I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 453

On the early morning of November 1st, a van carrying Kang Woo-jin sped towards ‘SPT Studio,’ the filming location for ‘The Beast and the Beauty.’ Inside the van:

“……”

Woo-jin stared at his phone screen, his face solemn. The rest of the team, including the stylists, were the same, all glued to their phones. Choi Sung-gun was absent. They were all watching the same video.

-【’Clown: The Birth of a Villain’】1st Teaser｜Columbia Studios

The first teaser for ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ had dropped on the official ‘Columbia Studios’ YouTube channel. It was the first release beyond the poster, offering the world its first glimpse of Kang Woo-jin’s ‘Joker’ face and movements.

What was unusual was the sudden upload, without any prior announcement or build-up.

Of course, Kang Woo-jin knew about it from director Ahn Ga-bok. He appeared calm and serious as he looked at his phone, but inside, he was quite nervous. He had been living as ‘Joker’ every day on the set of ‘Clown,’ but this was the first time he had seen it as a finished piece of content.

Moreover.

‘The whole world is going to see this?’

It was a brief but impactful first meeting between the unveiled ‘Joker’ and the global audience. No matter how much he had conceptualized it, it was natural for Woo-jin to feel a surge of nerves. He tapped on the teaser video.

The video was short, about 30 seconds.

And it began with:

-[♬♪]

A majestic yet subdued OST [Original Sound Track] started, and suddenly, the face of ‘Henry Gordon’ appeared on the black screen. Water dripped from his wet hair. His shoulders were hunched, and his expression was vacant. ‘Henry Gordon,’ staring intently at himself in the mirror, let out a long sigh.

His voice was overlaid.

-[“This is right, I have to endure it.”]

The angle changed to a close-up of ‘Henry Gordon.’ He walked through a normal street, weaving through the crowd. He was also seen watching a TV in a store. A woman in a suit on TV was speaking.

-[“Control your anger; the indiscriminate explosion of anger is a disease. You need to get treatment. Anger is the root of many problems.”]

The calm OST suddenly sped up, the strong rhythm like a heartbeat. The screen went black again. The music abruptly stopped, and a man’s laughter burst out.

-[“Hehehehe!”]

With the laughter, another figure appeared on the dark screen. It was ‘Joker’ running through the same street where ‘Henry Gordon’ had been walking. Several quick cuts of his appearances flashed by, and the last was ‘Joker’ standing in front of a mirror again. He smiled as he looked at himself.

-[“Hehehe! Hahaha! Hahahahaha!”]

A low-pitched line followed.

-[“Crazy? That’s a compliment.”]

The screen turned black again, and a loud gunshot rang out. With about three gunshots, ‘Henry Gordon’ picked up a ‘Joker’ card in a pizza place splattered with blood. He even smeared flour on his face.

Soon, as the music reached its climax, ‘Joker’s’ voice was heard again.

-[“I’ve thought of another prank.”]

A rough white font appeared in the center of the screen.

-‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’

The 30-second teaser ended there. Woo-jin, who had been watching with a blank mind, clapped internally.

‘Awesome! I acted it, but it’s kind of – hip. It’s bursting with coolness.’

It was an evaluation close to self-praise. He had gotten goosebumps several times in those short 30 seconds. The editing was amazing, as was the acting. The music, the characters, the arrangement of lines, the escalating atmosphere, everything was perfect. He wanted to gush to his team members about what they thought, but Kang Woo-jin held back. Well, it was also because his team members were already going crazy.

“Wow!! It’s amazing! I got goosebumps watching the teaser!!!”

“Didn’t they do an amazing job??!”

“The music and the video are a perfect match! Especially, as soon as Woo-jin oppa [an affectionate term for older brother or male friend] appears, he grabs your attention!”

“It’s crazy! There are so many comments!!”

The teaser video for ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ uploaded less than 30 minutes ago, already had tens of thousands of views and an explosion of comments. The languages were diverse, including Korean and English.

-What? Is this really a movie where the villain is the main character??

-The visuals are overwhelming?! It’s just like the poster that was released!

-I’m starting to look forward to it; please don’t be conscious of the public and show us a proper villain…

-As expected, Kang Woo-jin’s ‘whether you watch it or not’ was marketing; how can you not watch it after seeing this teaser!

-The teaser seems well-made, but I still don’t like Kang Woo-jin; I wish Chris had played the villain instead.

-A world view starting with a villain is fresh? I’m going to watch it when it’s released.

-Everyone, think about it! If you watch the movie, you’re encouraging Kang Woo-jin’s arrogance!

-Arrogance or whatever, I have to watch it.

·
·
·

For now, the reactions were mostly positive. Of course, there were some negative comments, but they were in the minority. Kang Woo-jin, with his usual poker face, didn’t change his expression, but inside, he was happily absorbing the reactions.

There were also questions in the comments.

-But why was the teaser for this movie released so early?

It was already November. It had been over three months since they started editing, but it was too early for ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ to release a teaser. It was a move that deviated from the usual norm.

Moreover.

-When is the release? There’s no information about the release at all??

-That’s right, so when is this movie going to be released? If you release a teaser, there should be release information too!

There was no information other than the teaser. Therefore, reactions began to increase with bewilderment and questions. Kang Woo-jin knew why ‘Columbia Studios’ had made this choice.

‘The official announcement is supposed to be around next month, right?’

The plan was to announce around the end of the year that ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ was aiming for this year’s ‘Academy Awards’ [The Oscars]. Come to think of it, it was already the end of the year, Kang Woo-jin murmured inwardly as he looked out the window.

‘It’s already been four years.’

It was his first year-end in Hollywood.

Behind him.

The teaser video for ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ which had been released to the world, quickly reached 1 million views. This was due to Kang Woo-jin’s strong influence in Korea and Japan, as well as in the United States, including Hollywood. Due to the buzz and the sudden release of the teaser, foreign media rushed in.

『ABY/ ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ Suddenly Releases Teaser, Shocking Visuals of Kang Woo-jin!』

The Korean media was even more boisterous.

『[Star Talk] “It’s out!” First Teaser Released for Kang Woo-jin’s Hollywood Debut Film ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’!』

The public opinion was no different, and Korean celebrities who knew Kang Woo-jin were also going wild. Especially the actors showed a noticeable reaction.

“What’s the quality? Is that Kang Woo-jin? Isn’t it crazy?? It’s totally awesome!”

From Hong Hye-yeon, who exclaimed after watching the teaser while moving, to actors who had worked with Woo-jin, and even actors who knew him only through articles and news. There was also a slight feeling of vicarious satisfaction.

Because Kang Woo-jin was fulfilling their dreams for them.

Thus, the ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ teaser caused a stir in every country for several days. Meanwhile, foreign media reported on the soaring popularity of ‘Clown’ and also raised questions.

『LA TIME/ ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ in the Midst of Post-Production, Why the Sudden Teaser Release?』

Why did ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ release the teaser at this timing? And why was there no information about the release?

It was quite strange.

The deeper the questions became, the more the number of views of the teaser video exploded. It had already easily surpassed 1 million and was now heading towards 10 million.

-【’Clown: The Birth of a Villain’】1st Teaser｜Columbia Studios

-9.89 million views

Of course, YouTube was full of other videos related to the ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ teaser, and SNS, as well as various communities around the world, were busy talking about Kang Woo-jin and ‘Clown.’

The momentum was more than a strong wind.

Not missing this opportunity, ‘Columbia Studios’ released a character video similar to a making-of, along with the official poster. Since the teaser had already taken the world by storm, the additional releases quickly spread among the public.

The more they did, the more the interest and questions soared.

Because this time too, no information about the release was included.

However, neither ‘Columbia Studios’ nor Kang Woo-jin announced anything. ‘Columbia Studios’ simply maintained its publicity and marketing, and the hot Kang Woo-jin quietly but surely focused on filming ‘The Beast and the Beauty.’

In the meantime, Kang Woo-jin received a few more pieces of good news.

‘Oh – this time too, we achieved the world’s number one spot for a month!’

‘The Righteous Evil’ Part 2 was maintaining the world’s number one spot for over a month, just like Part 1, and the Hollywood actors who would be working with Kang Woo-jin on ‘John Persona’ were being confirmed one after another. In addition, ‘John Persona,’ which was being handled by director Danny Landis, was slowly getting ready for script readings.

The busy month of November, with many things intertwined, passed at the speed of light.

After finishing the filming of ‘The Beast and the Beauty,’ Kang Woo-jin headed to ‘Columbia Studios.’ He saw large trees installed in various parts of downtown LA. It was December, and Christmas was approaching.

‘Is it already the last month of the year? Time flies so fast.’

Department stores in LA were crowded with people buying gifts, and pop singers, including Cara, were busy releasing Christmas-related songs. It was Kang Woo-jin’s first Christmas overseas, but his schedule didn’t change much. He was the busiest person in Hollywood.

‘Come to think of it, I don’t have any award ceremonies to go to this year.’

In Korea, which was already strongly smelling of the end of the year, preparations for various award ceremonies and film festivals were in full swing, and Kang Woo-jin had also received invitations, but he didn’t have the time to go. At most, he would only attend a few award ceremonies in LA as a guest.

Thus, December, the last month of the year, began.

Director Ahn Ga-bok, who had been stationed in the editing room at ‘Columbia Studios’ for over four months, directing the editing of ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ was confident.

“……It’s definitely possible within January.”

He meant that he could release ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ as he had designed and proposed to ‘Columbia Studios.’ Director Ahn Ga-bok confidently conveyed this to producer Nora and the executives of ‘Columbia Studios.’

“We can proceed with the plan we had in mind without any problems. The editing is already in its final stages. It will be finished as early as the beginning of January.”

Nora and the ‘Columbia Studios’ executives were happy but also nervous. It was time to reveal their hidden intentions to the world.

“Then – it would be right to announce it within this month.”

According to the plan, they would be pre-releasing it in LA theaters in February of next year. Now, there were less than three months left. ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ which had been sharpening its blade, entered its final check.

『ABY/ ‘Academy Awards’ Side “The Opening of This Year’s Academy Awards is Confirmed for April”』

In Hollywood, which was full of the year-end or Christmas atmosphere, news of the ‘Academy Awards’ in April of next year was slowly being released. Movies that had been hits this year, movies that had not done well in terms of box office but had been recognized for their artistic merit, movies that had done well at other international film festivals, etc. Various works, actors, and directors were being mentioned, gradually building up the anticipation.

The organization that oversees the ‘Academy Awards’ was also getting busy.

The construction of the venue where the awards ceremony would be held, the selection of guests to be invited, and numerous other things besides publicity and marketing. In fact, they had already begun the process of selecting the nominated works.

Then, a few days after December began.

The location was ‘A8 Media’ in LA.

With the main investor secured, ‘A8 Media,’ the film company in charge of the movie ‘Guest,’ was extremely busy. Jennifer Thurman, the CEO, as well as all the employees of ‘A8 Media,’ were focused on ‘Guest.’

“Did you convey the first production meeting with the director and key staff?”

“Yes! I’ve communicated the location and time, and I’ve also received confirmation that everyone will attend without any absences.”

“Good, what about BW Agency?”

“They said it would be difficult to attend, and they asked us to summarize and send the production meeting contents.”

“Hmm-”

Jennifer Thurman slowly nodded her head. Even though everything was going smoothly, she was slowly getting worried about one thing. The recruitment of actors. At Choi Sung-gun’s suggestion, she had been waiting for a while, but now that the director and key staff had been confirmed, she had to start the process of casting actors.

‘……Until when. I think I should contact them again.’

It was at this moment.

-♬♪

The phone in her hand rang, and Jennifer, entering her office, put the phone to her ear.

“Yes – this is Jennifer Thurman from ‘A8 Media.'”

Jennifer’s eyes suddenly widened as she listened to the other person’s words for a moment. She even slightly opened her mouth. Her face looked like she had received a huge shock. She asked back quietly into the phone.

“…Huh? Ma, Miley Cara is interested in our project?”

Meanwhile, in front of a 5-star hotel in downtown LA.

A famous luxury brand event was being held at the hotel. Therefore, many celebrities, such as actors and influencers, were present, and about a hundred reporters were lined up in front of the hotel entrance, madly pressing their shutters. Some Hollywood actors were also seen talking to reporters.

They were doing brief interviews before going up to the photo zone.

What was interesting was that Kang Woo-jin, with an indifferent expression, was also among those actors. A barrage of flashes was pouring down on Woo-jin, who had his black hair neatly swept back and was wearing a luxury suit, and the questions from numerous reporters filled the hotel entrance.

Kang Woo-jin didn’t answer all the questions, but he picked and chose the ones he would answer.

At that moment, a male reporter shouted.

“Woo-jin, the teaser for ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ which you performed in, has been released, and various posters and related videos have been opened! It feels a bit early! Why haven’t you announced any information about the release yet??! Is there a reason? Or is it part of the pre-promotion?”

Kang Woo-jin, making eye contact with the reporter, answered briefly and simply.

“Because we’re going to challenge this year’s ‘Academy Awards.'”

It was a statement that was enough to turn Hollywood upside down.