Director of ‘Killing Romance’: “Jonathan is the persona of Seon-kyun Lee”

Lee Won-seok, who directed the movie ‘Killing Romance,’ mentioned Lee Sun-kyun, who played Jonathan.

On the morning of the 13th, director Lee Won-seok told various stories related to the upcoming movie 'Killing Romance' at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

'Killing Romance' is about top star Yeorae (played by Lee Ha-nui), who suddenly announces her retirement after falling in love with island tycoon Jonathan (played by Lee Seon-gyun), and meets Beom-woo (played by Gong Myeong), a student from the 3rd fan club, and plots an extraordinary comeback plan. It's a story.

Director Won-seok Lee, who directed 'Men's Manual', and Jeong-ye Park, writer of 'Beauty Inside', began their work under the motto of "let's create something that has never existed in the world." As the title is 'Killing Romance', the formula of romance genre films was excluded and a story close to anti-romance was completed.

On this day, Director Lee Won-seok said, "I met Lee Seon-kyun on the way to the United States to receive the Academy Award. At that time, I gave him the book 'Killing Romance'. And 'Parasite' won the Academy Award. So I thought I would not do 'Killing Romance'. There was no reason to do it. It seemed like there wouldn't be any. He's an actor who normally reads a lot of books, but I wonder how many books he must have (since he received an Academy Award). But he said he would after returning from a trip to the U.S. I was wondering if I should look for another actor, but something magical happened all at once. “I think so,” he said.

Previously, Lee Seon-kyun said, "Director Won-seok Lee is making a very unique movie. I went to the meeting because I was curious why he gave me this project even if he rejected it because he was not close to me personally. But isn't the character funny? He just invited me to the meeting." “After about an hour, I went to America,” he said. Regarding this, director Lee Won-seok said, "I said good things about my love for Lee Seon-gyun. I knew it wouldn't work, but I felt like I was trying to sell this. We thought we would definitely receive an Academy Award. We asked what we would do if we received it, and after receiving it, we talked to the producer, CEO Kim Seong-hoon. “I said, ‘I won’t do it,’” he said.

Director Lee Won-seok said, "Lee Seon-kyun is an actor I personally like. Should I say he is a stereotype? The whole world was in an uproar because of the drama 'My Mister'. I also thought it would be fun to do something different while watching actor Lee Seon-kyun. The character of Jonathan is evil. "But it's symbolic. It may be strange to say it like this, but I don't think evil is one's own evil. Aren't our tastes, etc., manipulated by someone? They say it's an algorithm, but in a way, it's like gaslighting."

At the same time, he said, "I wanted a character who had the faith to create a better world, a character who was not hateful. There is actor Lee Seon-gyun's first movie called 'Boss Landing Operation', and I watched it all. Also, among the one-act plays, there is a movie called 'Our Slightly Sexy Romance'. When you look at it, you see Jonathan. He appears as a very boring man, and it's really funny. Actor Lee Sun-kyun asked why he was revealing dark history and said, "I don't like talking about this."

Director Lee Won-seok said, "I think Jonathan is actor Lee Seon-gyun's persona. He thought about the character all night long. He also wore his hair in a ponytail for a month before filming. When actor Lee Seon-gyun came to film the first scene, he said, 'Good,' and put his hand on his shoulder. “I was so shocked that I could feel my heart beating,” he recalled.

Director Lee Won-seok said, "I don't think anyone felt joy while watching actor Lee Sun-kyun act in 'Killing Romance'. To be honest, everyone was worried. There were also people who were angry at the time. Our makeup team was a big fan of Park Dong-hoon from 'My Mister'." The makeup team He asked, ‘Do I have to go this far?’ I said that’s not what I wanted to do. I also never felt joy, but I was anxious and asked, ‘Is it okay to do that?’ There was also a time when I said, in a nice way, ‘I didn’t ask you to go that far.’ “There is. Actor Lee Seon-gyun is a really interesting person and really funny. He is a very upright person. He is wholesome and like a neighborhood brother who plays basketball. He is humane and good,” he said, expressing his affection.

Meanwhile, 'Killing Romance' will be released on the 14th.

Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr