Become a Star

- Death Hill’s director and writer modified the sequence. It seems both of them liked working with you last time. They added a few more scenes for your character, which is why I called.

Death Hill’s director, Moon Seung-Kwon, was known for making sudden changes to the script while filming was still ongoing. As such, casting directors often complained since they had to often call up actors on the day before the supposed shoot. That also meant that just like Woo-Jin, there were also many who got to grab these unexpected opportunities.

Woo-Jin hung up after Kim Sang-Jin told him about the schedule and location, and cheered as he ran around the sidewalk. At this moment, he was extremely elated, even though people were slowly avoiding eye contact with him as if he were a madman. Even recalling all 999 of his past lives could not compare to a golden opportunity like this.

***

The female protagonist in Death Hill greatly suffered due to her father’s debt, and her life became even more difficult after she became a suspect upon witnessing a murder. As she was being chased by the police, the killer, and various loan sharks, the only person who believed her was the male protagonist, a journalist. The movie followed the two protagonists as they experienced adversity and adventure to reach a happy ending, while Woo-Jin played the role of ‘Loan Shark A’ in this storyline.

It was such a minor role that the character did not even have a name. He was the antagonist responsible for the female lead’s initial misfortune, which started when her father borrowed money from loan sharks to pay off his gambling debt. To be more precise, he was one of the youngsters who worked for the boss of the loan shark company, whose duty was to collect money.

However, he secretly liked the female lead. He initially approached her intending to collect her father’s debt; in the process, though, he threatened her by breaking things and sexually harassed her, insisting that she sleep with him in place of the interest. That clingy slimeball even told her that after they sold her as a prostitute, he would tell his coworkers that he called dibs on her first.

“They liked the dirty look in your eyes,” the assistant director explained to Chae Woo-Jin. While elaborating on the full content of the modified sequence, he also emphasized that there was a slight change in Woo-Jin's role. “Originally, the female lead was chased and caught by the loan sharks, but she was rescued by the male lead before they turned her into a corpse with no organs. Now, instead of the male lead, A intervenes and rescues her. Previously, A was simply a pervert who sexually harasses the female lead, but now, we’re adding a little madness and pure love to his character. Okay?”

“So, the key is to portray him as a pervert?” Woo-Jin asked.

“And a spoonful of madness, and two spoonfuls of pure love,” the assistant director said as he handed over the script of the changed sequence with a mischievous look on his face. He had worked with Director Moon on more than a dozen films over the years, and he seemed to be fine with the modifications.

In the eyes of the public, Director Moon Seung-Kwon was known for improvising and changing the script right before filming to change things up; but in truth, that was not the case. This always happened whenever he disliked the leads chosen by the investors. That was the truth behind the partially modified scenes that reduced the screen time of the leads. He made his changes spontaneous in order to avoid giving the investors or actors a chance to react. In truth, it was Director Moon’s ‘eccentricity’ that required the cast to be fully prepared after only a few days of discussion with the main staff.

That being said, the changes often made things better, allowing their movies to be more positively received by the public. Thus, even though the investors might grumble, they ultimately did not say much. It was similar to how an honor student's bad behavior would be overlooked to a certain extent, as long as they kept up their good grades. Regardless of what anybody said, Director Moon was one of the most popular movie directors in Korea.

“There aren’t a lot of lines, so memorizing them wouldn't be a problem, right?” the assistant director asked. Whether or not he remembered that Woo-Jin had memorized his fairly long lines immediately during the filming a month ago, he was not worried about Woo-Jin's memorization skills.

“Yes,” Woo-Jin replied.

“Umm…! You’re dressed differently, and your hair is a little longer than the last time we filmed,” the assistant director remarked. After being discharged from the military for two months, Chae Woo-Jin's hair was still short, but it seemed to have grown a little longer compared to the last time he was on set.

After hearing what the assistant director said, the art director shook her head and commented, “It’s fine. Besides, time passes within the movie as well, so it’ll look natural. If you need to convey pure love, it won’t match well if your hair is too short. You have a good physique, so it's fine.”

The art director let out a spirited chuckle; she liked <meta charset="utf-8">Woo-Jin's physique and looks that outshone the male lead’s. The assistant director clicked his tongue and remarked, “She won’t be leaving this set because she wants to ogle handsome men.”

“I love looking at pretty things and earning money. Mr. Chae Woo-Jin is tall and handsome. I enjoyed the view back then, and it’s so nice to see you again. Good luck this time. I hope to see you often here for a long, long time,” the art director said.

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There were quite a number of new actors present as a result of the ‘modified script’ that had been created thanks to Director Moon’s spontaneity. An appearance in the movie, no matter how brief, would be impactful enough to make one’s name known to the world. Everyone who was present knew that for a fact.

Thus, the way they looked at Woo-Jin today was subtly different from how they had looked at him a month ago. If an actor who had already finished filming his part had been brought back to replace the male lead, it meant that the director must have seen something in him. If he messed up, he would have nothing to say if people mocked him for blowing his chance.

Woo-Jin received the script for the scene, which only had a few lines, and read it over and over again. In order to understand the ambiance and A’s personality, he had to understand the entire story. As soon as he was done with his makeup, however, he had to go on set immediately due to a lack of time.

***

The loan shark boss’ face quivered with anger as he yelled at A, “So, you’re telling me you don’t know where she went?!”

“Yes,” A replied.

“You don’t know, or you’re pretending not to know?”

“...”

“Do you think there's anyone in the office who doesn't know you like that woman?!” As soon as the boss said that, he threw a light stainless steel ashtray at A’s face.

A’s eyes glistened through the flying gray ash after he was hit by the ashtray. He replied with a sly smile, “She's hot and I want to bed her. Don't you feel that way too when you see hot chicks?”

Under Woo-Jin's gaze, which seemed to be silently asking 'Why are we being like this when we're birds of the same feather?', the boss' tense expression faded as he said, “Find her and bring her here before the police get to her. It doesn’t matter whether or not she was the killer, I just want my money back.”

The interest alone was already more than enough to cover the principal sum, but it did not mean anything to the loan sharks.

“Should we sell her after we catch her?” A asked.

“Are you crazy?! Her face is plastered all over the country; how are you going to do that? How much would it cost to change her face? Maybe if the bounty was high, we could take it and also get a police commendation. Spend that 30 million[1] somewhere else and just hand her over to the factory,” the boss replied.

“By factory, you mean…” A began.

“You know what I’m talking about!” the boss exclaimed with a burst of cruel laughter.

In response, A laughed too. His eyes, which were void of all emotion, did not tremble at all. However, as soon as he left the boss’ office and turned around to close the door, his eyes glittered with the taint of insanity. He smirked sinisterly, muttering, “Factory? So you like factories, huh.”

A had a dark look on his face, as if he were quietly asking, ‘Who said you called the shots?’.

***

“Cut!” the director yelled.

The director’s clapboard lifted a weight off Woo-Jin's shoulders. That scene had been filmed with no bad takes from start to finish, leaving the director and other staff members very satisfied. Woo-Jin's performance was better than they had expected, even though he had been suddenly summoned without any prior preparation. They liked the venomous look and madness in A’s eyes, in particular.

“Was he that good at expressing emotions through his eyes?”

“He wasn’t bad in the first place. Is he the actor who was selected after the audition?”

Loan Shark A had originally been such a minor role that there was no need for auditions. However, the director disiked the male lead, who was cast due to pressure from the investors. Hence, he had decided to hold auditions even for the smallest roles. This was the director’s expression of protest — “The male lead is the only nepotism casting in this movie.” If he found a good actor during the auditions, he would use them just as he did today. It was all a part of a rather strategic plan.

Chae Woo-Jin was 186cm tall and had a personable face, with features that were popular these days. He was handsome and had soft and beautiful features, as opposed to sharp and defined features. However, because of his distinct features, it was still possible for him to achieve a bolder look depending on the makeup he used. At first glance, he looked like a gentleman, so they were worried that he would not be able to play the role of a delinquent loan shark. However, he was still able to do it effortlessly.

“He’s going to be popular, right?” the cinematographer asked in a soft voice. Director Moon merely smiled. Having been in this field for a long time, they often had certain hunches. They were mostly correct, apart from a few exceptions here and there.

The reason why some actors could not make it big despite having a good body and looks, as well as great acting skills, was fate. In fact, becoming a star in the sky was more than just hard work and luck. Stardom was a position that only those chosen by the masses and the God of Fate could enjoy. It could not be determined by mere gut feelings.

“The look in his eyes is really great,” the cinematographer remarked.

“That’s what I’ve been saying. He was good at conveying emotions through his eyes before, too,” the director replied.

“What's in it for you? Why are you so concerned with his success?” the cinematographer asked, puzzled.

“Give them one or two jobs. Leave a good impression when they’re still nobodies, and once they make it big, you get to pester them to be the Grateful Swallow[2],” the director said.

Ignoring obscure actors and treating them recklessly were things done by those without foresight. Of course, Director Moon was not generous enough to care about people with no prospects, but at the very least, he had to be loyal to those whom he regarded to be in his “line”.[3] Regardless of how jungle-like the entertainment industry was, he had had to follow this rule in order to survive in it for a long time. If one felt that a particular actor would make it big, one should start building a good relationship with them when they were still a nobody.

“And get stabbed in the back again?” the cinematographer asked.

“Ah! Those bad memories are starting to come back,” the director exclaimed.

“You can’t expect them to be sincere towards you when you approached them with such intentions in the first place,” the cinematographer advised.

After the clapboard was sounded, Director Moon and the cinematographer had been engaged in a secret conversation. As such, the actors had to get out of their relaxed state and be on their toes again.

They had thought that it would be done in one take, but the director did not seem entirely satisfied.

‘From which point in the scene will he want to do a retake?’

These complicated thoughts were swimming in the actors' minds, while Director Moon remained unaware.

After ending the conversation with the cinematographer, Director Moon looked up and asked with a blank expression, “What are you doing instead of moving onto the next scene?”

The others might not know, but Woo-Jin was done with filming for today. The important scenes would be filmed the next day, so he grabbed the script and quietly left the set. Despite how last minute he was called up, the schedule for the day was not so bad.

The crew had rented an entire building that had been scheduled for demolition. Even though there were several rooms, they were all in use. When Woo-Jin went down to the actors' lounge downstairs, there were already people seated there. They were Loan Shark 1, Loan Shark 2, and Loan Shark 3. Fortunately, he was familiar with them, as they had been on set with him during the last filming. Loan Shark 2 saw Woo-Jin first, and acted as though they were acquaintances.

“Oh… A is here!” Loan Shark 2 remarked.

“Hello. I’m guessing you guys aren’t done with filming today,” Woo-Jin replied.

“Yeah. We’re police officers today, loan sharks tomorrow, and passersby the day after. Did the filming go well for you?” Loan Shark 2 asked.

“It went all right today, but I’m worried about tomorrow,” Woo-Jin said. Tomorrow’s scene was going to be an action-packed brawl, so he was worried.

Knowing Woo-Jin's situation, Loan Shark 1 smiled and patted the seat next to him. Originally used as an office, the lounge was rather huge, so there was still much space even after with the four men inside. Judging from the mattresses on one side, it seemed as though sleeping arrangements had been settled.

“A, are you going to sleep here tonight too?” Loan Shark 1 asked.

“I might, since we have to work on the brawl scene early in the morning tomorrow. Is there space for me?” Woo-Jin asked in response.

“There will be mattresses and blankets everywhere at night, so you don’t have to worry about finding a space to sleep. Director Moon takes good care of the staff, as well as the actors who do minor roles, so it’s great to work with them,” Loan Shark 1 explained.

Woo-Jin nodded upon hearing those words. Even he, who had just entered the entertainment industry, knew that Director Moon was famous for his good personality in a sea of demanding directors. He was very lucky to be working with Director Moon for his first movie.

“Since you’re doing the brawl scene tomorrow too, that means you’ll be joining us,” Loan Shark 1 said.

“Yes, I’ll be beaten up by all of you. Please be gentle with me,” Woo-Jin replied.

“Why are you being so formal with us? In the film, you’re our older bro,” Loan Shark 1 added.

“That’s because he was hoping we would go easier on him tomorrow,” Loan Shark 3 interjected.

Woo-Jin played along with Loan Shark 3’s playful response, and the three men clenched their fists as they laughed, looking forward to tomorrow.

1. ~25K USD <i class="far fa-hand-point-left">

2. This is in reference to a famous Korean fable Heungbu and Nolbu where Heungbu saved a swallow and the swallow eventually returned the favor and made Heungbu wealthy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heungbu_and_Nolbu <i class="far fa-hand-point-left">

3. In the Korean entertainment industry, a “line" refers to people who are grouped together because they shared the same traits or are on the same “side". For example, BTS' rap line consists of RM, Suga, and J-Hope. And those who are close to national MC, Yoo Jae-suk are often said to be of the Yoo line. <i class="far fa-hand-point-left">