The clever and witty Joy lives with three distinct personalities.
Sarcastic and realistic Ray, the reticent and cautious Bay.
And Hyde, the hidden personality that rarely surfaces.
To play this role means having to embody four different character forms.
When portraying multiple personalities, it’s necessary to clearly demonstrate the differences between each character.
Though I’m not exactly sure how real dissociative identity disorder manifests, what I do is acting, so the audience should be able to distinguish them at a glance.
To achieve this, I must freely command accent, expressions, atmosphere, and gestures. With lines so closely clustered, it becomes unavoidably exhausting to perform.
Constantly changing expressions, atmosphere, and accents after every line is more physically demanding than expected.
Right now, I’m in just such a situation, and my head already aches from the first scene.
Even with only a few lines of dialogue, how many times have I had to change my stance? Not even Udir shifts tactics this frequently.
“How could you think that someone like me could handle this?”
No matter how I look at it, this is a character that (Old) White Siu could never portray.
“Wow, wow… wow.”
“…Director Jeong?”
“No, uh… What is this? Better than I’d imagined… much… better?”
“I’m glad you’re satisfied.”
“No, anyone with eyes would be satisfied. Gosh… really…”
Seeing Director Jeong’s eyes gleaming from the first scene makes me think I must be doing the role justice.
Back in the day, his reaction used to be different—he would tilt his head, think something was a bit off, but eventually move on. Despite the difficulty, I feel a sense of pride as an actor.
Though the schedule isn’t long, let’s give it all we’ve got and see this through to the end.
-Damn, they’ve all gone silent.
-They must dislike bringing up a closed matter. Not that it’ll do anyone any good.
-…But there’s something strange.
-What is it, Ray?
-They seem to fear something.
-Afraid? At this point, is there a reason to be afraid?
-We’ll have to find that out.
This is an isolated village where outsiders are few and trips outside even fewer.
Even after so much time, it’s highly unlikely anyone would’ve forgotten that event, yet all the townsfolk avoid mentioning it.
Thankfully, Joy holds investigative authority as the sheriff, otherwise gathering any testimony would’ve been impossible.
And from the townsfolk’s behavior, Ray notices something suspicious.
Judging from their reaction, they’re not forgetting the past; they’re deliberately avoiding mentioning it.
What Joy has to uncover is precisely this aspect.
-But it might be better not to reveal your past as that child.
-Why? Wouldn’t it be easier to disclose that and ask for assistance?
-Not quite. There’s a suspicious smell here. In such cases, it’s better to prioritize caution.
If there’s a significant force hiding in this village, one likely connected to the deaths of her parents, revealing her identity could easily make her a target.
Certainly, using herself as bait is a consideration, but without knowing the opponent’s true nature, caution is best.
“Alright! Let’s end the day’s filming here.”
From Joy’s inquiries with the villagers about the past to uncovering their strange actions.
And the moment where it becomes evident that they’re hiding something.
The early part of the movie has largely been filmed.
“Wow, progressing faster than expected.”
“It exceeds my expectations. Every time we call ‘cut,’ things move quickly.”
“Yes, the theater troupe actors helping with the villagers’ roles did a great job.”
“Yeah, thank them. I should treat the troupe’s juniors to some meat someday.”
The directors, checking the footage, are visibly excited by the progress.
They seem pleased with results that surpassed their initial expectations.
I’m satisfied as well.
For this production, the director recruited actors connected to his theater troupe for the supporting roles. Their performances have been adequate, making it easier for me to immerse myself in my character.
Though these participating actors only earn a decent daily wage, in this age of independent films, even that level of compensation isn’t guaranteed.
Given how these passionate actors struggle to find their place, the acting scene really is tough.
Had I not started out right, I might have faced the same struggles.
For the sake of these actors, I hope this project succeeds.
To do that, I’ll need to perform even better.
“You look unusually tired today.”
“Yeah, it’s been a tough day.”
“Then I’ll head back to the office.”
“Sure, thanks.”
As soon as filming ended, I collapsed into the car.
Today’s multiple personality performance was far more draining than any action scene I’ve done.
The mental fatigue was overwhelming; before I knew it, I’d slumped into a relaxed position.
Still, we’ve finished today’s shoot safely, so I’ll head home and soak in some warm water to ease the stress.
“Hmm?”
While idly browsing online articles in that slouched position, a few caught my eye.
-SBC. Special New Year’s Feature, ‘Remake, Year of Im Jin.’
-New Year Drama: ‘Remake, Year of Im Jin’ with Seo Suhyeon as the screenwriter and Jang Gyuho as the director.
-Monumental Historical Fusion Drama ‘Remake, Year of Im Jin’ – Will it become next year’s blockbuster sensation?
SBC is producing a large-scale New Year’s Special drama.
“SBC is doing their own production? A fusion historical drama at that…”
SBC and I have a bit of history.
When shooting ‘Cheese Restaurant’ with Writer Ok, these guys pulled some dirty tricks.
They inexplicably inserted Tae-kyu as the secondary male lead after some deal with TS, then turned their backs on us when it came to funding additional production costs.
When Writer Ok had a fit over Tae-kyu’s acting skills, these people made false promises.
They claimed they’d invest additional production costs if the situation called for it.
When things got critical, they suddenly backed out, and our show ended disappointingly.
“Well, the grand ending Writer Ok initially imagined was overly ambitious…”
The original plan included space battles with battleships and aerial fortresses—truly sensational if you ask me. But if they’d stated upfront that additional funding was unavailable, Writer Ok could’ve adjusted the script accordingly.
Instead, SBC stayed silent until the last minute, changed plans drastically, and due to insufficient budget, the show ended with a disappointing finale. This allowed Moon Suyeon’s drama to clean up the ratings left behind.
“At some point, Suyeon-senpai nearly won that bet.”
Ultimately, though, Nam Hyun-ho made an incredible comeback, and it was one of those nail-biting moments.
“It was an awful mood that time.”
A production’s success or failure shouldn’t necessarily hold so much weight.
After all, box office hits are fickle. Sometimes even good shows fail, and vice versa.
But the way a project fails can vary greatly in impact.
I have my own standards.
If a show failed due to my acting, the writer’s script, or the director’s poor execution, I’d have accepted it.
But when they retract promised funding, and the show tanks as a result, it’s infuriating—especially when the show had already brought in significant profits.
“Especially from SBC.”
My debut, ‘Brilliant Copywriter Yoon Seo-eun,’ was also an SBC production.
Truth be told, even without me, the show would’ve succeeded, but my participation made it a runaway hit.
Without Elder Yoon’s early momentum, the ratings would’ve dropped at least 4-5%. Given the current trend where an extra 1% in ratings significantly affects ad revenue, think about how much I earned them.
‘Restaurant Cheese’ was no different.
Though the entire crew and cast contributed significantly, denying my input entirely would be unfair.
I was the one who challenged Lee Hyerin and Yoon Yeonhe to snap out of their funk. I threw myself into the project right from the start with scenes of semi-nudity and kisses. Additionally, it was me who secured extra production funding from Flame, contributing to at least half the show’s eventual success.
Given all they took, their betrayal was frustrating.
“So I’ve been waiting for SBC to announce their production of a large-scale drama, and now they’ve done it?”
Given this, I need to have a serious discussion with Heavenly Yu-ah.
*
When a drama with blockbuster potential enters its earliest production stages, actors naturally become busier.
Writer Seo Suhyeon has already created several large-scale historical dramas, and Director Jang Gyuho is also a veteran with considerable insight into the genre.
SBC has clearly played its ace.
Still, since Imjin War-based historical dramas have been made multiple times, the concept runs the risk of becoming stale.
There are also many people who take historical accuracy very seriously, so that could be problematic.
Fusion elements might be the key variable here, however.
If the drama can present a storyline that’s both plausible and entertaining to the audience, it looks like they’ll have their work cut out for them.
Regardless, the casting battle for a drama of this magnitude tends to get quite intense.
Considering this objectively, it’s a highly likely success. Being a large-scale production, it needs a substantial cast, and our company has received requests for actors.
“Wow, Senior Yu-ah, Senior Hyun-Ho, and even me?”
“Yes.”
“That’s quite something.”
Three actors from our company have been requested, including myself.
While both Heavenly Yu-ah and Nam Hyun-Ho are established stars, they’ve reached out for me as well?
Apparently, these people don’t remember our prior history.
Well, from the broadcaster’s perspective, it’s more unusual for them to recall such trivial matters.
Given that it was a show that brought them decent ratings, they may believe they wrapped it up clean.
“That’s why it’s all the more frustrating.”
I’m getting increasingly irritated.
