‘Switch’ director: “One pick, Kwon Sang-woo, is strongly attached to ‘Hermit Crab’”

Director Ma Dae-yoon, who directed the movie 'Switch', revealed the reason why he cast Kwon Sang-woo in the role of Park Kang.

Director Ma Dae-yoon met with Ten Asia online on the 3rd and told various stories about 'Switch', which is about to be released.

'Switch' is the story of Park Kang (played by Kwon Sang-woo), a top star who was enjoying a glamorous single life, a 10 million actor ranked 0th in casting and a self-proclaimed scandal maker, when his life changes 180 degrees on Christmas.

Director Ma Dae-yoon has been building his skills step by step by participating as a screenplay writer in works of various genres such as 'Princess Deokhye', 'The Phone', 'Detective: The Beginning', and 'Wandering Blade'. Through his feature film debut, 'Yes, Family', which depicts the unusual story of an ordinary family, he resonated with many people and made a strong impression. We meet the audience with ‘Switch’, which opens the door to the release of Korean films in the new year.

On this day, director Ma Dae-yoon said about the reason why he started 'Switch', "In a play I saw when I was an assistant director, a top star and a friend who was a manager performed the same play. When I saw it, there was a case where the manager was more handsome, but the top star did well." opened.

He said, "Then, after a long time, I came up with the idea of planning a happy movie that I could watch with my family during the year-end holidays. I mixed the story of awakening the day before Christmas and the story of comparing positions as the status of a prince and a beggar are switched, creating a Korean style. “I started with the idea that I wanted to make a family movie,” he said.

Kwon Sang-woo was cast in the role of Park Kang, who went from a top star to an extreme job manager. Kwon Sang-woo expressed a friendly and comical character with sincere acting.

Director Ma Dae-yoon said, "In the case of actor Kwon Sang-woo, when I first wrote the scenario, the production company asked me what actor Kwon Sang-woo was like when he was in 1st high school. I had that in mind too, and we agreed. I thought he would do it from 2nd high school, so I thought of 'hermit crab'. “I added scenes, imagined his image, thought about changes, and wrote the scenario,” he explained.

He added, "I wanted to incorporate Sang-woo's image into the melodrama atmosphere of the early Korean Wave craze and the comical image after 'Detective: Beginning'. I cast actor Kwon Sang-woo as my first pick."

Director Ma Dae-yoon said, "The 'hermit crab' scene was also written in the script. During my first meeting with Sang-woo, I couldn't decide whether to film the 'hermit crab' scene or not. Sang-woo might not like it, and some people don't know. Isn’t it? Also, bringing in a world outside of movies could have been burdensome.”

Also, "I was leaving after eating with Sangwoo and I said, 'Let's do our best. Thank you for casting me,' and he sent me a 'hermit crab' emoticon. I burst out laughing when I saw that. I thought he already had a strong attachment to 'hermit crab'. Even when filming, it was the last time. “I filmed it thinking I could write a letter during the process. As I was working on it, the staff, people around me, and people who knew ‘Hermit Crab’ all laughed. It seemed like the work had grown. I didn’t expect that the publicity would turn out like this,” he said.

Meanwhile, 'Switch' will be released on the 4th.

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