I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 464

Foreign viewers watching Kang Woo-jin, or ‘Henry Gordon,’ in ‘Clown: Birth of a Villain’ held their breath.

‘What is this? The acting is chilling.’

‘Wow, the atmosphere from the start is something else…’

‘Is this how the first clown is born? But—Kang Woo-jin’s acting is pretty good, right?’

‘Hmm, not bad. He deserves the Emmy for Best Actor.’

Their thoughts varied, but they all shared a common feeling: admiration. Kang Woo-jin had captivated hundreds of viewers within just five minutes of his appearance. Of course, there were those who tried to deny it, but it was just the beginning.

Kang Woo-cheol, Seo Hyun-mi, and Kang Hyun-ah couldn’t take their eyes off the screen.

‘Is that—my son? Really?’

‘Woo, Woo-jin… you’ve been through so much.’

‘OMG!! The visuals are shocking!!! This is insane!’

At that moment.

-♬♪

The booming classical music faded, and the screen showing Kang Woo-jin turned black. Then, the title appeared in the center of the screen.

–

After a moment, the title disappeared, and ‘Henry Gordon’ reappeared on the large screen. This time, it was in color, and the eerie look from before was gone. ‘Henry Gordon’ was hunched over, his shoulders slumped. Wearing a worn-out zip-up hoodie, he was walking down the street, with Kang Woo-jin’s English narration playing underneath.

-[“No one sees me, and I don’t see the world either.”]

The angle was from behind him. Countless people passed him by, but not a single one looked at ‘Henry Gordon.’ Those who did glance at him would frown or avoid him, as if ‘Henry Gordon’ was a virus.

Then, for about 20 minutes, ‘Henry Gordon’s’ life unfolded.

It was utterly bleak.

It could be seen as an ordinary life, but the atmosphere, combined with Kang Woo-jin’s acting, made the viewers feel suffocated. Many emotions were captured on the screen: ignorance, neglect, oppression, discrimination, prejudice, contempt, and violence. ‘Henry Gordon,’ experiencing all of this, gradually changed. But it wasn’t obvious. The first to notice it was Director Kwon Ki-taek.

‘His tone has changed a bit. The emphasis? The rhythm? It’s hard to say exactly, but anger is building up in ‘Henry Gordon.’ But he’s holding back. He’s forcing himself to hold back.’

Of course, Hong Hye-yeon and Ryu Jeong-min also vaguely noticed it. That the words and actions of ‘Henry Gordon’ on the screen, performed by Kang Woo-jin, were gradually becoming more aggressive. There was something excessive in the way he looked at those around him.

‘Henry Gordon’ was weak and had low self-esteem, but in fact, he was wearing a mask.

Because that’s how he could belong to the world, how he could survive.

That’s why it’s even more prominent—his pent-up frustration and anger. Because he had been quietly enduring until now, the contrasting emotions, when slightly expressed, hit the viewers intensely. Of course, it wasn’t an easy performance. He had to walk that fine line to deliver what the viewers were feeling now.

‘It’s frustrating, just explode already.’

‘That damn pizza shop owner’s son! Who does he think he is, looking down on people when he’s so fat? I think it’d be okay if he died.’

‘Is it going to be like this the whole time? No, the main character is getting angrier. If we wait, something will change.’

They were able to create an atmosphere where frustration and anticipation rose simultaneously. And no matter what their initial thoughts were, hundreds of viewers began to root for Kang Woo-jin on the screen.

The time had come.

-Kugugugung!

On a night of thunder and heavy rain, a man wearing a hoodie appeared at the closed pizza shop. His face was hidden, but the viewers were all sure it was Kang Woo-jin.

‘Yes! Blow it up!’

The support, the anticipation for catharsis, increased tenfold, and the heavy voice of the pizza shop owner echoed throughout the theater.

-[“You—Henry? Henry Gordon, right?! Why are you here, you bastard!”]

At this point, the movements of the heavy man shouting suddenly became sluggish. It was in slow motion. The angle showed Woo-jin’s expressionless face inside the hood. His narration played again underneath.

-[“Ah—I don’t know, go to hell.”]

The slow motion ended as their conversation began, and Kang Woo-jin gave a bizarre smile and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a silver gun. The screen changed for a moment to the outside, where the rain was pouring. After a series of crashes, a gunshot rang out in the lit pizza shop. But it was drowned out by the thunder, and no one could notice it.

The angle returned to the inside.

The meat lump [a derogatory term for the pizza shop owner] was sprawled on the floor, and Woo-jin’s face, looking down at it, was covered in white flour. Kang Woo-jin fired a few more bullets into the meat lump. A faint smile spread across his face. At this point, hundreds of viewers shouted, of course, in their minds.

‘Finally!!’

‘Yes! It took too long! Shoot him a few more times!’

‘Oh, that’s refreshing. But what’s going to happen now?’

Lost in the rising pleasure, the viewers forgot that they were immersed in the screen. They were just watching Kang Woo-jin go wild. When the classical music in the pizza shop grew louder, when Kang Woo-jin slipped because of the blood, when he buried his face in the meat lump’s buttocks, when he laughed and danced.

The viewers couldn’t take their eyes off Kang Woo-jin.

No, they couldn’t. Hundreds of foreigners were already deeply immersed in the swamp of Kang Woo-jin, or the ‘Joker’.

-[“Hehehe! Hahahahaha!”]

His face was covered in white, but Kang Woo-jin on the screen had already awakened. He picked up a card among the scattered objects on the floor. The angle focused on the card he picked up, and Kang Woo-jin’s line echoed.

-[“‘JOKER,’ sounds good?”]

At this point, ‘Joker’ was strongly imprinted in the minds of all the viewers, and Kang Woo-jin on the screen was already standing in front of a mirror. Ah, I see. This scene was from the beginning. Just as the viewers were getting excited, the original cut of what was in black and white was being vividly displayed.

When he transforms into the ‘Joker’.

Kang Woo-jin, covered in flour, drew his eyebrows with blood. He dabbed the tip of his nose and drew his stretched lips, the same around his eyes. Woo-jin ran his blood-soaked hands through his hair. Blood stained his dark brown hair. It was the same, just like the ‘Joker’ in the card. He raised the corners of his mouth with his index fingers.

At the same time, a tear trickled down his cheek.

What was the sadness for?

The viewers, who were shocked or had their mouths slightly open at the impact of the ‘Joker’s’ appearance, were confused.

‘Why is he crying?’

‘He was just moving so refreshingly and even transformed into the ‘Joker,’ but he’s crying?’

‘Tears at a strange time. But for some reason, he looks pitiful.’

‘What is it? I don’t know, but those tears seem like the only sincerity in the eeriness.’

Seo Hyun-mi’s eyes even became teary as she watched her son on the screen.

‘Don’t cry, son.’

There was a strange resonance. Kang Woo-jin. The single tear that the ‘Joker’ shed was the last remaining reason and time. All the things he had been holding back and enduring until now.

‘And maybe it’s the fear of all the terrible things he will do in the future.’

Just like Shim Han-ho was muttering to himself, it was also the last emotion of ‘Henry Gordon,’ who was destined to disappear. That’s why the theater was filled with a momentarily subdued atmosphere.

It was like, what should I say?

‘It’s like ‘Henry Gordon’ is looking at me, he endured enough.’

It was as if the viewers were patting ‘Henry Gordon’ on the back.

But it didn’t last long.

Because the screen changed.

-♬♪

Cheerful music filled the quiet theater. Soon, the large screen showed a scene of the ‘Joker,’ completely different from the frustrating image from the beginning, walking down the street, his appearance and clothes all bizarre.

Kang Woo-jin, with red hair and a white face, just like the ‘Joker,’ in a triumphant scene.

A red jacket and pants, a blue shirt, a yellow vest, worn-out brown shoes, and mismatched red and blue socks. The angle was the same as the perspective of ‘Henry Gordon,’ who was ignored by the world, but everyone who passed him by threw him a glance. They were surprised, shocked, laughing, and so on. But no matter what, the ‘Joker’s’ steps were filled with excitement.

He even did tap dances in between.

The viewers’ hearts were also synchronized. They had shaken off the gloom, and now they were madly anticipating the ‘Joker’s’ next moves.

That anticipation was quickly fulfilled.

-[“Hehehe!”]

-Bang bang bang!!

Gunshots rang out again, explosions occurred, assaults were committed, and killings were repeated. It was a joke to the ‘Joker,’ but it was a huge problem socially. But the viewers enjoyed it. Especially after the reporter ‘Robert Franklin,’ played by Chris, appeared.

-[“Uh—what’s your name?”]

-[“Me, I’m Robert. Robert Franklin.”]

Everyone was genuinely with the ‘Joker,’ cheering him on.

‘Trample them more intensely! Ruin that damn society!’

It was a strange phenomenon.

Clearly, the ‘Joker’ was a villain, but he was loved by hundreds of foreign viewers. Even the viewers who had criticized or had negative feelings about Kang Woo-jin had completely forgotten their initial intentions and were purely enjoying the movie.

-[“Hehehehe, hahahaha.”]

In the mid-to-late part of ‘Clown: Birth of a Villain,’ no one among the viewers in their seats.

-[“I’ve thought of another prank.”]

No one doubted Kang Woo-jin.

About an hour later.

The end credits were already rolling on the screen where ‘Clown,’ which was the first screening, was being shown. The intense music with a strong beat was a bonus. What was unusual here was.

“……”

“……”

“……”

None of the hundreds of viewers who filled the seats moved. There were people talking because the movie was over, but no one got up from their seats to leave the theater. Of course, neither Kang Woo-jin’s family, nor Hong Hye-yeon and Ryu Jeong-min’s group, nor Shim Han-ho’s side.

The reason was spoken by the viewers.

“Wow—what is this, it’s fun!”

“Awesome! It was the best movie I’ve seen in the last 10 years.”

It was because they were filled with thrills and the lingering feeling of the ‘Joker.’ Moreover, the last scene ended in a way that made them look forward to the next one, so there was a lot to talk about. So the viewers didn’t move for a few minutes because they felt like the pleasure they had felt while watching the movie would end if they left this theater.

It was at this moment.

-Swish.

Suddenly, the door on the side of the large screen opened, and two theater staff members entered. It seemed like they were going to give an exit announcement, but it wasn’t. The two staff members set up a handheld microphone in front of the screen and then nodded towards the door they had come through.

Soon.

“Huh??”

“Wow.”

A murmur grew among the foreign viewers. It was understandable because familiar actors began to enter through the door the staff had passed through. It started with the supporting actors—100% Hollywood actors who had appeared in ‘Clown: Birth of a Villain.’ After about three of them entered, a man with a wrinkled face appeared.

Shim Han-ho and the ‘Leech’ team in the audience laughed.

“He’s finally here.”

The reason was simple. It was Director Ahn Ga-bok. The Hollywood supporting actors and Director Ahn Ga-bok. Their appearance meant that this was the place where ‘Columbia Studios’ had announced there would be a surprise stage greeting during the pre-release screenings.

Thanks to this, the excitement of hundreds of viewers intensified.

As if to repay that excitement.

“Haha, it’s been a while since I’ve done this.”

Behind Director Ahn Ga-bok, Chris Hartnett, one of the top Hollywood stars, appeared, smiling. He waved to the people with ease.

Then, finally.

-Swish.

A man wearing colorful clothes caught the eyes of hundreds of viewers. The red jacket and pants, the worn-out brown shoes, and the mismatched red and blue socks that they had seen in the movie. The man who appeared wearing the ‘Joker’s’ outfit.

It was Kang Woo-jin, the male lead of ‘Clown: Birth of a Villain.’

“……”

The moment Kang Woo-jin, who appeared with an indifferent face, turned his gaze to the audience.

-Clap clap clap clap!

Without a single exception, everyone in the audience stood up and applauded Kang Woo-jin like crazy.

-Clap clap clap clap clap clap!

It was the moment Kang Woo-jin had taken control of everyone.