Movie '12.12: THE DAY' actor Jung Woo-sung, "10 million viewers? Wouldn't it be okay to be a little greedy?"

Actor Jung Woo-sung shared his honest thoughts regarding the box office success of the movie '12.12: THE DAY' (directed by Kim Seong-su).

Director Kim Seong-soo and actor Jung Woo-sung of the movie '12.12: THE DAY' appeared as guests on JTBC's 'Newsroom' broadcast on the 17th. '12.12: THE DAY' is a movie depicting the 9 hours of desperate action to prevent the rebellion of the new military forces that occurred in the capital Seoul on December 12, 1979, and Jung Woo-sung appears as the capital security commander Lee Tae-shin.

On this day, the two expressed their honest feelings about the success of '12.12: THE DAY'. Regarding '12.12: THE DAY', which exceeded 8 million viewers, Jung Woo-sung said, "I think it is the best experience to come this far because the audience cherishes, loves, and shows interest in the movie," and director Kim Seong-soo said, "It is a miraculous film." "I'm so happy because it's my job. While I was filming the movie, I really liked this movie and I worked hard, but I wondered if people would view this heavy story and bad ending positively, but I can't believe something like this has happened."

In response to announcer Kang Ji-young's question about whether he expects to exceed 10 million viewers, Jung Woo-sung said, "Right now, I'm breaking actor Jung Woo-sung's audience record every day. I'm grateful enough for that alone. Of course, I'd be grateful if it reached 10 million, and I think it's okay to be greedy these days." He said.

Jung Woo-sung also mentioned a point in the play where he struggled to express how Lee Tae-shin, whom he plays, feels devastated that he cannot turn the situation around from Jeon Doo-gwang (Hwang Jung-min) and his gang. Jung Woo-sung said, "I wanted to support Lee Tae-shin's determination. It was very difficult to constantly ask for the troops to be dispatched and explain the gravity of the situation. I was also confused about the direction of the acting. Even after the acting was over, I fell into emptiness and thought I was acting. “I thought, ‘Did I do a good job?’” he replied.

In particular, regarding the scene of crossing the barricade, Jung Woo-sung said that it was filmed for two days and explained, "(The director) didn't want to use all of this scene, but he tried to tire me out. It was really difficult." Director Kim Seong-soo said, "Jung Woo-sung is actually similar to Lee Tae-shin. . Jung Woo-sung's acting philosophy is that as an actor, you have to reach that emotion to be able to express it through acting and that is real. I pushed to conform to that acting philosophy," he said.

Director Kim Seong-su said, "I wrote 'Spring of Seoul' with Jung Woo-sung in mind. (Lee Tae-shin) I was satisfied because the image of Mr. Woo-seong, lost, wandering, and isolated, was the Lee Tae-shin in the movie. (To Jeon Doo-gwang) 'You “I may have won now, but I wanted to convey that I made a mistake,” he added. Accordingly, Jung Woo-sung joined director Kim Seong-soo, with whom he collaborated on 'Beat' (1997), 'There is no Sun' (1999), 'Warrior' (2001), 'Asura' (2016), and '12.12: THE DAY' (2023). He expressed his affection by saying, "When the director makes a suggestion, I have no choice but to think in my heart that I have to do 70-80% of it. In fact, he is the first director in my heart."

Jung Woo-sung, who said that the director ordered Lee Tae-shin to have a "simple appearance rather than dramatic emotions," said, "At the end, when he said, 'You are not qualified to be a soldier of the Republic of Korea or as a human being,' he wanted you to say it plainly. At that time, you may have become emotional, but you should express that emotion." “I kept pulling it down,” he revealed the story behind it.

Announcer Kang Ji-young asked Jung Woo-sung, “You said that the ‘Beat’ days were ‘the spring of my life.’ What is the current season like?” Jung Woo-sung said, "It's still spring. The seasons cycle. When I was in my 20s, spring days passed by without knowing how precious the abundance of the day was, but now I feel the beauty, delicateness, and diversity of spring days." .

Reporter Ha-neul Lee, Ten Asia greenworld@tenasia.co.kr