'Dr. Chun' Kang Dong-won "Secret in casting? My box office hit rate isn't bad"

Actor Kang Dong-won (42) wore a black shirt with a large floral pattern and told the story with a natural and comfortable face. He said that he has gained a lot of freedom in the life of an actor who has already been in his 20th year.

On the afternoon of the 21st, Kang Dong-won conducted an interview with Ten Asia regarding the movie 'Dr. Chun's Exorcism Lab: Secret of the Snow Scene' (directed by Kim Seong-sik, hereinafter referred to as 'Dr. Chun') at a cafe in Sogyeok-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

On this day, Kang Dong-won seemed somewhat embarrassed when it came to compliments about his appearance, such as calling him a 'beautiful subject'. He said about his face in 'Dr. Chun', "It was nice to feel the passage of time. I thought I could play other roles appropriate for my age in the future."

“As an actor, it’s good to say that I have a good face. However, in the past, I thought I looked a little younger than my age, but now I feel like I look my age, so I think that’s better.”

Kang Dong-won, who was known to not particularly take care of his appearance, laughed and said, "I'm trying hard to go to the dermatologist these days. That's because my manager nags me a lot, telling me to 'take care of my appearance.'"

“In the past, rather than feeling like an adult, I still felt like I was younger. I think I felt less like an old man, but when I watched the movie this time, I felt much older. I felt like an old man.”

Kang Dong-won, who celebrated his 20th debut this year, looked back on his debut. “When I debuted, I had many shortcomings, but now I feel a little freer,” he said. "When I debuted as an actor, I took acting classes for about 3 years before making my debut. Still, I had many shortcomings at the time. Of course, I still have many shortcomings, but after doing it for over 20 years, I feel very free. No matter what difficult scene comes, I can do it like this. “I tried to express myself in this way and that. I gained a lot of experience and experienced various characters, so I think this is what happened.”

Kang Dong-won, who said that he felt burdened by acting at first, so he memorized the mantra 'Just think I'm crazy', smiled brightly and said that acting now feels free. When asked about the secret to his value as an actor, he said, "I think it's because my batting average is not bad."

“I don’t think the box office hit is bad. In fact, it’s not enough for only the directors to like me, but investors, production companies, and everyone else has to like me. In that respect, I think it’s still good.”

Kang Dong-won, who has met audiences through genre films rather than melodrama, laughed and said, “I don’t particularly care about the genre,” and “I like melodrama films, too.” “Melodramas are good, and there are many movies I like. For example, ‘Cheommilmil’. There are many movies I like. However, the difficult thing about melodrama is acting out emotions that everyone knows. It is more difficult to come up with a good scenario in drama or melodrama. I think it is. Rather, I think fantasy is an emotion that only that person can understand, and when you use it, a more attractive scenario can come out.”

The criterion when selecting a work is ‘imagination’. Kang Dong-won said, “I tend to read a scenario and draw a picture in my head, and if I think it would be fun, I do it.” He added, “However, it may be fun to draw a picture, but it won’t be easy. I’ve seen projects like that, and I thought I should give it a try, so I did it once.” As an example, director Uhm Tae-hwa's debut film 'Hidden Time' was cited.

"It's not easy. 'Hidden Time' is one of the movies that I regret. It's definitely a good movie. Not long ago, while filming in the countryside, I went to the theater and saw 'Concrete Utopia' and sent a text message to Director Eom. 'I'm angry because my previous work failed. I said, ‘I guess you’ve improved a lot,’ and I got a giggling reply.”

Kang Dong-won introduced 'Dr. Chun', saying, "I think it is a movie that has various charms and is fun and easy to watch. I found the subject matter and story fresh. I think it is a movie that fits these times."

"I'm not personally interested in the shamanism that appears in the movie, but I'm interested in it professionally and as a movie subject. Anyway, I think it's Korean. I also talked to director Park Chan-wook, and it's a Korean shamanism, and I thought that overseas audiences might feel something new when they see it. “I personally like occult water. I recommend watching it during the Chuseok holiday!”

'Dr. Cheon's Exorcism Lab: Secrets of the Snowy Scene' is a film about the story that begins when Dr. Cheon (Kang Dong-won), a fake exorcist with ghost-like insight, is commissioned to handle a powerful case he has never experienced before. Kang Dong-won portrayed the character of Dr. Cheon in a pleasant and spectacular way, taking advantage of his own strengths. It will be released on September 27th.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr