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| yna@yna.co.kr 2023-02-12 19:43:31
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean veteran actor Shin Hyun-joon has added another period action film to his filmography with the upcoming film “The Assassin.” During the press conference of his forthcoming film that was held at Lotte Cinema in Gwangji-gu, Seoul on Friday, the actor said with a smile, “I wanted to star in an epic action film like the legendary ‘Taken’ before I turn 60, and I really got the script when I just turned 55.”
Although he did take a role in a long-cherished film, the actor said that the actual filming process was far from easy. Looking back, the 54-year-old actor said, “I had to go up against the virus as we shot our film during the COVID-19 pandemic, and also against the cold. I would say that the filming process was more like a march where we had to fight injuries, and go above and beyond our physical competence and age with numerous action scenes.”
“Every time I came home, I had pain relief patches or bandages on my calf. So, my children saw them and prayed that I would not get sick,” the actor said. “The movie was filmed under the prayers of my two sons.”
Director Kwak Jung-deok, who was in charge of producing the film, suggested the role with Shin in mind in the first place.
The director said, “As I was pondering about period action-drama films, the word ‘assassin’ stuck with me,” adding, “I got this image in my mind of an assassin who was chased by someone and also an image of an old, sick assassin fighting with a kitchen knife.”
Then the actor replied with a banter, “Until now, I thought I was offered this role as the best assassin in Joseon,” saying, “For me, who is old but not sick, this action film was a big challenge. I worked harder because I had the desire to make this work.”
Director Kwak said, “It was my very first time writing a period film, and the genre made it easier for me to make use of the space and give my imagination full play,” adding, “I wanted to add some aspects of a martial arts movie to my script, and period films were best fit to do this.”
Lee Moon-sik, who also appears in the movie as the vicious Lee Bang, said, “I wish this film would be a hit so that I can take a role in ‘Assassin 2,’’ adding, “As spring is coming around, I hope our film could fill your time blissfully even for a moment.”
This upcoming 100-minute, PG-15 period action film will be hitting the local box office on Feb. 22.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
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