Director Kang Yun-seong revealed that the prop manager was pickpocketed by a pickpocket while filming Disney+'s 'Casino'.
On the 30th, I met director Kang Yun-seong, who directed the Disney Plus series ‘Casino’, at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.
Director Kang said, "I thought that if I only showed the happenings that happen in the casino, it would be a story that only stimulates the peripheral nerves. I thought that if I didn't follow one character all the way through, it wouldn't have much power in the second half. In the first part, Cha Moo-sik (played by Choi Min-sik) is a young man. "It is in that context that I included stories from my days and youth. The purpose of this story was to depict human arrogance and greed by showing various happenings that occur in a specific space called a casino, centering on a character named Cha Mu-sik," he explained. did. He continued, "When explaining 'Casino', what I am talking about is 'the story of the fire moths that gather around the lantern called the casino'. People who gather in pursuit of their desires. I wanted it to be a story of moths that hit the lantern and burn to death."
Director Kang said, “I actually met someone who runs a casino junket in the Philippines and heard stories about that world.” He then talked about the starting point of 'Casino', saying, "I was curious about the world that I knew nothing about. I thought the audience would also be curious."
Director Kang said, “I was impressed by the well-written story that made you believe that the world in the story ‘looks like it actually exists.’ I was impressed by how the worldview was depicted as if it were real. Not only crime, casinos, and the world we were denied, but also historical dramas and science fiction. “You can believe in a story by thinking, ‘I think such a story exists in my imagination,’” he said. He then emphasized, “I also want to challenge that kind of story.”
Filming on location in the Philippines had many difficulties due to the heat. Director Kang recalled, “The difficult part of filming in the Philippines was the heat. In particular, the car wash and sugarcane fields had to be filmed without shade, and even the Filipino actors and staff said it was a heat they had never experienced before.”
There was another embarrassing thing. Director Kang confessed, "The Philippines is also a country where gun ownership is free, so I wondered what would happen if an incident or accident occurred, but fortunately, nothing major happened. Other than the prop team having a bag containing several million won being pickpocketed, there was no major incident." He continued, "The prop manager ate at a Korean restaurant, paid the bill, and was about to carry his bag when two kids came from behind and grabbed him right away. The prop manager always carries cash because he has to buy props. There were two people riding on a motorcycle, and there was one behind him. “A person snatched it. The pickpocket also said he looked back as he left, but the prop manager who was surprised said he just froze.”
Regarding Season 2, which will be released soon, Director Kang said, “There will be more diverse characters and Filipino actors will also appear in earnest.” He continued, "If the physiology of a casino was depicted in Season 1, in Season 2, the story unfolds more like a storm swirling around Cha Mu-sik than in the space of a casino. Rather than gambling, Cha Mu-sik's challenges and incidents and accidents that occur mainly around Cha Mu-sik are depicted. “I hope you can look at it that way,” he said. He also predicted, "In Season 2, Cha Mu-sik is arrested. It is a scene added to the Season 1 intro. That story is the main incident and an inflection point in the entire story. There are many changes in Cha Mu-sik's life as well."
'Casino' is a powerful story about Cha Musik, a man who became a casino legend in the Philippines with no money or background, but becomes embroiled in a murder case and begins to make the final bet that puts his life on the edge. Season 1 concluded on the 25th, and Season 2 begins on February 15th.
Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr