I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 455

The filming of ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ which began in the set banquet hall, moved to several sets and finally wrapped up late at night. The hundred or so staff members were busy preparing for tomorrow’s shoot, and Kang Woo-jin, after saying goodbye to Director Bill Lautner, was returning to his trailer with his team.

He was currently wearing a skintight leotard.

‘Ugh, damn it, I can’t get used to this outfit no matter how many times I wear it.’

He grumbled inwardly, but outwardly, Woo-jin, with his tough-guy persona, was almost at his trailer when.

“Woo-jin.”

Someone called out to Kang Woo-jin. It was Choi Sung-gun, with his ponytail, who hadn’t been seen all day, waving his hand. Recently, Choi Sung-gun had been busy with ‘Guest’ related matters, and hadn’t been with Woo-jin much, working with the LA branch and others. Anyway, Choi Sung-gun, who entered the trailer with Woo-jin, said,

“Whether it’s Hollywood or Korea, the issue of ‘Clown’ challenging the ‘Academy Awards’ is blowing up all over the world. I expected it, but I didn’t think it would cause such a frenzy.”

“Is that so? Still, ‘Columbia Studios’ hasn’t made an official announcement yet. It’ll be even louder when that happens.”

“When are they going to announce it?”

“In a few days.”

“Hmm. We need to prepare on our end too.”

Soon, as Kang Woo-jin was changing out of his skintight leotard, Choi Sung-gun changed the subject.

“I heard the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ wrap-up date is roughly set?”

“Yes. I heard it’s early January.”

“Early January, huh? Less than a month left. It feels like we just started filming yesterday, but time flies so damn fast. ‘Clown’ is in the final stages of editing, and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is wrapping up.”

Suddenly, Choi Sung-gun got goosebumps.

“Those movies will be released worldwide soon too. Wow, I’m getting excited. Aren’t you excited?”

I am excited, very excited. Inwardly, he was as excited as Choi Sung-gun, but outwardly, Kang Woo-jin answered plainly.

“Moderately.”

“Just moderately? Dude, you’re about to conquer Hollywood a few years after your debut. It’s amazing every time I see you—how can you be so calm inside? Anyway, I got a call from Jennifer Thurman, the CEO of ‘Guest.’ She said Miley Cara contacted her out of the blue?”

“……”

“Plus, Chris Hartnett too. Both are interested in ‘Guest,’ and they’ll be having meetings soon.”

Choi Sung-gun, who was smiling faintly, poked Kang Woo-jin’s cheek on his expressionless face.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

“I wonder.”

“‘I wonder’ my ass. Seriously, why would two of Hollywood’s top actors be interested in ‘Guest’? And so suddenly? If you didn’t pull some strings, is this even possible?”

Yes, that’s right. I pulled some strings. Inwardly, Woo-jin laughed as he answered, but the words he spoke to Choi Sung-gun were very short.

“I just recommended the script.”

“That’s the same thing. What did you say? What did you say to those two actors that made them bite so quickly? Huh?”

Choi Sung-gun, who seemed to be bursting with curiosity, pressed him, but Kang Woo-jin’s lips remained sealed. But when he thought about it, he hadn’t really done anything big.

‘I just gave them a reasonable explanation and recommendation.’

It was Miley and Chris who moved. Of course, it was a phenomenon that occurred because Kang Woo-jin’s influence on them was enormous. In other words, Kang Woo-jin himself was a cheat key for now. Woo-jin asked something else.

“When are you going to open the ‘Guest’ project, CEO?”

“Hmm? Ah, we should do it soon. But we shouldn’t overlap with ‘Clown,’ so we should do it after ‘Columbia Studios’ makes an official announcement, right?”

While they were talking, Woo-jin, who had taken off his skintight leotard, put on his hat and left the trailer first. What was interesting was.

‘Ah.’

A familiar blonde woman was standing right in front of the trailer.

“Why are you taking so long?”

It was Miley Cara, still in her ‘Beauty Bella’ look. They had been on the same set all day, but they hadn’t had a single conversation because they didn’t have any scenes together. Choi Sung-gun, noticing the situation, cleared his throat softly and left first. Soon, Kang Woo-jin murmured to Cara.

“You’re still in your costume.”

Cara, with her blonde hair braided in a single plait, shrugged her shoulders.

“I was talking to the director and got a little late.”

“I see.”

“More than that-”

Cara, drawing out the end of her sentence, took a step closer to Woo-jin. A pleasant scent wafted over, but Kang Woo-jin pretended not to notice, and Miley Cara looked around before lowering her voice.

“I called ‘Guest,’ and it looks like we’ll have a meeting in a few days.”

“Yes, I heard.”

“Just so you know, it’s not confirmed yet, and more than anything, I’m not interested in ‘Guest’ because of you. I scheduled a meeting because the script was interesting.”

Kang Woo-jin, who had been staring at Cara’s face for a moment, nodded nonchalantly.

“I know.”

Cara, suddenly narrowing her eyes, corrected her words.

“No, to be honest, half of it is because of you.”

Kang Woo-jin smiled without realizing it. Come to think of it, Cara had broken down Woo-jin’s concept twice now.

“Is it half?”

“…That’s right, so let’s have dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah. We haven’t had a single meal together during the filming of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’”

Was that so? He was so busy that he couldn’t remember well, but it seemed like it. Kang Woo-jin nodded as if it was no big deal.

“Okay, let’s have dinner.”

Cara, whose expression brightened instantly, cleared her throat and hid her expression.

‘Why am I so happy about one dinner? It’s annoying, really.’

Later.

Kang Woo-jin, who had finished work, was enjoying surfing the internet in the van. He started with the Korean side.

‘Oh man, it’s a mess, really.’

Korea was going crazy. What was the topic? The aftermath of Woo-jin’s interview was spreading intensely.

『[Issue Pick] Kang Woo-jin’s ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ aiming for the ‘Academy Awards’ this April? ‘Columbia’ is still quiet』

『Kang Woo-jin directly reveals his challenge to the ‘Academy Awards’! Industry experts say “impossible given the timing,” can we really see Kang Woo-jin at the ‘Academy Awards’ this April?』

The Korean media was all about Kang Woo-jin, ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ and the ‘Academy Awards.’ Since he had already won Best Actor at the ‘Emmy Awards,’ the media was even more frenzied. The Korean public was no different. Only Woo-jin’s tidbits were rampant on social media, various communities, and YouTube.

-Isn’t Kang Woo-jin’s interview confusing lololol How can he go to the Academy Awards in April??

-Columbia Pictures is also quiet, so it seems like Kang Woo-jin just blurted it out first lololol 100%

-No, it’s not impossible for Kang Woo-jin to go to the Oscars in April. It’s totally possible if he meets the conditions

-What are the conditions???

-First, the movie has to be released in LA theaters for more than a week lololol

-If they do that, isn’t Columbia Pictures losing a lot?? If they aim for the Academy Awards and fail, the release schedule will be messed up lololol

-Anyway, if Kang Woo-jin really goes to the Academy Awards, it’ll be legendary lololol He’ll become a god

-But if he spills the beans like this, won’t the Academy Awards be annoyed and not pick him???

-If the work is amazing, they have to pick it lololol Anyway, Hollywood is going crazy right now

·

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Not only online, but offline as well, the talk was all about Kang Woo-jin. In conversations among the public, entertainment industry insiders who knew Woo-jin, actors, directors, and so on. If Korea and Japan were like this, how much more would Hollywood be?

『CNM/The ‘Academy Awards’ is silent about Kang Woo-jin’s bombshell announcement, is ‘The Birth of a Villain’ really aiming for the ‘Academy Awards’?』

The foreign press endlessly generated articles, and all sorts of nonsense and rumors spread on ‘Nedit,’ a famous overseas community. However, since it was the end of the year, the global entertainment industry couldn’t focus solely on Kang Woo-jin.

There were countless awards ceremonies, events, and parties lined up.

Kang Woo-jin also continued filming ‘Beauty and the Beast’ while attending several award ceremonies by invitation. Every time, there was a flood of interview requests from reporters, but this time, Woo-jin kept his words to a minimum.

About a week passed like that.

It was already mid-December.

As the end-of-year and Christmas atmosphere became even more intense than in the beginning, Kang Woo-jin, who was on his way to the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ set, received a call from ‘Columbia.’

“Yes, I understand.”

As Woo-jin hung up the phone after a short call, Choi Sung-gun, who was with Kang Woo-jin today, immediately asked.

“What did they say?”

Woo-jin’s answer was nonchalant.

“They’re going to make an announcement within an hour.”

Indeed, 30 minutes later, ‘Columbia Studios’ made an announcement to the world through its official social media channels.

-[Hello, this is Columbia Studios. Today, we would like to tell you about ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain.’ This is about the recent interview with Mr. Kang Woo-jin that has become a hot topic. What he said is all true, and our ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ will challenge the Academy Awards next April. Therefore, the pre-release will begin in LA in February…]

It was exactly as Director Ahn Ga-bok had designed it for ‘Columbia Studios.’ This announcement quickly engulfed Hollywood. The foreign press, which had been full of question marks, changed to exclamation marks and poured out articles, and the world’s public was more boisterous than ever.

The world’s public opinion was divided.

It was either innovative and shocking, or absurd and ridiculous.

It was understandable, as it was a method that was almost unprecedented in the history of Hollywood. The controversy intensified tenfold. However, ‘Columbia Studios’ nonchalantly released additional posters and trailers for ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ and Kang Woo-jin only posted a short message on his social media, saying ‘Please support me,’ along with photos from the ‘Clown’ set.

While Hollywood and the world were boiling over with ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ many things were progressing smoothly.

“Ah, hello, Miley Cara.”

“Nice to meet you.”

‘A8 Media,’ the production company for the movie ‘Guest.’ In other words, Jennifer Thurman and her staff were meeting with Miley Cara, one of Hollywood’s top actresses.

“Whew, I’m nervous, seeing Miley Cara in front of me.”

“Hmm? Is that so? I enjoyed reading the script.”

“It’s a real honor.”

It was a simple meeting, but Jennifer Thurman was noticeably nervous about meeting such a big star. On the other hand, Cara was very relaxed. There were many things to finalize at this meeting, but what Jennifer Thurman was most concerned about was Miley Cara’s fee. If Cara agreed to do the project, she would bow 100 times to get her, but if the fee was too outrageous, it would be a pie in the sky.

But fortunately.

“Hmm, not bad?”

Miley Cara’s reaction to the proposed fee was positive. It wasn’t confirmed, but with this kind of feeling, there was a possibility. Jennifer Thurman was jumping for joy inside.

‘Even if the fee increases somewhat, it’s within the expected range.’

Of course, the fee that she offered to Cara was also a very large sum. Perhaps more than 50% of the total production cost of ‘Guest’ was for the actors’ fees. But this was a common scenario in Hollywood.

After finishing the meeting with Miley Cara, Jennifer Thurman said,

“Whew, now for the next one.”

With a spirited face, she met the next person. Exactly three hours later, the Hollywood top actor she met was.

“Haha, hello.”

“Welcome, Chris.”

It was Chris Hartnett.

Meanwhile.

At ‘Universal Movies,’ one of Hollywood’s ‘Big Five,’ an agenda was also finalized. Those gathered included the giant Joseph Felton and numerous key staff members, as well as Hollywood heavyweight director Danny Landis. In other words, it was about ‘John Persona,’ the third movie that Kang Woo-jin had confirmed.

“It’s complicated, so let’s get through the end of the year.”

“I think so too. Let’s get through the hectic December and start in January.”

“Okay, then. Let’s do the script reading in January.”

The script reading for ‘John Persona’ was scheduled for January, a few weeks later.

Then time melted away. A day, two days, and then a week. It was because there were so many things going on, and Kang Woo-jin, who was half out of his mind, arrived at his LA home late at night after finishing his schedule. He had been filming all day, so Kang Woo-jin was extremely exhausted.

“Ugh, damn it, I’m dying.”

He took off his concept and checked his phone.

-[2022/ 12/ 31]

-[PM 11:55]

It was already the last five minutes of the year. Therefore, Kang Woo-jin’s phone was.

-Buzz.

-Buzz.

Endless messages were arriving. Texts, messages, DMs, and so on. The phone had been ringing all day too. It was the end of the year, so many people were contacting him. As Woo-jin was checking those messages, he said briefly at one point.

“Ah, I’ve gotten another year older.”

Because the numbers on his phone screen had changed.

-[2023/ 1/ 1]

It was the moment when Kang Woo-jin became a fourth-year actor.

Two days later, on January 3, 2023.

The hectic end of the year, including Korea and Hollywood, had passed, and the new year had dawned. The new year was not quiet anywhere either. Early in the morning, Kang Woo-jin had just gotten into the van. Although the new year had dawned, his face was still expressionless.

“……”

He was looking out the window indifferently, but Woo-jin was secretly excited inside.

‘Wow, what did I do to become a fourth-year actor?’

Kang Woo-jin briefly recalled the time when he first encountered the ‘Other Space.’ Right at that moment.

-Buzz, buzz.

His phone vibrated loudly. Kang Woo-jin, slightly startled, checked the caller. It was Director Ahn Ga-bok. Woo-jin, wondering what was up, subtly cleared his throat and put the phone to his ear.

“Yes, Director.”

He spoke in Korean, and Director Ahn Ga-bok’s old voice was heard.

“It just finished, the editing for ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain.’”

It was the sound of loading the gun before firing.