Taek Kim “Yongsan High School ace Heo Hoon is a friend who sweated with me”

Continuing from interview ②

Actor Kim Taek mentioned Lee Seok-min, who played the role of Heo Hoon, the ace of the opposing team, with whom he worked together in the movie 'Rebound'.

We recently met with Kim Taek, who played the role of Hong Soon-gyu in the movie 'Rebound' (directed by Jang Hang-jun), at Ten Asia's headquarters in Jungnim-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul.

'Rebound' is a miraculous story of 8 days during the 2012 National High School Basketball Tournament, when a new coach and 6 players of the weakest basketball team that no one paid attention to ran tirelessly. It was created based on the true story of Busan Jungang High School's success in the 2012 Korea Basketball Association National Middle and High School Basketball Tournament.

Hong Soon-gyu, played by Kim Taek, is a former soccer player with a strong jumping ability. He wanted to become a soccer player like Zlatan, but thanks to his physique that is perfectly suited to basketball, he catches the eye of coach Kang Yang-hyeon (played by Ahn Jae-hong) and unexpectedly joins the basketball team.

Kim Taek, a former basketball player, said, "I had to act as Soon-gyu as an actor, not a basketball player, so I put all my skills aside and started designing to fit the character. According to the setting, Sun-gyu was a character who was not good at basketball. He was left-handed. “The position and play style were similar to mine,” he said.

He continued, "I actually looked for videos of Hong Soon-gyu and studied a lot of his plays. I tried to make the player's habits my own. As soon as I started filming, the actual stadium where I filmed was the same as the place where I competed as a player. "There was also a place. That's why I had new feelings. I remember going to Busan Jungang High School for field training when I was in middle school. The scenery at that time brought out nostalgia and my emotions rose up," he added.

Kim Taek said that he prepared for the filming of 'Rebound' by staying in a training camp with Lee Shin-young, Jeong Jin-woon, Jeong Geon-ju, Kim Min, and Ahn Ji-ho for about three months. He said, "In the movie, aren't we a team? If we filmed without any preparation, we wouldn't be able to get along and it would have been difficult. So we did technical and physical training before filming. We also created a pattern to use during the game. In the actual game, we did technical training and physical training. “I practiced the patterns and tactics I used and filmed hundreds of videos,” he said.

In addition, Kim Taek said, "While preparing for about 3 months, our hearts were basketball players and athletes. At that time, I thought I was back when I was a player. I made basketball that much. Because I had that time, my hands and feet were in perfect harmony without having to put them together separately during filming." “I think it was captured really well in the movie,” he said, expressing satisfaction.

Kim Taek has many scenes with Jeong Geon-ju in the play. He said, "I was actually the closest friend. He approached me a lot. In fact, I'm a shy person. I was shy and couldn't talk, but he approached me first. I felt like there wouldn't be any synergy if we didn't become friends. So, we were separate. “Before filming, we went to play basketball and played games together. We still keep in touch.”

Kim Taek said, "Even when filming with Geonju hyung, we are still together. Like Dumb and Dumber, Eve and Sue, we are always together. We actually got along well. We both came up with ideas like, 'Shall we try this?' “I went to visit him. There was never a conflict of opinion. I learned a lot from him,” he said, expressing his affection.

Many former basketball players were involved in 'Rebound'. Kim Taek said, "Among the cast, 20 to 30 former players appeared. As a result, the quality of the film improved. I think even people who know basketball well were able to feel the excitement of a real game without seeing it as sloppy."

In the play, Seok-min Lee, who plays Heo Hoon, is one of the players from Yongsan High School who met Busan Chung-Ang High School in the finals and is a classmate of Kim Taek at Chung-Ang University. Seok-min Lee transferred from Chung-Ang University to Myongji University and played as a player. He participated in the KBL rookie draft in the 2021-2022 season, but did not receive a professional designation. Recently, Lee Seok-min posted a photo taken with Heo Hoon on his SNS and wrote, "I was happy to take on the role of senior Heo Hoon, who was my role model when I was a basketball player. ♥"

Kim Taek said, "Seokmin is my best friend and best friend. We call each other every day. At first, I didn't know that he would take on the role of Heo Hoon. To play the role of Heo Hoon, he must have basketball skills and acting skills since he is the ace of the opposing team. Isn’t that true? We talked a lot about that friend when he took on the role.”

Not only that, “We met every day and talked. (Lee Seok-min) asked, ‘I have to take an oath. What should I do?’ I didn’t know much, but we sat in the room and talked. (Lee Seok-min) was very nervous because it was his first time filming. “It was more fun filming with a friend. When I watched the movie, my friend appeared as the ace of the opposing team. I laughed because he was a friend who sweated with me while watching the movie.”

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