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| Actors Kim Go-eun, left, and Jung Sung-hwa attend a press conference for the film, "Hero," held in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
Film on independence fighter to hit theaters in December
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Actress Kim Go-eun said she regretted accepting her role in the musical film, "Hero," adding she even cried because she was unhappy with her singing.
Adapted from the original musical "Hero," the film tells the story of Korean independence movement activist Ahn Jung-geun's (played by Jung Sung-hwa) final year after he assassinated Hirobumi Ito, Japan's prime minister and the first resident general of Korea, in October 1909, about a year before Japan's annexation of Korea and the start of its colonial occupation (1910-45). In March of the following year, Ahn was executed in a Japanese prison in China.
In the upcoming film, Kim plays Seol-hee, a palace maid who supports Korea's independence movement by passing secret information to activists. Director Yoon Je-kyoon did not rely on backtracks for the music performances and instead had his cast sing live on the set.
"There were moments when we were shooting, and I was like, 'I should have turned down this role.' I was unhappy with my singing. Singing is a technical skill and it takes a great deal of time to get better. It was really daunting to act, sing and cry at the same time while filming emotional scenes," Kim said.
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| The poster for the film, "Hero" / Courtesy of CJ ENM |
The star of series "Yumi's Cells" and "Little Women" said she took her approach of focusing on emotion over vocal precision.
The director revealed that he decided to produce a musical film on Ahn after seeing the stage musical, "Hero."
"I first met Jung when he starred in romantic comedy film 'Dancing Queen,' which I produced in 2012. One day, I went to see his musical, 'Hero,' and it brought me to tears. I was so touched and felt like I owe a lot to independence fighters. So I decided to develop a movie musical version of it," he said.
Jung, who is no stranger to musicals, has played the lead character in the original musical since 2009.
On bringing the exact same role to the big screen, Jung said, "When performing on stage, there is emotional exuberance and an overflow of feelings. I wanted the film version to be more sophisticated and a little bit more real."
He added that he went through massive weight loss for his role. "I was told to go on a diet to lose weight for the film, so I lost about 14 kilograms while preparing for the role. It was an honor to portray a national hero on screen," he said.
The director said that "Hero" features more special effects compared to his previous hits like "Haeundae" and "Ode to My Father."
"I understand that some in the audience may find the transitions between singing and acting awkward. My biggest task was to get rid of that concern," he said.
Yoon added, "This is an incredibly powerful drama that needs to be shared. If 'Ode to My Father' was about a father's sacrifice, 'Hero' is a touching story between Ahn and his devoted mother, Jo Maria."
The film, which finished shooting in December 2019, was initially scheduled to be released in 2020, but got delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will hit local theaters in December.
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