On the occasion of the first three episodes of “The Deal” screening at Red Sea International Film Festival, director Lee Jung-Gon and protagonist Yoo Seung-Ho talk to Panos Kotzathanasis about the inspiration and the focus of the series, how violence begins, how they choose the projects they are involved with, the most difficult scenes to shoot, the Korean drama and movie industry, and their future projects.
What was the inspiration behind the story?
Lee Jung-gon: My inspiration is the logline, a friend kidnapping a friend, because nowadays in S. Korea, there is a new phrase “the gold spoon and the dirt spoon” which means that the wealth gap among the parents represents the social level gap between their children. I wanted to tell a story about the Korean reality of young people.
Do you think it is easy for people to become violent, or it takes specific circumstances to do so?
Lee Jung-gon: It is a very difficult question. I believe that there is violence inside every person but it has to be “drawn out” through some social phenomena in order to turn into violence.
Yoo Seung-ho: I agree with the director for the most part. Anger needs to be drawn out in some way in order to turn into violence.
What would you say was your main focus regarding this series?
Lee Jung-gon: The one thing I really focused on this series is for it to be interesting to the audience. I cannot put value on the intention, I cannot put value on the value itself the series has, but I can put value on how interesting the title is for the audience. So when I was doing the editing, I was really focused on not losing the interest of the audience. Especially the first part of the series, it is very short, it is very fast in order to make it more attractive to the audience.
What did you like the particular role in “The Deal”, why did you choose to play the particular role?
Yoo Seung-ho: For the first part, the friend-kidnapping-a-friend concept is a very appealing theme for Joon-sung but the thing that is more attractive about the character is that he has a bottom line, an ethical line that he feels he always have to keep in mind. This is also the element that separates Jae-hyo and Joon-sung. Jae-hyo is also not a bad person, but the one who holds the line for the whole thing not to become even worse is definitely Joon-sung.Â
If you met Joon-sung in real life, would you be friends with him?
Yoo Seung-ho: (laughter) Never (laughter). Joon-sung has a pure kindness in himself, but what we mentioned before, the inner anger, due to society's pressure, has burst out. I could be friends with him though, due to his inherent kindness and his ethical line.
Which of the two characters do you like more?
Lee Jung-gon: (laughter) It is a very hard question again. I like both protagonists, but my heart goes to Joon-sung because I like the character who has the dilemma of choosing A or B.It makes the story more fulfilled, if the main character has a dilemma.
Which was the most difficult scene to shoot?
Lee Jung-gon: There are many scenes that were hard to shoot but if I had to choose one among episodes 1-3, is the scene when Jae-hyo decides to kill Min-woo, because it was very hard to explain to the actors how they should behave and how their expressions should be.
Yoo Seung-ho: I cannot choose just one scene, a number of scenes were quite hard to decide what I should feel about my character's two friends, because one friend is the victim of the kidnapping and the other is the perpetrator. It was very hard to decide what my attitude should be towards them, but once I decided that, it was easy to move on.Â
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Is it more difficult to shoot scenes where there is action, fighting or when there is not and the actors have to show emotion?
Yoo Seung-ho: The action scenes include physical strain, so they are hard to shoot but in this series particularly, the talking and the attitude and the expressions of the characters when interacting with each other were the most important aspects, so I will go for the latter.
Lee Jung-gon: I also think the talking scenes were hard, but the one I was troubled the most with were the action scenes. Because when you are shooting a talking scene, you know on the spot if it is good or not. When you are shooting action scenes though, you have to edit, to deal with the post-production so you only know later on if it is good or not. Therefore, for this series in particular, the action scenes were harder.
Can you give us some details about the cinematography of the series, what you wanted to do in the visual aspect?
Lee Jung-gon: Regarding the cinematography, as the series progresses, there are a lot of different elements combined; although the story took place in different settings, I wanted all of them to emit the same emotion. What I did is that I had dolly tracking shots in all the different locations, in order to achieve just that, whether the action was happening in a living room or a bathroom for example.
Same question about the editing?
Lee Jung-gon: Regarding the editing, as I mentioned before, the feelings and the expressions during the character's decisions was the most important aspect of the series. What I did was take every shot, every scene in the editing room and I chose the takes that best showed these aspects.Â
A more general question, how do you choose the roles that you will play?
Yoo Seung-ho: To make it simple, the first thing I look at is the scenario and I decide what kind of appeal it has. Because if the scenario is good, so are the characters. I also try to look for the hidden attractions of the scenario and the characters, because for me it is more interesting to search for the hidden values of the character that I have to bring to the surface.
You have been acting since you were five years old. How have you changed through the years of acting?
Yoo Seung-ho: To be honest, when I was very young, I didn't know what I should do, what kind of decisions I had to make, for one scene or the other for example. Therefore, I don't really have a clear memory of my attitude towards acting at the time. However, as I grew up, I got more challenges, I got to do more things I did not do before. And trying new things makes me improve and so, I don't treat acting as work, I treat it as a friend of mine that is very close to me. Through that friend, I get to accumulate more and more experiences and I am eager to actually do so.
Lee Jung-gon: For this series, Seung-ho has become wilder, he has become more raw, even in his appearance. Even though he is going to have many more roles in the future, I feel the wildness that he showed in “The Deal” suits him well.
What is your opinion regarding the movie and drama industry in Korean at the moment?
Yoo Seung-ho: I think that at the moment, more varying and more interesting characters have come up, both for dramas and for movies. When you look at the characters, you realize that they can come from all aspects of life, from everywhere. I am also very grateful that the Korean industry is getting viewers from all over the world. And this attention will bring even more variety to the movies, series and characters, which will attract even more audiences.
Lee Jung-gon: When the Korean drama and Korean film were at their peak, it was exactly the time when Covid came. For example, there were movies that 1/4 of Korean people watched in theaters, that was how much popularity the industry had garnered. At the moment, however, we are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic, and participating in festivals like here in Saudi Arabia, is definitely something that will help this recovery. I think eventually, we will get back to the point we were before Covid.Â
What are you working on next? Are there any plans for season 2?
Lee Jung-gon: Right now, I don't have specific plans for the next year, I am looking for the next project. Every director has their own style, but I am always searching for projects where the characters truly stand out. Regarding season 2, we are not sure about it but I will check the tendencies in Red Sea and all over the world and decide.
Yoo Seung-ho: In this series, there has been a lot of kidnapping, a lot of fighting, a lot of cursing, a lot of very intense moments. So my next work will be full of love and joy (laughter). Regarding season 2, I would love to be in, if the director wants me (laughter)
