Director Kang Yun-seong “I noticed Choi Min-sik’s attention during ‘Casino’”

“I always explain ‘Casino’ as ‘the story of fire moths that gather around a lantern called a casino.’ People gather in pursuit of their desires, and those fire moths hit the lantern and burn to death.”

Disney+'s 'Casino' gives off the vibe of a crime drama just by its title. However, in reality, it is structured to show the life story of ‘casino legend’ Cha Mu-sik (Choi Min-sik), who has no money or background. Director Kang Yun-seong, who directed and wrote 'Casino', explained the reason why the story of the protagonist's childhood and youth was quite lengthy at the beginning of the drama. In the play, Cha Mu-sik gets caught up in a murder case and makes the bet of a lifetime. Season 1 ended on January 25th.

“I thought that if I only showed the happenings that happen in the casino, it would be a story that only stimulates the peripheral nerves. I thought that if I didn’t follow one character all the way through, it wouldn’t be as powerful in the latter half. Centering around the character Cha Mu-sik, there are many stories that take place in a specific space called the casino. “I wanted to depict human arrogance and greed by showing an incident.”

This work is the first drama of director Kang, who has always made films. The reason why I did 'Casino' was because the remake of the movie 'The Intern' that I was preparing with Choi Min-sik was canceled. This is because Warner Brothers withdrew from Korean film production and investment business. Director Kang said, "It was around Chuseok in 2020 that I was notified of the suspension. At that time, my senior said, 'We can't break up like this. Have you written anything?' and I gave him 'Casino'. I think he said we should do it in two days." recalled.

"For movies, it is difficult to condense the story into two hours. The content must be unique, and finding such material takes a lot of time when working on the scenario. I like that dramas allow you to describe characters at length. 'Casino' In , there are about 170 characters that I named. As a result, even I forgot the names of the characters while writing the script. Haha. Unlike movies, there was a lot of footage that had to be filmed in one day. We filmed 14 scenes in one day, and Choi Min-sik sunbaenim had to do it. The lines were 15 to 20 pages long. The senior memorized them all, started in the morning, and finished in the evening. But there was a charm unique to the series. As there was a lot to film, the actors also prepared accordingly. We held the camera. “I was impressed by how prepared the actors were and how much they put in to prepare. I want to challenge myself with the series again.”

Choi Min-sik, the central point of the movie, realistically created the role of Cha Mu-sik, who lived a life full of ups and downs, starting from the bottom and rising to the position of 'casino legend' that no one can easily touch. Director Kang said about Choi Min-sik, "He comes about an hour earlier than the meeting time in the morning. It seems like all the actors prepared more under the influence of Choi Min-sik." He also praised Choi Min-sik, saying, "Senior, you have a humorous side that always tries to make you laugh, but when filming important scenes or scenes that require you to be fully immersed in emotions, you are so focused that you have to pay attention to what you think."

In this work, Son Seok-gu played Oh Seung-hoon, a police officer dispatched to the Philippines who was chasing Cha Moo-sik. Director Kang said of Son Seok-gu, "He has an outstanding talent for natural acting. I like the power of seeing the story. While I was working on the script in the beginning, Son Seok-gu was very helpful in capturing Oh Seung-hoon's character. He has a good understanding of the movie and script in general, and he “I personally wrote Oh Seung-hoon’s lines,” he praised. Above all, he admired Son Seok-gu's English skills, saying, "He speaks English well. There are some unnatural parts in the translated script. Son Seok-gu corrected his own English lines appropriately."

Filming took place in the Philippines for three months. Director Kang told an embarrassing anecdote, saying, “The Philippines is also a country that allows guns, so I wondered what would happen if there was an incident or accident, but fortunately, nothing major happened.”

“The head of the props team got pickpocketed with a bag containing several million won. After eating at a restaurant and paying, he was trying to put his bag on, but two kids came from behind and snatched it right away. The director always carries cash because he has to buy props. “Two people came on a motorcycle, and the pickpocket also stole the bag and turned around as he went. The manager was surprised and froze.”

Season 2 of ‘Casino’ begins on February 15th. As in Season 1, up to 3 episodes will be released in the first week, and then one episode per week for a total of 8 episodes.

"More diverse characters will appear, and Filipino actors will also appear in earnest. In Season 1, the physiology of the casino was depicted, but in Season 2, the story unfolds more like a storm swirling around Cha Musik than in the space of a casino. Above all, Cha Musik is arrested. That's okay. That story is the main incident and the inflection point of the entire story. That's why it was included as the intro to Season 1."

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr