The Script-Eating Actor – Chapter 84

Ch 84

TV-K Star Awards 2019.

The eyes of everyone attending the awards ceremony turned to the main electronic display.

━ “If I kill you now, the future reality will change?”

━ “…”

━ “Say something! Don’t keep hiding behind me! Come out and say it yourself!”

As the video ended, two actor-turned-hosts wearing glamorous dresses and neat purple suits on stage held up their microphones.

“Yes! That was the highlight video for . With that, we’ve seen all three nominees for the Grand Prize: Yang Ik-chan, Hwang So-ri, and Do Jae-hee. What did you think? Can you guess who it will be?”

“Not at all. It seems like any of the nominees could win.”

And in front of me, the floor manager （Floor manager）, wearing an in-ear monitor, raised both hands high.

The maestro of the recording set. Following his gestures, dozens of massive cameras, reminiscent of bazookas, moved along the rails, flashing their lights.

“Cue!”

At the floor manager’s cue, the camera swiveled and the light turned on for the camera that stopped in front of me.

Flash!

2019 TV-K Awards.

Grand Prize nominee, Do Jae-hee.

I put on a ‘prepared’ expression. I swallowed hard, focusing my gaze forward with a tense face.

Right now, this expression is being broadcast live across the nation.

Soon after, the floor manager waved both hands.

“We’ll meet you shortly.”

Commercial break time.

A honey-like break in the tense live recording, where cameras might suddenly appear.

The recording cameras moving on the rails stopped.

The actors from the team were seated at my table, and one of the seniors spoke to me.

“You’ll call my name, right?”

“Senior, if I win, of course. Well, ‘if I win.'”

“Come on, why are you like that? Everyone who needs to know already knows.”

News that everyone who needs to know already knows.

“If Jae-hee doesn’t win, who will?”

The Grand Prize is Do Jae-hee anyway.

I answered without losing my humility.

“Thank you for saying so.”

I tried hard to erase the signs of tension, looking around.

Actors filling the audience seats.

Thanks to it being held a week earlier than the awards ceremonies of the three major broadcasting companies, the number of attendees was much higher than expected.

Perhaps it’s because TV-K itself has a large number of big-name PDs who were scouted after achieving success at the three major broadcasting companies.

Among them, an unexpected guest was Jo Seung-hee.

After , Jo Seung-hee, whom I hadn’t met, visited the awards ceremony with his group to congratulate me on my ‘Grand Prize’.

“Jae-hee!”

He waved his hand at me.

I smiled and responded, and the envious gazes of the actors sitting around me were fixed on me.

‘He must be close with Jo Seung-hee.’

‘The rumors were true.’

“….”

Maybe my relationships are too shallow.

Too many malicious gazes are raining down.

But I neatly ignored these gazes.

Because from next year, I’m planning to make actors want to be friends with ‘Do Jae-hee’ rather than just being a friend of a certain actor.

“We’ll resume recording!”

“30 seconds!”

The floor manager became busy.

“Standby!”

“High! Cue!”

“Yes! Hello, everyone. Thank you for waiting so long. Finally, the TV-K 2019 Star Awards. We’re just about to confirm the final Grand Prize winner.”

The cue sign came on, and the awards ceremony resumed.

The female host, with a tense expression, opened the neatly folded envelope.

“We will now announce the winner. The winner of the Grand Prize is….”

And what can be said about this awards ceremony?

“Do Jae-hee! Congratulations!”

Pop! Pow!

Confetti bursting from the sides fluttered throughout the awards ceremony.

“Congratulations! Actor Do Jae-hee, through , left a strong impression with his overwhelming acting ability in a short time of less than three years since his debut.”

The host’s greeting flew right past my ears.

“Congratulations!”

“As expected!”

It’s because of the congratulatory greetings from the actors around me.

I’m so out of it.

The actors were all getting up from their seats, clapping, and hugging me.

Even if all of this is a staged act, I accepted it sincerely.

A dolly camera circled halfway around me, standing still.

From a side view to a front view. It came close for a moment, then gradually moved away, starting to capture my back view.

The floor manager was spinning his hand in a large circle beside me.

“Cue!”

The timing to go forward.

I walked forward confidently.

And stood in the center of the stage.

Facing the various gazes of the people head-on, I grabbed the microphone.

Looking at the hundreds of thousands of people watching from beyond the camera, I opened my mouth.

“Ah, this is Do Jae-hee.”

What should I say?

Should I even shed a tear?

*

Panoramic Photography（panoramic Photography）.

A filming technique where the camera rotates horizontally in a circle while the actor remains stationary.

Slowly rotating from the front to the back. And when the angle returns to the front, you can discover the actor standing in the exact same pose in a completely different space.

That’s me right now.

“Thank you.”

After opening with a thank you, I took a breath.

My stage had changed before I knew it.

The Daejong Film Awards.

I spoke to the numerous filmmakers filling the audience and banquet tables.

“To the many people who helped me get this award. My mother and father. And Jae-ik Hyung, who worried about me every day like a child left by the water’s edge. Director Im Chang-tae, Director Park Jin-woo…”

The 2019 Daejong Film Awards held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.

The only film award organized by the government to improve the quality of Korean films. The oldest film award in Korea. It sometimes faces the guillotine due to award controversies.

But it cannot be denied that it is the most prestigious award.

Here, I achieved the feat of winning a total of four awards.

Best Picture for .

Best Director for Director Im Chang-tae of .

Best Screenplay for Director Park Jin-woo of .

Best Actor for Do Jae-hee.

I can already hear the reporters noisily writing articles.

As overwhelming as it is, enough to cause controversy after controversy.

But no one can refute it.

A film festival ‘for me’.

“So many people helped me. Just as you helped me in 2019, I hope to become an actor who can repay this award in 2020.”

It’s a kind of ‘collection’.

Like a boatman who rows when the water comes in.

Like a windsurfer who unfurls the sail when the wind blows.

I swept the awards, causing a stir at the year-end awards ceremonies day after day.

It should be moving, but.

“Thank you.”

My blood is boiling.

It’s a little different from feelings like joy or ecstasy.

Okay. Let’s admit it.

I’m not that cool of a person, am I?

The feeling of showing off to the enemies who are still envious of my position from beyond the camera is greater.

Song Mun-gyo, Im Ju-won, Yoon Min-woo, Park Shi-hyun, etc. I looked straight at the actors who had been whispering about me and said.

“Then, I’ll see you in my next work.”

Remember this.

The awards I’m receiving now are just pieces of plaques to temporarily praise my efforts, they don’t guarantee a solid and stable career in the entertainment industry.

The higher the position, the more challenges continue, and numerous threats accompany it.

As it always has been.

Whether I’m a rookie or not.

Nothing has changed.

*

For the Christmas and New Year holidays, my father and mother left for a trip to Vietnam.

It was their first time spending the New Year abroad, and it was the first time they had traveled overseas.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay alone for the New Year?”

“Don’t worry about me and have a good trip.”

“I don’t know if this is okay…”

They were worried about me being left alone.

“Of course, it’s okay. Jae-hee also went on a trip. Give me your luggage. I’ll help you.”

“Oh, thank you.”

With Jae-ik Hyung’s help, they safely arrived at Incheon Airport and departed with a proof shot.

With very bright faces.

This year-end, I ended up spending it alone.

Stretched out on the sofa.

Buzz! Buzz!

━ Jae-hee! Congratulations on the Grand Prize! Happy New Year^^

━ Jae-hee Senior! Congratulations on winning the Actor of the Year award! Have a good end of the year…

Well.

Thanks to the numerous congratulatory messages from the actors that passed by, there was no time to be bored, but I felt somewhat sad.

After all, they only want a relationship with ‘actor Do Jae-hee’, not the human Do Jae-hee.

But there’s no law that says I’ll die.

There was someone who was curious about the ‘human’ Do Jae-hee.

━ Would you like to have a drink?

It’s Director Park Jin-woo.

That’s just how my connections are.

━ I’m having a headache because of casting, you see. How about soju and pork rind?

I finalized my decision to participate in Director Park Jin-woo’s movie <7 Years of Memory> at the same time as the audition for the American .

But he’s having a headache because of casting?

I immediately sent a reply.

━ Where shall we meet?

*

I took a seat at a quiet restaurant table near my house.

The people who came with me were Jae-ik Hyung, me, Director Park Jin-woo, and Production Manager Kim Min-hee, who had been connected with me since SAFA, a total of four people.

“This is embarrassing, but…”

Director Park Jin-woo took out a business card from his wallet.

“Huh?”

The business card had the logo of a film company I had never heard of, , and next to the title ‘General Director’ was the name ‘Park Jin-woo’.

“A film company. …”

“That’s right. I heard it means a big wave of the sea in our language. I want to make movies that create a wave in Korean cinema.”

A huge wave.

A meeting right after we won awards together at the Daejong Film Awards, and after achieved a ‘miracle’-like success of 3.11 million viewers.

With just one work, Director Park Jin-woo completely succeeded in standing on his own.

“Congratulations. Should I call you President from now on?”

“Haha! No. The office is in Yeongdeungpo. Please come visit sometime.”

As expected, drinking is better with people you feel comfortable with.

In the end, we met because of work, but until we finished all the meat we ordered, no one brought up work.

Then, around the time we finished one, two bottles of soju.

The real conversation began.

“Actually, I have a favor to ask.”

“What kind of favor?”

What could Director Park Jin-woo have to ask of me?

“I’d like to get some advice regarding casting.”

“Ah, advice.”

As I was participating in the movie <7 Years of Memory> of the film company , L&K had almost monopolized the pool of rookie actors.

But a movie isn’t completed just by having a few actors, is it?

Director Park Jin-woo said he wanted to discuss that ‘authority’ with me.

“Could you attend the auditions for the roles with me?”

“Ah.”

“I believe in the ‘eye’ of an actor looking at another actor. Of course, I also believe in you, Do Actor-nim. Haha.”

It’s a bit of an unexpected proposal.

A request I never expected.

Attending an audition.

I nodded.

“Attending… is not difficult.”

“Thank you!”

Director Park Jin-woo took out a few documents from his bag.

“I think this might be a little helpful if you look at it.”

Profile photos and actor lists were densely written.

I picked up the actors’ profiles.

I feel a little strange.

Just like I caught Jo Seung-hee’s eye in .

This time, on the contrary, I can reach out to someone.