Team Leader Seo, who solely manages my schedule, reportedly has been pretty busy lately.
Apparently, due to the popularity of ‘Gold Rush, Joseon,’ the number of people seeking my availability has noticeably increased.
However, in my case, while I occasionally handle light interview schedules, I’m currently on a temporary hiatus from CFs and other activities.
Perhaps because I haven’t firmly established myself yet, all I’m getting are proposals ripe for getting betrayed.
In this regard, Heavenly Yuah stands out as the best role model. This woman manages to earn a lot without agreeing to many offers.
Of course, it’s partly due to her impressive position, but it’s also because she’s great at image marketing.
Her personal motto is not to take CFs for products she doesn’t actually use, which, once people learned about it, made both consumers and industry insiders extremely fond of her.
However, this type of marketing was unintentional on her part.
Despite it being a brief yet dense CF shoot, these are some of the schedules that Heavenly Yuah despises the most because she has to perform according to the client’s wishes instead of her own, and hence, tends to refuse them unless necessary.
For someone as wealthy as Heavenly Yuah, her personal satisfaction takes precedence over money.
However, if she avoids CFs altogether, it might give rise to an unnatural impression, especially within the industry.
It’s a peculiar situation where not doing too much can be as problematic as doing too much.
This is a typical mindset among Koreans, but nonetheless, thanks to her well-established image, Heavenly Yuah has built an incredibly efficient system that allows her to do less and earn more.
On the other hand, Moon Suyeon is also famous for taking on quite a few CFs because she hasn’t turned down the offers coming through Moon Enter, resulting in a tragic scenario.
Their popularity might be on a similar level, but Moon Suyeon’s rates are significantly lower.
Moon Suyeon plans to adopt a more refined strategy since joining our company, but it may take some time to shake off the image built from her extensive past work.
“Since that’s the case, it’d be better to follow Senior Yuah rather than Senior Suyeon.”
While I might not be able to imitate Heavenly Yuah, it seems better to wait and make a big splash rather than starting with ambiguous projects, especially given my status as a newcomer.
Therefore, I’m currently pushing aside everything that feels questionable and waiting for something genuinely worth it.
“Let’s set that aside for now. How’s the work side going?”
“Are you planning to dive into a project immediately?”
“Yes, interviews alone won’t sustain my visibility. Since I’m not interested in other activities, I must take on a project.”
“Mental fatigue could be a concern…”
“Ah, that’s fine with me. I can handle that aspect.”
Speaking of myself,
I quickly grasp a character’s traits and make them my own,
acting in a Method-style while effortlessly detaching from the roles.
I’m a versatile actor suited for multiple projects.
While this might come across as self-praise, this isn’t my own evaluation—it’s Heavenly Yuah’s.
Even Heavenly Yuah, who’s discerning about evaluating actors, acknowledges my adaptability.
Therefore, I have no reason to worry about mental fatigue after a shoot, especially considering the time that has passed.
Rather, the stress of having Heavenly Yuah and Moon Suyeon glaring at me is far more taxing.
I should escape into a project quickly before anything else comes up.
“Then I’ll list the incoming offers, as the internal evaluations have already been completed.”
“Yes, that sounds good. Let’s go ahead.”
When I looked at the list Team Leader Seo provided, there were quite a number of works.
I asked that I be informed of any incoming proposal, and the company decided not to filter them out.
That’s a good sign.
Regardless of the nature of the proposals, it shows that I’m receiving many casting suggestions.
“Detective, bodyguard, general. And even a ninja? No, what is this? A ninja?”
“Ah, that one is an original hero project from Finesse, where they apparently want to include a ninja as an Eastern-based hero.”
“Aaah, those crazy people. Are they still living in the 19th century? How is the international relationship between Korea, China, and Japan so complicated that they’re even considering this?”
“Someone might argue, ‘acting is acting, why does it matter?’ But the reality is that I can’t avoid the reactions of the public.”
Naturally, a proposal like this will attract criticism from people who care a lot about such things.
Offering a Korean actor the role of a ninja is honestly just asking for trouble.
They should just use Japanese actors.
“Seems like an uncomfortable situation.”
While the ninja role is out of the question, even the other roles don’t particularly appeal.
Sure, receiving many offers is good, but all being of this sort is disheartening.
Seems like many people in the industry still want to exploit my name from the previous successes of Lee Myung.
Even excluding roles that capitalize on that, the ones offered are mostly action-heavy parts.
Even though the most memorable aspect of my performance in ‘Gold Rush, Joseon’ was action, that doesn’t mean I’m interested in similar characters that revolve around Lee Myung’s persona.
Secret agents, powerful police officers, or even drug cartel enforcers—though these have distinct traits from my past roles, they’re saturated with action scenes, which doesn’t pique my interest.
Through that project, I’ve gotten an intense overview of the reality of Korean action movies.
Jang Soohong is a recognized action director in Korea. If a movie with their expertise is this much, I’m not interested in exploring similar genres even if I didn’t have any specific plans.
“Let’s cut out the action stuff then.”
Excluding action roles reduced the list dramatically.
Thankfully, given the quality I showed, the projects were specifically curated for me, so there’s no need for auditions. Also, some projects are offering me the lead role, which being an actor, I naturally find appealing.
“Hey? Writer Oh Kyuyoung?”
One of the offers that suggested giving me a lead role was from Writer Oh Kyuyoung.
Oh Kyuyoung—could they be the perfect fit for my current position?
Writer Oh Kyuyoung is a seasoned veteran in the industry, known for taking on numerous projects.
Their specialty lies in balancing melodramas with well-crafted narratives, especially in romantic storylines with triangular relationships.
Most of their work, though leaning towards melodrama, maintains a good quality and popularity.
They occasionally produce something wildly dramatic but managing to survive and thrive for so long means they’re not all bad.
Besides, my dad has always loved and highly appreciated this writer’s work.
Though he occasionally said, “This really isn’t it!” there were also pieces he truly enjoyed, all written by Oh Kyuyoung. Thus, I remember the name well, and it seems participating in one of the writer’s projects would also be a way to cheer my father up.
“Ah, isn’t it ‘Restaurant, ProFromage’ by Writer Oh Kyuyoung? Hmm…”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t seem like a recommendable project. Only two stars in the internal evaluation, and Writer Oh Kyuyoung themselves are…”
“Really?”
“Writer Oh Kyuyoung tends to be inconsistent. Works out fine sometimes, but when it goes off the rails, it’s chaotic. There’s some risk involved.”
“But hasn’t he achieved a decent standard more often than not?”
“Yes, they’re the kind of writer that network channels would be fond of. Still, it’s a bit difficult to fully trust them.”
“Preferred by the channels…”
“Given your current position, it might be better to solidify yourself in important supporting roles instead of focusing solely on the leads. By choosing the right projects, there’s a chance to shine even more as a supporting player than a lead.”
But Flame Entertainment seemed to think differently.
They suggested looking at things more broadly without getting fixated on lead roles.
According to them, participating as a key supporting actor in a larger-scale project would be more fruitful than heading Oh Kyuyoung’s work.
“After all, it’s also about the pay. There’s something twisted in the contract details as well.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s noticeable when you compare this offer despite it being a lead role. It’s much less satisfying compared to other offers.”
“Isn’t that true for most of the offers I’ve received? The supporting roles seem to pay better than the leads.”
“Exactly, the lead role you’re considering doesn’t come close to others either. It feels very insufficient.”
Given my uncertain position, offers as a lead from smaller productions pay less, while offers as a supporting actor from larger projects offer better remuneration.
This includes additional fees for using lead actors in supporting roles.
Due to my current recognition and popularity, big projects casting me as a lead haven’t emerged yet.
Even more telling is that Oh Kyuyoung’s production has an even smaller budget for the male lead role.
Apparently, complications arose while negotiating contracts with the two female leads, resulting in overpayments.
With little margin left after accounting for the expenses, they turned to me for someone with a high cost-to-benefit ratio.
According to Team Leader Seo, they probably didn’t expect me to sign on.
They’re still actively searching for another male lead.
“So, who are the female leads?”
“Yoon Yeonhee and Lee Hyerin.”
“Ah, they pushed it too far, didn’t they? Is the contract finalized?”
“Almost, it seems. Verbal agreements are made, and they’re just waiting for the male lead to confirm. If no male lead accepts the current terms, they’ll have to renegotiate.”
Yoon Yeonhee is a popular actress in her late 20s with high market value.
As for Lee Hyerin, she’s a rising star in her early 20s.
Though their earnings aren’t in the billion-range, they’re not exactly cheap for a drama that tries to manage costs.
“Essentially, it’s a done deal. The two female leads are confirmed.”
Though the male lead’s pay has been reduced because of the two lead females, the fact that these slots are filled gives me a bit of relief.
While I expect some interference from Heavenly Yuah and Moon Suyeon over my next project, this drama might be slightly less prone to their interference.
While they wouldn’t usually consider a drama of this scale, if they went wild demanding pay cuts, the producers would likely comply.
Though such extreme action seems unlikely, given their occasional extreme behavior, particularly Heavenly Yuah, one can’t be too sure.
Since the leads are already locked in, I can relax a bit.
This drama starts to look even more appealing.
