Actress Kim Hyun-joo revealed that she enjoyed the process of preparing for action scenes for the Netflix movie 'Jungi'.
On the 25th, I met Kim Hyun-joo, who appeared in the Netflix movie 'Jeong-i', at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.
Kim Hyun-joo played the role of Jeong-i, a subject for brain cloning to develop the best combat AI. Jeongi is a former elite leader of the Allied Forces and a legendary mercenary who participated in numerous operations and led them to victory. He participated in the final bombing operation that could have ended the civil war that had lasted for decades, but the operation failed and he fell into a vegetative state. He becomes the subject of brain cloning to develop a combat AI that contains all of Jeongi's strategies, combat skills, strong loyalty and will.
Kim Hyun-joo, who performed an action role in the Netflix series 'Hell' directed by Yeon Sang-ho, said, "I like watching fighting games. I even have the fighting channel on at home. I think I have that instinct in me." However, "It's different to express it with my body. I also had doubts about myself. 'Hell' didn't have a lot of action, so I thought I could do it at that time. 'Jeong-i' was a different kind of action, and it helped me a lot to build up the basics." He said. He also said, "The process of working out and preparing while sweating at the action school was fun. The acting tone I've done so far has been more about emotional roles rather than using my body. So the process of preparing for action was fresh and fun for me."
As the film involved a lot of CG work, there were many scenes on set that required imagining and acting in front of a green screen. Kim Hyun-joo said, "There was a pre-visual on set, but I had to create it from my imagination. I had no choice but to film while completely trusting the director and staff. There were times when I had no idea when I read the scenario. But I thought director Yeon Sang-ho could do such a Korean-style SF. “I had faith, and I felt that my faith was not wrong in the completed scene,” he said.
In 'Jeong-i', Kim Hyun-joo had to portray Jeong-i as the mother of her daughter Seohyun, Jeong-i as a brain cloning experiment subject, and Jeong-i as a robot equipped with a cloned brain. Kim Hyun-joo said, "I thought they had to be differentiated. After watching the movie, I realized that I paid more attention to how I looked when I was human than when I was a machine. I tried to look like a human. When I was an experiment subject, Jeong had to show a mechanical appearance. “I had a lot of concerns about what line was appropriate. I consulted with the director and also paid attention to things like walking,” he said.
It is said that special attention was paid to the appearance of Jeong Yi, a robot equipped with a cloned brain. Kim Hyun-joo said, "The director emphasized that even though it is a robot, it has to show emotions. That scene was CG, so I could have done it without having to act, but the director said he wanted to use my actual facial expressions. I wore a motion capture suit and acted. “I wanted to show as much emotion as possible, so even though I was a robot, I paid more attention to expressing more detailed emotions.” He also said, “The director brought out my eyes through post-production, and as a result, I like that part too.”
Regarding acting in the science fiction genre, Kim Hyun-joo confessed her difficulties, saying, "I've been acting by exchanging emotions while looking into people's eyes, but acting in my imagination without an object was very difficult at first." He continued, "Isn't it common to say that you're coming to the right place? Then you ask, 'What am I doing?', 'Am I good at it?' “I also wanted to,” he said.
'Jeong-i' is a science fiction film that tells the story of people who try to develop the best combat AI by cloning the brain of the legendary mercenary 'Jeong-i' in order to end the war that broke out in the shelter where they migrated away from the Earth devastated by climate change. It was released on Netflix on the 20th.
Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr