The Script-Eating Actor – Chapter 72

Ch 72

“What’s the reason for turning it down? You’re confident you can make even that kind of drama a hit on cable? Is that it? A competitive spirit? Confidence?”

“….”

It’s clear how the team usually thinks of me.

‘That kind of’ drama, huh.

You’re being quite harsh with your words.

“Well…”

I looked straight at Park Shi-hyun and smiled faintly.

“Does the reason matter? It’s enough if we’re both happy.”

If we’re both happy, it’s all good.

You got into the drama thanks to ‘my’ influence.

The commercial that was playing on the screen ended, and the theater lights went off all at once.

“….”

At the same time, Park Shi-hyun’s half-distorted face was buried in the darkness.

Park Shi-hyun kept staring at me until the distribution company’s opening logo appeared and the light hit our eyes.

As soon as his vision cleared, Park Shi-hyun opened his mouth as if he had been waiting.

“Are you trying to say you gave up the role?”

“Of course not.”

“Don’t get cocky, you little punk.”

“….”

My eyes turned cold, but my heart was racing.

What’s his deal right now?

He was warning me.

“You think you’re something special, huh?”

A random criticism, as if the reason for the warning or what he was warning about didn’t matter.

“Getting some attention now? It’ll be over in three months. You think no one else has been like that? You act like you’re something special, you cocky little punk…”

I didn’t even feel the need to respond to the overflowing garbage of his inferiority complex.

Rather, I wanted to ask.

‘Why don’t you mind your own business?’

At that moment, Yoo Kyung-sung Senior’s words flashed through my mind.

‘Kill that nasty temper of yours.’

I suppressed the ‘fire’ that was about to burst out.

What did I do wrong?

Because I’m a rookie who hasn’t even been in the industry for three years, and I had a higher casting priority than him?

Is he ashamed that I turned down that drama, and that he jumped at the chance to take it? Now, all of a sudden?

“Should I tell you one more thing?”

Why are they all so eager to meddle in other people’s affairs?

Why are they so eager to find fault with me?

“There aren’t many actors in this industry who think well of y…”

“Senior.”

“…”

“The movie has started.”

Park Shi-hyun’s eyes widened.

“…What?”

I hid my nasty temper as much as I could, but I couldn’t hide the coldness in my eyes.

No. I didn’t bother to hide the subtext of ‘shut up and watch the movie’.

Our eyes met, and I deliberately ignored Park Shi-hyun and turned my head forward.

“Cocky little punk…”

The movie had already started, but I couldn’t focus on it.

Because Park Shi-hyun’s pieces of inferiority complex were messing with my head.

The reason I didn’t do that drama.

Are you curious about it?

A very personal reason that I can’t explain to anyone for sure.

The level of perfection and score that only I can see.

（━ 2）

A number I’ve never seen before.

‘Don’t choose it.’

Perhaps, this work is a kind of warning to me.

How can I explain this?

To others, it just looks like I didn’t do it.

But they attack me for not choosing the drama.

Do I look cocky?

If I had participated in ?

I don’t know for sure, but I probably would have been picked on for the same reason.

The fighting never stops.

The Queen of Mini-series trying to crush a rookie writer with her words.

Or the senior who is annoyed by a junior who is doing better than them.

They’re all the same bastards.

As soon as the movie started properly, Park Shi-hyun got up from his seat and said to me.

“Move.”

As I moved my legs, he walked out to the emergency exit without looking back.

See?

From the beginning, the movie wasn’t his purpose.

*

“Wasn’t the movie so good?”

Ha, how can someone be so shameless?

The stage greeting began. After the greetings of the main and supporting actors ended, the microphone was thrown into the audience.

The person who received the microphone as a representative of the audience was Park Shi-hyun.

Park Shi-hyun, who entered the theater right before the movie’s end credits, continued with a brazen face.

“I was chilled by the realistic story that could happen around us. The actors’ performances were also so good. It was a movie that you couldn’t help but get immersed in. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes!”

Even though he didn’t even watch the movie.

It’s ridiculous how he’s so naturally inducing a response from the audience with a pre-prepared script.

But the general audience, who didn’t know this fact, responded greatly to Park Shi-hyun’s words.

Unlike these dirty, pre-arranged interviews.

The movie itself was excellent.

The editing was well done, and the message was clear.

The predictable melodrama at the end also appropriately stimulated the audience’s tears.

It’s a shame that I wonder what it would have been like if the lead wasn’t Im Gang-baek, but another actor.

His acting was a little better than in .

He played director and re-shot the same scene dozens of times, so it should be better, of course.

I don’t know for sure, but it will probably easily surpass the break-even point.

“There’s another guest in the audience. He’s probably the main character of the memorable scene that everyone was impressed with while watching the movie. Do Jae-hee, who showed a thrilling performance!”

At the host’s words, I made a flustered reaction.

The cameras of the press were busily moving to find me in the audience, and the main camera of the making film team was accurately focused on me as planned.

I got up from my seat and walked to the front of the stage.

“Waaaaah!”

The screams of the female fans were so loud that it was rather embarrassing. The host also seemed flustered.

“Ah, haha… The reaction is really hot. Actor Do Jae-hee, let’s hear what you have to say.”

I received the microphone.

“Ah, hello. I’m actor Do Jae-hee.”

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

The audience erupted in screams as if it would collapse.

It was as if I was the lead.

I don’t think there was this much cheering when Im Gang-baek held the microphone.

Hmm, I feel like the back of my head is tingling.

“I was just going to watch the movie secretly and leave… Haha, I’ll keep it short.”

I adjusted my grip on the microphone.

“Although I didn’t participate in the filming for long, I know. The staff members here, the actors… They really filmed with all their might. ”

I said, looking at Im Gang-baek.

“Especially, Senior Gang-baek here, this is our second work together since … He’s really a passionate senior from whom I have a lot to learn. He re-shot the same scene twelve times to direct the junior’s acting, and he also worked hard to show a perfect performance.”

This time, I looked at the audience with a deeply moved face.

“Now, it’s your turn to judge the results.”

Among the people gathered here, only two people understood the true meaning of my words.

Director Lee Kyung-woo and Im Gang-baek.

I spoke with a constant smile.

“Please give the movie a lot of attention.”

*

『Do Jae-hee, the number one contributor to the box office success of the movie , is thoroughly analyzed』

『Do Jae-hee, following his crazy presence as a cameo in , this time in a high-quality historical drama.』

『A new wind blowing through the summer theaters! The movie 』

July.

The movie was released overlapping the last week of the movie ‘s run in theaters.

surpassed the break-even point and exceeded 3.8 million viewers.

I was the number one contributor to the movie’s success.

In June, I recorded a higher brand power ranking than Im Gang-baek, the lead of the top-grossing movie .

Thus, a clear victory over Im Gang-baek.

After that, the movie theaters in July were dominated by .

A back-to-back hit after !

It ranked first at the box office in the first week of release, and the number of viewers, which was 760,000, surged to 990,000 after the weekend, causing the fastest box office hit of 2019.

With such a great success, can a company dinner be missed?

A group dinner for the movie team was held at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu.

“Alright! Let’s drink!”

Audience rating 9.8 points.

Critic rating 8.1 points.

There is no gap between the two ratings.

It means that it’s a movie that has both popularity and artistry.

“Haha! At first, the goal was just to surpass the break-even point, but the movie turned out better than expected.”

“Director Im Chang-tae is a genius at capturing beautiful scenes, isn’t he? Won’t this reach ten million viewers?”

“It exceeded 3 million in the first week of release. Next week is the vacation season, so it’ll jump even more. With the word-of-mouth spreading now, it’ll exceed 5 million this week, I tell you?”

Director Im Chang-tae didn’t put down his soju glass.

“It’s all thanks to the actors. It’s all thanks to the actors! Haha!”

He emptied his glass repeatedly, getting pleasantly drunk.

In that gap, I relaxed for the first time in a while and relieved the fatigue related to .

Recently, my mental fatigue had been considerable.

Whether it was Writer Park Hye-suk throwing out aggressive comments.

Or Park Shi-hyun appearing and disturbing my mood.

In many ways.

At that time, the assistant director of approached me.

“Are you busy?”

A pillar of Im Chang-tae’s crew who is over forty. I think he was preparing for his directorial debut soon.

“Ah, Senior.”

He sat down next to me and said, offering me a glass of alcohol.

“I heard you’re filming a drama these days?”

“Yes.”

“You must be tired? Let’s have a drink.”

I emptied the glass.

Even when filming , I often drank with the assistant director.

Although there is a ten-year age difference, he is one of the people I have become very close to in the past three months.

The assistant director said.

“There’s someone I want to introduce you to, would that be okay?”

“Who is it?”

“Ah. He’s a junior from the film company, and he said he really wants to meet you.”

“Ah, of course. It’s possible.”

“Come here.”

When the assistant director gestured, a man sitting at the direction team’s table approached.

A man wearing glasses, with a slightly awkward appearance.

He was sitting at the direction team’s table, but he wasn’t a staff member of .

“Introduce yourself. This is Jae-hee Ssi, and this is my junior. He used to work at our film company, but he left to make his own movie. I brought him today because there’s a company dinner. He’s a short film director, and his name is Yoon Je-hoon.”

“Hello.”

When I bowed my head, the man who said his name was Yoon Je-hoon smiled brightly.

“Ah, hello. I’m not a director yet, but I’m someone who is preparing a short film. You may not know me, but I saw you at the ‘Busan International Film Festival’ before. From afar, though.”

Busan Independent Film Festival.

“Ah, is that so? As a director?”

When I asked back, the assistant director said.

“He volunteered at the ‘Busan International Film Festival’ last year. He said he became a fan after watching there. When he heard you were coming to the company dinner, he said he really wanted to meet you… He begged me to bring him. He was so desperate.”

“Oh, Senior. Why are you telling such stories?”

Although he attended the film festival as a volunteer, this person is also a member of Im Chang-tae’s crew.

He worked as an assistant director under Director Im Chang-tae and the assistant director, but he left the film company with the determination to make a short film.

After that, he had his work reviewed by a famous drama writer and took classes, and the name of the script he wrote with great effort for over three months was,

the short film .

And with a big dream of making into a video, he applied for a short film grant, but failed.

“Haha… I’m a failed filmmaker.”

“What do you mean failed? The opportunity will surely come.”

Even if he’s not fully ready, he’s still a filmmaker.

And a fan of me and Director Park Jin-woo.

This alone is enough reason to share a drink together.

“Thank you for thinking well of me.”

“Ah! I’m really a fan. You’re so-o good at acting. And that Director Park Jin-woo? I really want to meet him too. Isn’t he a genius? I was completely captivated after seeing him win the Grand Prize at the Busan International Film Festival. I’ve watched three times.”

The man named Yoon Je-hoon was a pure-hearted man.

It’s an interesting connection that I encountered by chance.

After that, a few drinks were exchanged.

The man named Yoon Je-hoon, whose face quickly turned red as if he was weak to alcohol.

“Just a moment.”

He staggered up from his seat and went to the corner of the Korean BBQ restaurant to get his bag and came to me.

And he rummaged through his bag and took something out.

“This…”

It was a book with A4 paper clipped together.

“What is this?”

I nervously accepted the bundle of papers.

“?”

“Yes.”

It was the script of , which Director Yoon Je-hoon had written.

Is this a casting offer?

But this was a needless worry.

He spoke clearly, putting his heart into every single word.

“It’s a movie, a piece of writing from a failed amateur… But could you please read it just once? If you read it, Actor Do, I think I can let it go with peace of mind.”

A failed short film script.

Even if I read it, what would change?

Director Park Jin-woo once said that directors write with the hope that someone will read it.

If reading this script can release something that’s stuck in this filmmaker’s heart, I can read it two or three times.

“Yes, I understand.”

Then, Yoon Je-hoon scratched the back of his head as if he was embarrassed.

I looked at the bundle of papers again.

I didn’t know it at this time.

What kind of results this work that Yoon Je-hoon gave me would bring.