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New Movie: Big Bang

Posted March. 08, 2007 06:42,   

한국어

I met Gam Woo-sung, who stars in the buddy movie Big Bang, with Kim Soo-ro, on Monday at Samcheong-dong, Seoul. In the movie, Gam plays the role of Park Man-soo, who lives on the straight and narrow, exactly as his father taught him. In frustration, after getting divorced and losing his job, Park decides to urinate on the street, and is caught by the police. At the police station, he meets Yang Cheol-gon, who has 15 previous convictions, and on an impulse, the two spend a wild night together.

“For those parents who experienced the Korean War, having a decent job and sending their children to a prestigious school was a survival instinct. However, even if we do everything by the book, we may still face troubles in our day-to-day lives. It is a story of an ordinary citizen who gets frustrated by this exact situation,” Gam said.

Although dramatic acting expressing intense emotion often takes the spotlight, Gam perfectly depicts an average person, with whom we can find common ground. In the movie, although Park is an ordinary man, he once dreamed of becoming a racing car driver. An introvert in his younger years, Gam went to an art high school. And after majoring in fine arts at Seoul National University, he had a burning desire to become an actor.

“Not only extroverts who act like ‘clowns’ become actors. Although appearance is important, you do not have to be pretty or handsome, unless you want to dig your own grave. I think we need a larger variety of actors to make films that can transcend generations,” Gam said.

After his run-in with the law, the outraged Park does as he pleases; doing things that he would never have thought of doing in the past. For instance, he knocks over the table at a company-sponsored dinner and damages a car. Although his destructive behavior releases the stress of audiences, Gam was nervous when he had to damage such an expensive car, because he had to do it in one take with no mistakes. “This is a country where people who do what they shouldn’t live a good life,” Park says in the movie, representing the sorrow of ordinary people. This was an impromptu line from Gam.

“It’s true that there are people who belong to this category. Although everyone acknowledges it, they do not take any action because they are too busy to worry themselves with other people’s lives. I wanted to express that kind of feeling through Park Man-soo,” Gam said.

Gam experienced the best time of his acting life thanks to the success of his previous film “King and the Clown.” Thanks to this film, which sold 12.3 million tickets nationwide, he was even able to win the best actor award at the Daejong Film Festival. “I felt exhilarated after receiving this award from a movie which was officially undervalued by both the production company and investors,” Gam added.

Gam also criticized the outdated production practice, dependence on stars and the wide release. “Although the best thing that I can do is deliver exciting acting, we have all watched how Hong Kong films have perished. Even though the Hallyu fever is coming to an end, people only think about making as much money as possible by exploiting the final phase (of the Korean wave). If they want to enjoy more, they must tackle the existing problems,” Gam said.

With regard to film promotion, he also prefers “methods that can be useful in the future.” “Although a film gets more attention if I draw people in by appearing on TV shows, it often produces a rather inappropriate outcome. Of course, I know how to make people laugh. Although it would be good if the true style of the actors could be delivered, panels are the stars of talk shows these days. I like to do it my own way.”

Gam takes great pride in his acting. He says what he has to say and is very straight forward in doing so. After finishing the interview, I couldn’t help but think, “He is a little cold.” But he brought me a bowl of bean porridge, saying “Make sure you eat it at home.” On its plastic covering, in his handwriting, was written, “It is delicious when heated up.”



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