Will ‘Dream’ Park Seo-joon and IU save Korean movies?

'Dream', a collaboration between actors Park Seo-joon, IU, and director Lee Byung-hun, is heading to the big screen for the first time in three years. There is interest in whether their combination can save Korean films, which are in an unprecedented crisis.

On the morning of the 30th, a production briefing session for the movie 'Dream' (directed by Lee Byung-hun) was held at Megabox Seongsu in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, and actors Park Seo-joon, IU, Kim Jong-su, Go Chang-seok, Jeong Seung-gil, Lee Hyun-woo, Yang Hyun-min, Hong Wan-pyo, and Heo Jun-seok as well as director Lee Byung-hun attended.

On this day, Park Seo-joon said about 'Dream', which had already been filmed 3 years ago, "I started filming 'Dream' after the drama 'Itaewon Class' ended. There were many twists and turns before meeting the audience," and "I was moved to see myself from 3 years ago." "It's new. I'm excited and worried about meeting the audience at the theater after a long time. I have mixed emotions," he said.

Park Seo-joon said, "I've always been a fan of IU," and "I had high expectations of working together, and I was curious about what it would be like on set. When it comes to relationships in the play, the role involves a lot of bickering and tiki-taka. There were more scenes as filming was coming to an end. “I thought it would be nice if they were there. It was nice to see them, it was fun, and it was disappointing,” he said, drawing attention.

IU also said she had high expectations for working with Park Seo-joon. Regarding the reason for joining 'Dream', he said, "I filmed dramas focusing on roles with a lot of stories, but when I thought I wanted to play a role without a story, I received an offer for 'Dream'," and "I participated with a happy heart."

IU recalled that she had high expectations for filming 'Dream' and also shared her thoughts on working with Park Seo-joon, her acting partner. He praised, "Every time the director made an unexpected request, I was so impressed and envious as I watched Park Seo-joon flexibly accept it and make it his own. I received a lot of good stimulation while watching the acting right in front of me."

Meanwhile, when asked about her stage name, IU said, "When I was working as an actress, I listed it as Lee Ji-eun in the credits, but everyone called me IU anyway." He continued, "I am also actively working as a singer. For example, if I come out as IU in March and then come out as Lee Ji-eun in May, it might be confusing. So, I decided to make it all IU. Unify both the actress name and the singer name as IU." “I did it,” he said.

Park Seo-joon told a story about taking on the role of a soccer team coach. He said, "I went to soccer early, but I actually got to play the role. Of course, it wasn't easy because it was a short period of time to really get in shape like the players, but I tried to follow along a little bit. I like soccer, so I observed the players and tried to do my best visually. "I said I could make it, but I couldn't keep up with the skill. Even when I saw it, there were some things that were sloppy, so it was difficult to catch each one of them," he said.

He then said, “I was training with my seniors, but I felt like I was going to throw up, and it was hard on the futsal stadium, so I tried to increase my stamina,” and said, “I needed so much time that I can count on one hand whether I have ever played this much while working on a project.”

Park Seo-joon was also asked about his close friend Son Heung-min. When asked whether he received advice from Son Heung-min about his role as a soccer player, he laughed and said, "I'm not at a level where I can get advice from a national team player. I'm not at a level where I can understand even if he does." He went on to say that he plays soccer with Son Heung-min. “When Son Heung-min ends the season and comes to Korea, we kick the ball together for exercise. He lets me play as a striker, and he doesn’t shoot,” he said. “But he was definitely next to me, and when I look back, he Before I knew it, I was in front of the goalpost. I witnessed with my own eyes, ‘This is the stamina of the national team,’ and ‘This is the level of the national team.’” He said, drawing attention. In addition, regarding Son Heung-min's reaction to 'Dream', he added, "He said he was looking forward to it."

Director Lee Byung-hun shared his special thoughts about ‘Dream’ being shown on the screen. Director Lee said, "It took me 8 years to decide to direct and complete the script, and over 10 years to produce it. It's been such an eventful and long journey that it's hard to condense it into words," but added, "'Dream' is much better than I thought." “It’s time to prove that it’s a fun movie,” he said, expressing confidence.

Director Lee introduced the existence of the 'Homeless World Cup' to improve society's negative perception of the homeless and that he had created a new story of Korea's homeless national team players who competed in this World Cup in 2010. He said, "The purpose of the competition and the planning intention of the movie are in the same context. I thought it would be fun and meaningful. Of the works I selected, I had the shortest time to think about it, but it was the work that took the longest to make and release. “He added.

In particular, when asked about the casting of IU, whose first attempt at a commercial film was 'Dream', director Lee said, "It would be awkward to say that this was the reason for casting IU," and added, "I think it is correct to say that I did not cast her, but rather that I was chosen." Heo Jun-seok "If you ask me why I cast Hong Wan-pyo, you might be curious and it's not awkward at all, but IU is different," he said, making everyone laugh.

He said, "It was a work where the actors' chemistry was very important. It was difficult to get 100% of what I wanted on set, and there was a process of editing in post-production, but it felt like it had already been edited. Thanks to this, the labor was reduced." “It’s the same. The people who raised my guarantee,” he said, giving credit to the actors.

'Dream', which became a hot topic due to the meeting between Park Seo-joon and IU, is the story of Hong Dae (played by Park Seo-joon), a former soccer player with no concept, and So-min (played by IU), a passionless producer, who challenge an impossible dream with a ragtag group of homeless national team players. It is an adaptation of the true story of the 2010 Homeless World Cup, in which Korea participated for the first time.

‘Dream’ will be released on April 26th.

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