Top Star By Luck [EN]: Chapter 80

80

The car, which had been running for a while, finally stopped.

“Actor.”

Manager Park Hanmo turned around at the sound and said, “We’ve arrived.”

“…….”

“Actor?”

“…….”

“Actor.”

“Ah.”

Lee Minki snapped out of his daze after being called several times.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been out of it lately.”

He’d been mentally rehearsing the scene dozens of times, so he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings.

“It’s okay. Is something wrong?”

Perhaps it was because of the strange incident earlier.

Manager Park Hanmo’s voice was serious, a departure from his usual relaxed demeanor.

But that wasn’t it.

The reason Lee Minki was lost in thought was something else entirely.

‘Because today is the day I compete with Kim Doha.’

That was it exactly.

Today was the day of the double interview with Kim Doha.

More precisely, it was the day of their acting showdown.

He had prepared thoroughly.

It wasn’t as if he’d only started practicing yesterday; he’d put in extra effort this time.

[Minki, you seem a bit on edge lately.]

Even trainer Kim Ahseong had pointed it out, surprised.

[It doesn’t suit you.]

[…….]

[Just do what you usually do.]

She hadn’t given it any special attention.

Rather, thanks to her advice, he could concentrate on practicing in his usual state when he was with trainer Kim Ahseong.

Lee Minki, recalling that, smiled and said, “I just want to win, if possible.”

“To win, huh.”

Manager Park Hanmo’s eyes showed a hint of surprise at the unexpected words.

“When I see you, Actor, I think you’re always working hard, even on small things.”

“Yes?”

“Objectively speaking, isn’t this just a small interview? Not many people prepare with as much sincerity as you do.”

“Ah.”

Lee Minki, realizing the difference in perspective with Manager Park Hanmo, let out a small exclamation.

‘That’s right, this would seem trivial to others.’

That’s right.

For Lee Minki, who knew that the [60-Second Acting] content would be a huge hit in the future, this acting competition was something he could never take lightly.

But it was different for other people.

It just seemed like he was tackling even minor projects with all his might.

‘He’s been continuously successful without any failures, unlike a rookie actor, so it’s about time he became arrogant, but he’s a very upright person.’

That’s how Lee Minki appeared in Park Hanmo’s eyes.

Always humble, always diligent.

As if the importance of the work was never even a consideration from the beginning, he throws himself into any trivial matter with an almost desperate attitude.

From a manager’s perspective, that couldn’t help but look extraordinary.

‘Even though he’s a rookie actor who just had a hit, if he has this attitude even for a small interview, he’s bound to succeed in whatever he does in the future.’

Just as he was about to get lost in thought, Manager Park Hanmo blinked and shook off his reverie.

“Go on, relax.”

“Yes, thank you for the ride!”

Lee Minki bowed his head and got out of the car.

The fact that he was still saying thank you was something that always made the manager smile.

Small actions that gave the manager a deep sense of reward.

But this much was something that quite a few celebrities showed.

Here, Lee Minki took it one step further.

“And about the dinner you’re supposed to have tonight. You remember, right?”

“Yes, why?”

Lee Minki smiled brightly at Manager Park Hanmo, who asked back with a puzzled voice.

“I’ve made a reservation at a Korean beef omakase [a multi-course meal where the chef selects the dishes] restaurant for tonight. Look forward to it.”

“…….”

“Manager, have a great day today too.”

With that, Lee Minki clenched his fist and disappeared into the studio entrance with energetic steps.

A moment later.

Manager Park Hanmo, left alone in the quiet car, chuckled softly while holding the steering wheel.

‘He still remembered that he promised to buy me Korean beef if he succeeded.’

He’s someone who doesn’t forget even the smallest promises.

* * *

At the same time.

‘Hmm, is that so?’

A man sat on a chair in the broadcasting station’s waiting room, chuckling.

In his hand, a cell phone was playing a video of a man.

It was a video of Lee Minki, an actor whose stock price had recently skyrocketed.

[Just because my life is a tragedy doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. There’s a saying I like. Everyone is responsible for ruining your life. But you are responsible for ruining yourself now. Do you understand? You are the one who is tormenting Seolha now.]

It was a scene from [Cafe del Dia] that was considered a 명장면 [myeongjangmyeon – a masterpiece scene].

It was a scene where the main character [Seong Jinwoo] confesses his feelings to the female lead, who has had an unfortunate family environment, along with some tactless advice.

[Is that the only way you can talk, Jinwoo?]

[Yes, that’s who I am.]

[It must be nice to not care about what others think.]

[It is nice. Of course. I’ll probably live a long and comfortable life in the future. Unlike someone else.]

[…….]

[Why are you worrying? Why are you worrying when worrying won’t make things better? If I’m sorry to someone, will that person read my mind through telepathy and forgive me? If I’m angry, will the world be angry with me?]

After a moment of silence.

Seong Jinwoo opened his mouth.

[You have to take action. If you exercise for just 30 minutes a day, you’ll be very different a year from now. People change that easily, so what kind of person do you want to be a year from now, Seolha?]

The past is inevitable, but the future is up to you.

So, being caught up in the past and tormenting yourself is abusing yourself.

That’s what he was saying.

[There are people who don’t pay back money, right? You hate them so much for not returning it, right? Don’t hate them. It only stresses you out. Just sue them.]

It was clearly a sincere statement, but the lines alone made you want to slap him in the face.

Nevertheless, Lee Minki’s acting covered it up and brought the character to life.

After watching the scene, which ranked 3rd among the top 5 명장면 [myeongjangmyeon – masterpiece scenes] selected by viewers for a while.

“Pfft.”

Kim Doha puffed up his cheeks slightly.

‘Wow, how corny.’

The acting was corny.

Regardless of how viewers evaluated it, at least in his eyes, Lee Minki’s acting was like that.

‘Did he learn acting from Japanese dramas?’

He felt an overabundance of emotion.

Of course, it’s not particularly bad to appropriately explode emotions at the timing when they should be exploded.

But it was as if he was too immersed in it.

Kim Doha thought it was clumsy method acting.

Furthermore, method acting had already been out of fashion for a long time.

‘If it’s obvious, it’s already over there.’

Acting is all about naturalness.

At one time, the chronic disadvantage of method acting was revealed here.

As a result of excessively pursuing natural acting, naturalness was rather broken.

Perhaps the reason is that the actor himself becomes overly immersed without realizing it.

Acting that only the actor himself enjoys, unless he has reached a considerable level.

That’s what Kim Doha thought of method acting.

Moreover, that’s what people in the industry often say.

[Method acting is all about doing it for your own ego.]

[They don’t even know how hard it is for the people around them to accommodate them.]

[That’s right. A midfielder who thinks he’s good at soccer? A mid-liner who thinks he’s good at jungling? That kind of feeling.]

It was a common misconception among rookies who were pushed by their agencies.

They got good roles and opportunities to be noticed because they had a strong background, but they thought they were in that position because they were good.

A bitter smile flowed from Kim Doha’s lips.

‘There are so many of these self-proclaimed method actors.’

Unless you’re a master, method acting is a bluff.

In his eyes, Lee Minki’s acting belonged to that fake method acting.

Of course.

There was a lot of personal preference involved.

Kim Doha is an actor who focuses on classical acting, which can be seen as the opposite of method acting.

He didn’t let himself be swayed by the role, and he considered interpreting the role as his strength.

Therefore, he was close to hating those who were swayed by method acting.

‘Today will be easy.’

It was not unreasonable for Kim Doha to be confident of victory.

“Indeed.”

As he tried to read the script again, he became more and more convinced.

Furthermore, there was a huge disadvantage in what he thought of as method acting.

A disadvantage that no genius of method acting in the world could avoid.

Even if it wasn’t Lee Minki, but a master of the Korean film industry.

No, it’s not that level.

Even if it was the world’s greatest actor who had his name engraved in the Hollywood Walk of Fame, there was a disadvantage in method acting that he couldn’t overlook.

‘It’s obvious.’

If Lee Minki is an actor who mainly uses method acting, he can never reach even the heels of his feet.

‘When we get closer later, I should point this out and help him improve.’

Since he’s going to be accepted into the group anyway, it’s better to be a little more useful.

Kim Doha thought so and turned his eyes back to the script.

To ‘calculate’ more possibilities.

* * *

A room with all sides covered with thick black curtains, as if you were inside a black box.

Inside, in the middle of the camera’s aim.

“Hello. This is Lee Minki.”

“I’m Kim Doha.”

The two people who finally faced each other exchanged greetings.

On the other side, on the camera side that viewers couldn’t see, an LED monitor with interview instructions was flashing.

[1. Please give a brief self-introduction.]

They had already exchanged greetings.

They had been chatting leisurely in the waiting room for a few minutes.

They knew each other well enough.

But they needed to show something that viewers would want to see.

“Come to think of it recently.”

Kim Doha made the first move.

“I really enjoyed watching Actor’s Cafe del Dia. I learned a lot while watching the role of Seong Jinwoo.”

“……!”

Lee Minki’s forehead twitched at the unexpected compliment.

“There’s a saying that an actor is a good actor, right? But that’s strange. I think actors should be good at acting in the first place. There’s no such thing as a skilled baseball player, is there?”

Kim Doha continued to speak with a kind voice that would make you want to give him a pass right away if you heard it in an interview.

“In that sense, I think the reason why the term ‘good actor’ came about is because there are so many rookie actors who don’t live up to viewers’ expectations.”

What is he trying to say?

Is he trying to provoke me by telling me to be ashamed of being called a good actor?

Just as Lee Minki was slightly nervous, Kim Doha continued to speak.

“The word ‘good actor’ is not necessary in front of Lee Minki.”

“…….”

“Because you are already a complete actor.”

It was literally a pure compliment.

A compliment that anyone who heard it would think that this person is full of goodwill towards me, and that he is a really good person.

He’s like a popular MC these days.

If anyone in the world were to listen to this interview, they wouldn’t be able to hold back their praise for the human being Kim Doha.

But Lee Minki knows.

‘His tongue is glib.’

Because he knows exactly what kind of things that person has done, he knew that Kim Doha’s words were just sweet talk or on-air comments.

But it’s okay.

“Thank you.”

Everything has its proper timing.

“Actually, I also learned a lot while watching Kim Doha’s acting.”

“My acting?”

“Yes, I think I’ve watched all the works that Actor has appeared in, from Will You Marry Me or Not, Pennant Race, Chemistry, to I Can See, at least 10 times.”

Kim Doha’s gaze showed a hint of surprise at Lee Minki’s words.

It was like saying, ‘I won’t stop you, so go ahead and say what you want to say.’

Lee Minki, who read that signal in time, continued to speak.

“Kim Doha was a textbook to me. A textbook that clearly shows what good acting is. I also felt like he was the North Star for sailors, telling me the direction to go.”

This is not just something he’s saying.

Kim Doha’s acting actually had perfectionistic completeness.

Even if he didn’t have overwhelming strengths, at least there were no wrong answers in his acting.

That also influenced Lee Minki.

Of course, the catch is that there are more than 100 actors he has referred to besides Kim Doha.

“I want to learn something from you today too.”

“……Haha, good.”

Kim Doha also responded with a soft smile.

“But if Actor learned from me, shouldn’t you buy me a meal?”

A small laugh spread throughout the studio.

That’s enough with the formalities.

The real game starts now.

On the other side, PD Na, who was in charge of planning this broadcast, opened his mouth.

“Today, we have prepared a very special content as fan service for viewers on our show.”

It’s starting.

The timing was right for the highlight of today’s broadcast, which could be considered the highlight of today’s broadcast, to begin.

“Ah, ah.”

With that signal, Lee Minki lightly loosened his throat.

At the same time, a small joy arose on Kim Doha’s lips.

‘Now, show me.’

Show me the limitations of clumsy method acting in all its glory.

There’s no ill will, but there is a morbid taste.

Several tens of seconds later.

“Ah, ah.”

When the full-scale impromptu acting began.

“…….”

Kim Doha’s eyes widened blankly.

‘It’s not there.’

That thing that should be a chronic disease of method acting was in Lee Minki’s acting.

It wasn’t there.

Just neat acting.

Only neat, orthodox acting, as neat as a freshly ironed shirt, was shining in front of his eyes.