I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 458

–

The English title appeared in the center of the screen. Looking at the slightly rough-feeling title, Kang Woo-jin felt a mix of deep emotion and unfamiliarity.

‘Cool—an English title, it’s kind of awesome.’

He had filmed several works so far, but this was his first time with an English title. Moreover, his first work in Hollywood, ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ was being displayed on the screen, causing a rush of emotions and overwhelming excitement as past events flashed through his mind. How could he express this feeling?

‘A sense of accomplishment? Elation? I don’t know, but anyway, it feels amazing.’

Woo-jin was quite proud that he, the lead actor in that movie involving Hollywood’s monster film company and other big names, was the ‘Joker’ who made a striking appearance from the very first scene. Though he maintained a nonchalant expression due to his concept, he felt like he could burst into a celebratory shoulder dance.

‘Anyway, the quality, the subtle atmosphere, the sound—it all feels right from the start. This is going to be incredibly fun.’

Even though it was his own movie, Kang Woo-jin watched the screen with the mindset of a regular audience member.

-♬♪

The music grew louder, and the title that had appeared in the center of the screen disappeared. Around this time, Nora Foster, the producer with a strong presence, who had her legs crossed, had a deeper smile on her face. It was a smile of delight.

‘The villain ‘Joker’ appears from the beginning, and that absurd acting and visual dominate the atmosphere of this theater.’

The ‘Joker’s’ appearance was brief. But it was this part where future audiences would decide if this movie is very interesting. It was all the result of Kang Woo-jin’s first appearance. His bizarre laughter, his mischievous lines, his performance that led the scene, his impactful image, and his attention-grabbing expressions.

‘I’m getting goosebumps.’

Nora’s arms were covered in goosebumps. She glanced at Kang Woo-jin. He was nonchalantly staring at the screen. Was he satisfied? Or did he feel regret? His face was completely unreadable.

‘To watch his Hollywood debut so calmly—he’s quite unique.’

Nora then shifted her gaze slightly to director Ahn Ga-bok, whose face was wrinkled. He was stroking his cheek with one hand, but his eyes were glued to the screen. He seemed calm at first glance, but there was definitely excitement in director Ahn Ga-bok’s eyes.

‘The direction was good, to use that scene in this way.’

Even with the same scenario, the outcome varies greatly depending on which director is involved. Some become masterpieces, while others become flops. It all depends on the director’s vision, capabilities, and skills. The opening scene of ‘Clown’ that they just saw was slightly different from the shooting storyboard.

‘Originally, it was just the ‘Joker’s’ interview.’

However, director Ahn Ga-bok inserted the music that contributed to ‘Henry Gordon’s’ awakening during the interview, which led to the scene of ‘Joker’ recalling the past. The fact that the past was in black and white indicated ‘Joker’s’ current emotional state. It was still too early to judge, but Nora thought that direction was the right choice.

‘That cut not only raised curiosity about the story behind it but also highlighted the terrible yet unrestrained aspect of the ‘Joker’.’

The ‘Joker’ laughed gleefully while recalling a past filled with slaughter, and he talked about that past as if it were a pleasant memory. It was no different from introducing a terrifying clown to the audience from the start.

Soon, Nora Foster clenched both fists tightly.

It was because her anticipation and the premonition of success were amplified. Of course, all the foreigners in this theater felt the same way as Nora. From the bald man to the executives of ‘Columbia Studio’.

‘How can you not find it interesting after seeing that performance from the first scene? This is it, even if it’s released worldwide right now, everyone will be captivated.’

‘Kang Woo-jin’s acting—I saw it on set, but the overwhelming presence he exudes on screen is more than doubled. It’s fortunate that he’s taking on the start of the ‘Cinematic Universe’.’

‘Haha, this is absurd. It’s already fun, have I ever seen a work like this before?’

All the foreigners gathered in the theater, including the key staff of ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ were praising, no, worshipping Kang Woo-jin while fixing their eyes on the screen in front.

It was a performance of that quality.

Then, instead of the villain ‘Joker,’ ‘Henry Gordon,’ who looked weak at a glance, appeared on the black screen. His back and shoulders were hunched, and his eyes and expression were full of despair and emptiness. It was the face of someone who didn’t expect anything from society or the world.

The beginning of ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ was, as expected, about ‘Henry Gordon’s’ hardships and oppression.

-[“What? What are you looking at?! Get out of here right now!”]

-[“I-I’m sorry!”]

However, it might look different depending on the perspective. It could be perceived as ‘ordinary.’ However, as the story progresses, Kang Woo-jin’s, or ‘Henry Gordon’s,’ expression changes very subtly. He was growing from the accumulated neglect, disregard, oppression, discrimination, prejudice, contempt, and violence.

A monster, that is.

That’s how ‘Joker’ is born in the world of ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain.’ Watching Kang Woo-jin on the screen, Choi Sung-gun was overwhelmed.

‘Wow—it’s amazing, just amazing.’

It was a process filled with blood and slaughter, but perhaps because of the frustration that ‘Henry Gordon’ showed in the beginning, a strange sense of exhilaration exploded. Everyone, including Choi Sung-gun, felt the same way.

‘This must be a phenomenon that appears because I’m immersed in the character.’

The ‘Joker’ on the screen, doing bizarre things, was as cool as ‘no turning back.’ That appearance was exactly like Kang Woo-jin’s real self.

After that, about two hours passed in an instant.

All the people, including Kang Woo-jin, were immersed in ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ and only came to their senses when the end credits appeared, signaling the end of the movie. It was at this moment that applause suddenly spread.

-Clap clap clap clap clap!

The applause was louder than the ending music echoing in the theater. Looking around, the bald man and the executives of ‘Columbia Studio’ were standing up and clapping their hands vigorously.

-Clap clap clap clap clap clap!

It was praise for Kang Woo-jin and director Ahn Ga-bok. This applause quickly spread to everyone. Nora Foster, the key staff, Choi Sung-gun, Chris Hartnett, and the other actors. Everyone expressed their congratulations and praise with applause.

-Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!

Director Ahn Ga-bok, who was finally a bit relieved, muttered softly.

“Hah, I’m tired.”

He joined in the applause, and Kang Woo-jin, who had also risen indifferently, also matched the atmosphere appropriately. With a nonchalant face. However, inside, he was going wild.

‘Wow!! So fun! Super fun! It’s crazy!!’

After the applause, which had been maintained for a while, stopped, the people gathered in the theater began to talk as if they had planned it. Woo-jin naturally mingled with director Ahn Ga-bok and Nora Foster, and Nora spoke to Woo-jin.

“Mr. Kang Woo-jin.”

At the call, Kang Woo-jin, who had been going wild inside, immediately lowered his voice.

“Yes, Nora.”

Nora, who had no idea about this, smiled, giving him a thumbs up.

“Your ‘Joker’ was the best.”

As a result, director Ahn Ga-bok, the executives, and actors like Chris also gave similar evaluations. Woo-jin, feeling a bit embarrassed, chose to remain silent. At this moment, Nora, who had let out a small breath, said.

“Hoo-”

She shifted her gaze to the screen where ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ had been displayed until just before and continued.

“We will start the promotional marketing soon, and within a few days, we will also reveal the pre-release date of ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’.”

It was about the future of ‘Clown’.

“For your information, the pre-release date of ‘Clown’ is confirmed for February 9th, which is about a month away.”

After the test screening of ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ Kang Woo-jin took two days off. He had finished two works since coming to Hollywood, so it was time to rest. Choi Sung-gun said he wanted to give him more than a week off, but there were many schedules that were either delayed or in progress, so that was difficult.

Woo-jin’s influence in Hollywood had become even hotter, so his schedule had grown more hectic than in the past. Kang Woo-jin pretended to be nonchalant, but inside, he grumbled.

‘Ugh—damn it, I’d rather actually be filming, it’s way better.’

He felt like filming was a hundred times better.

Meanwhile, Kang Woo-jin took every opportunity to observe the trends in Hollywood and around the world.

‘As expected, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is a mess, Korea likes it, but the rest are, well—as expected, going crazy.’

The hottest issue in Hollywood and the global entertainment industry was definitely ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Recently, ‘World Disney Pictures’ had announced the wrap-up of filming for ‘Beauty and the Beast.’

Of course, the Korean media had already been consuming Kang Woo-jin.

『[Issue Pick] ‘Beauty and the Beast’ filming finished, how will Kang Woo-jin’s Beast and Miley Cara’s Beauty be received?』

『Kang Woo-jin’s ‘Beast,’ the first Korean actor! Overseas famous communities are buzzing about Kang Woo-jin/Photo』

The domestic public, including social media and YouTube, were busy spreading expectations and teasers.

-Wow… ‘Beauty and the Beast’ filming is over… I can’t really imagine Kang Woo-jin as the Beast lololol

-But it’s kind of patriotic lololol The male lead of a Disney live-action is a Korean actor lololol

-So when is the release date?

-The overseas people are freaking out lololol At this rate, the opening week of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ will explode with viewers lololol

-Looking at the leaked photos of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ filming, Kang Woo-jin and Miley Cara look good together

-Leaked?? Where did you see that???

Korea had more positive than negative reactions, but worldwide, it was almost half and half. The controversy that had temporarily subsided during filming had reignited the excitement of the global public, which had been in an uproar in the early days of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’

Cheers and curses were rampant.

But what could be done now? The filming of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was already over, and after finishing the minor details, they would soon move on to the post-production editing. Now, ‘World Disney Pictures’ was in a situation where they had to go all in.

Then, on the late morning of January 15th.

Inside a large meeting room in downtown LA. The employees of ‘A8 Media,’ the film company of the movie ‘Guest,’ were gathered in this rented meeting room. Of course, Jennifer Thurman, with her brown bobbed hair, was also there. Jennifer was sitting at the front of a large U-shaped table, and the employees were busy setting things up.

Soon, Jennifer Thurman swallowed hard, looking at the still-empty seats.

“Finally—is everyone gathering?”

About an hour later? It was the same space, but the spacious meeting room was now crowded with many foreigners. At least 20 people. They were busy greeting each other, whether they knew each other or not.

“Hahaha, it’s been a while.”

“I know. Has it been about two years? We’re working on the same project again.”

“Nice to work with you.”

“Likewise.”

Jennifer Thurman looked at them with a pleased expression. The reason was simple. The foreigners gathered now were the core production team that would lead the movie ‘Guest.’ The key staff of each team, including the director. They were people with dazzling careers that were unimaginable in the past, and the director with the mustache also had a very impressive filmography.

That’s right, today was the first meeting of the core members of the movie ‘Guest.’

At that moment.

-Swish.

A blonde woman appeared in the meeting room full of production staff.

“Hello—”

It was Miley Cara, the top Hollywood actress who had recently finished filming ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ wearing a beige short padded jacket. Her appearance immediately boosted the atmosphere of the meeting room. Jennifer Thurman, as well as the director and production staff, all flocked to her. It was a natural scene, given that Miley Cara was one of the top-tier actresses in Hollywood.

But she wasn’t the end.

“Oh—Miley came first, hello. Haha, everyone looks happy.”

Following Cara, another top actor with attractive dark brown eyes was added. It was Chris Hartnett, who had finished filming ‘Clown.’ Everyone went wild when he appeared.

“Ooooh! Chris, welcome!”

The meeting room became noisy in an instant. The reason why two of Hollywood’s top actors had appeared here was simple. Miley Cara and Chris Hartnett were confirmed as the two leads of ‘Guest.’ At this point, a freckled man among the ‘A8 Media’ employees was gaping at the scene unfolding before him.

‘I expected it, but seeing it like this—I can’t close my mouth. H-how did this situation happen??’

Clearly, ‘Guest’ was a dying project on the verge of being taken off life support. But what about now? Not only were there famous directors and production staff, but Miley and Chris, who were world-class stars, had also joined. The freckled employee wondered if this was a dream.

‘Please—please don’t let this be a dream.’

Then.

-Knock knock.

Knocking sounds spread again, and new figures entered the meeting room. The first one to appear was a man with a ponytail. As soon as she saw him, Jennifer Thurman was the first to run to him.

“CEO Choi Sung-gun!”

It was Choi Sung-gun, the main investor who had poured hundreds of millions into ‘Guest.’ Choi Sung-gun smiled and shook hands with Jennifer.

“Haha, everyone’s gathered.”

Behind Choi Sung-gun was a man with a black hoodie and a gray coat, his face full of indifference.

“······”

Jennifer Thurman, who was seeing him in person for the first time, briefly admired the man’s face with her mouth slightly open.

‘…Kang Woo-jin.’

It was Kang Woo-jin, who was scheduled to make a special appearance in ‘Guest.’

Meanwhile.

Around the time Kang Woo-jin joined the ‘Guest’ members, ‘Columbia Studio’ announced the news of ‘Clown’ through their official social media.

-[“······’Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ has successfully completed editing and testing. Now, we plan to move forward to challenge the ‘Academy Awards.’ ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ will be pre-released in several theaters in LA, and the release date has been confirmed for February 9th.”]

They had announced the pre-release date of ‘Clown’ to the world.