wooji_n

312 posts

48.11 million followers

114 following

And in theaters across Japan, the Korean film ‘Leech’ was playing, and in Korea, posters of the Japanese film ‘Nakkisaeng’ were prominently displayed in all movie theaters.

『‘Nakkisaeng’ and ‘Leech’ top pre-sale rates in Japan and Korea respectively!』

It meant that pre-sales had begun.

Morning of the 7th. LA.

In an office on the middle floor of a tall building among the many buildings in the city center, a meeting was in full swing.

Six foreigners sat at a U-shaped desk.

Among them, a familiar, large black man was seen at the head of the table. It was the giant Joseph Felton, who was handling the current meeting. He was wearing a neat suit, as if he had other plans for the afternoon.

“Okay, good. We can talk to ‘Universal Movies’ with this feel.”

He was busy organizing matters related to the works he was producing. For the record, a producer of Joseph Felton’s caliber in Hollywood doesn’t manage just one project. Once production begins on any project, a team is formed, and once they are assigned work, there is bound to be a gap.

In that gap, they choose projects they like and produce them simultaneously.

Of course, Joseph was the same now.

However, what was recently drawing Joseph’s attention was the project he was working on with ‘Universal Movies,’ one of Hollywood’s ‘Big Five,’ and casting director Megan Stone. Cara and Hollywood’s big-shot director Danny Landis were confirmed, and although Kang Woo-jin was undecided, even if their contracts fell through, they couldn’t stop the work they were doing.

Of course, the first priority was to cast Kang Woo-jin by any means.

Currently, they had confirmed a screenwriter and were speeding up the scriptwriting process.

“It’s about time something comes out. The writer is fast, so even if it’s not a first draft, they should have created a treatment, a document summarizing the entire story.”

“Yes, I’ll check right away.”

“Even if it’s just the treatment, say we’ll go pick it up.”

It was at this moment.

-Swish.

Another foreigner entered the rather large office. A bald man. A very familiar face. It was Robert, Joseph’s right-hand man. As soon as he saw him, Joseph asked immediately.

“Robert, did you handle the task I gave you well?”

“Yes. I delivered it well to the staff. But more importantly, Joseph.”

Robert, with a serious face, approached Joseph, who was sitting, and lowered his voice slightly.

“There’s an interesting rumor going around about ‘Columbia Studios.’”

“Ah—‘Columbia Studios’? It’s already noisy with the new movie production. It was fresh to hire Director Ahn Ga-bok. What’s the rumor?”

“It seems to be exaggerated, but Chris Hartnett had a confrontation with an Asian actor in front of ‘Columbia Studios’ headquarters.”

Joseph, who was looking down at his tablet, narrowed his brow but raised his head.

“Hmm? Chris? He’s a bit strong-willed, but he’s not the type to create unnecessary disputes—it seems like it’s definitely exaggerated.”

“There was a moderate argument, and the Asian actor asked for Chris’s name.”

“Haha, that’s interesting. Asked for Chris’s name? That was intentional. Chris got a good hit. But for Chris to go to ‘Columbia Studios’ at this time—was he nominated as the male lead candidate for the project Director Ahn Ga-bok is in charge of?”

“Probably.”

“I need to update the information. Anyway, if the rumor is true, that Asian actor is quite something? To boldly cause such an incident in Hollywood, especially in front of ‘Columbia Studios’? Which actor is it? Chinese?”

Robert shook his head, his voice even lower.

“It seems to be Kang Woo-jin.”

At that moment, Joseph’s eyes, which had stopped moving, widened greatly.

“Huh?”

He stood up abruptly and strongly asked again.

“What? Kang Woo-jin??!”

The rumor was spreading faster than expected.

End