Im Siwan: “Intentional mix and match in ‘Smartphone’”

Actor Im Si-wan revealed that he brought a character from 'Run On', which he filmed before, to the Netflix movie 'I Just Dropped My Smartphone'.

Im Siwan recently met with Ten Asia and told various stories about the Netflix movie 'I Just Dropped My Smartphone (hereinafter referred to as Smartphone).'

'Smartphone', which was released on Netflix on the 17th, is a realistic thriller that unfolds when an ordinary office worker loses his smartphone containing all his personal information and his entire daily life begins to be threatened.

Im Si-wan said, "I enjoyed watching 'Smartphone,' which is a popular Netflix watch. This movie starts with a 'thump' sound. I think it has that power. I don't know if it's because I'm used to it as a person who often watches Netflix, but the 'thump' sound is “I was immersed in the fact that the sound was inviting me to Netflix. It’s the same movie and the same video, but I have to say that I have a little more anticipation,” he said.

He continued, "After work, I went home and while eating, I turned on Netflix and saw the 'Smartphone' trailer, so I watched it with that feeling of 'Should I watch it?' In fact, since Netflix is watched at home, it's no different from watching a movie at the theater. That's it." "I think it's emotional. I watch Netflix a lot. Even if I hadn't appeared in it, I think I would have watched it if there was a trailer for it," he added.

Initially, 'Smartphone' was prepared for a theatrical release, but was released in over 190 countries around the world through Netflix. Im Si-wan said about the Netflix release rather than the theater release, "There were some good things and some disappointing things. There was nothing bad."

Im Si-wan said, "Because it is being released simultaneously in over 190 countries, it is easy for overseas fans to access it. What is unfortunate is that it was the first offline event since the pandemic during 'Emergency Declaration,' but in the end, no matter how much the internet developed due to the pandemic, it is still possible to hold an offline event directly in person. "I thought that was the only way to have the emotion of meeting an audience. This is why I felt like I had to film a movie and wanted to film it. It was a shame that I couldn't hold an offline event," he explained.

In the play, Im Si-wan takes on the role of Jun-young. Junyoung is a man who approaches Na-mi (played by Chun Woo-hee) after accidentally picking up her smartphone. Im Si-wan portrays Joon-young, a character with cool eyes who commits gruesome crimes using a smartphone.

Im Si-wan once again played a villain following the movie 'Emergency Declaration' (directed by Han Jae-rim), which was released last year. He said, "I thought of this friend named Junyoung as a collection artist. He was very good at deceiving others technically and thought he was superior. I thought that actions such as collecting other people's characters would satisfy my artistic activities. “I did it,” he said.

Also, while playing Junyoung, he said he did not recruit a separate warrior. Im Si-wan said, "It wasn't difficult to understand playing this character even without a warrior. It wasn't difficult when I was building the character. Instead of creating a warrior, I thought of Jun-young as a person who just feels pleasure in performing artistic acts. So the current Jin-hyung is “I focused on the process. For this character, I wasn’t curious about my past,” he said.

Im Si-wan said, "We filmed 'Emergency Declaration', 'Run On', 'Smartphone', and 'Tracer' in that order. Fortunately, 'Run On' provided a buffer in the middle. We had separate worldviews, so we were able to go independently. I said, ' I tried to bring in the previous character, 'Run On', through Junyoung from 'Smartphone'. Isn't there a scene in 'Smartphone' where he meets Nami and appeals to them about their common interests at a cafe? In that scene, he is the same romantic male protagonist from the previous work. “I thought it would be effective if I brought it in. That was my intention,” he explained.

Im Si-wan said, “I don’t think it was common.” He said, “This time I tried a mix and match.” In addition, Im Si-wan said, "This time, it felt like the eyes were turning. I didn't intend it. I also didn't intend it during 'Emergency Declaration'. Is it the look you give when you're doing something bad? But I don't really have anything to do with anything bad, right?" “He said, making a sea of laughter. He said, “In ‘Smartphone,’ I tried to bring a bit more playfulness. Rather than a crazy look in my eyes, I tried to go with a sense of playfulness.

‘Smartphone’ is based on a Japanese novel of the same name. Im Si-wan laughed, saying, "I didn't watch the original because I heard that our movie was going to be different from the original. If I watched it, I felt like I would catch it for no reason. And I felt like I would follow along without realizing it. Now I think I can watch it. So I'm going to watch the original."

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