The Face Genius Actor

Episode 012

Every production was bound to have problems, big and small.

It was natural, as many people had to come together to create a single work.

And “Arrest” was no exception to this.

“I told you to set up the PPL products in advance!”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Do you want to straighten up your mind?”

“I’ll prepare it right away!”

A mistake by one of the junior staff members wasn’t even worth calling a problem.

Rather, it would feel disappointing if such things didn’t happen at least once a day.

So I could secretly smile while observing the situation on set.

‘Another lively start today.’

It had already been a week since the main filming of “Arrest” began.

During that time, the “Arrest” production team had carefully worked through the content up to episode 3, where the high school student roles were active.

Given that young actors with little experience played a large part,

Director Kang Han-sung’s desire to create the best possible scenes was palpable.

It was possible because there was still plenty of time left until the broadcast.

“Cut! Let’s do it one more time!”

However, this didn’t mean they could have unlimited NGs.

Due to the nature of the drama genre, they were inevitably chasing the scheduled time.

Moreover, if the person making NGs was a repeat offender, the atmosphere was bound to become unpleasant.

“Here we go again.”

“I wonder how many times we’ll shoot today.”

“Ah. Let’s try to finish early for once.”

Staff members voiced their complaints in low voices from one side.

I could hear these voices because I was positioned in a relatively inconspicuous corner.

It would be nice if I could quietly wait for a call in the van.

But without a manager, I had no choice but to wait in this position.

Around me were minor role actors who didn’t even have character names.

“Cut! One more time!”

Director Kang Han-sung demanded another reshoot.

Along with this, the expressions of everyone on set hardened.

Above all, the expression of An Myung-hyun at the center was not good at all.

That’s right.

An Myung-hyun was the habitual offender of NGs.

“Cut! Again!”

It was already the 12th time for the same scene.

But Director Kang Han-sung, as if unable to give up, demanded reshoots several times.

He had no choice.

The importance of the role An Myung-hyun was playing was extremely high.

The high school role of the male lead, Shin Han-jae.

This wasn’t a role that could be glossed over with just passable acting.

It was a position that required as much notable performance as the size of the role.

“Doesn’t he practice at all?”

“The casting was the problem from the start. How can you call that an actor?”

“The director must have had his reasons. FQ probably forced him in.”

“Is this what they call the tyranny of big agencies? It’s really annoying.”

The staff members’ voices grew a bit louder, seemingly angry.

And as I heard those voices, I felt my expression stiffen slightly.

It was because I thought that I might have received similar criticism in the past.

But I shook my head and relaxed my expression.

It was good to be vigilant, but it wasn’t good to lose confidence because of something that hadn’t happened yet.

Above all, An Myung-hyun’s attitude was controversial enough.

‘To cause so many reshoots and not even say a word of apology…’

If nothing else, even I thought this was a bit too much.

If An Myung-hyun had sincerely apologized every time he caused a reshoot,

There might have been slightly more resentment towards his agency than towards An Myung-hyun himself.

But An Myung-hyun’s stiff attitude failed to protect even himself.

Certainly, An Myung-hyun was an actor who seemed off from the first meeting.

‘He criticized me for showing my rookie colors as soon as I greeted him. If An Myung-hyun’s manager hadn’t stepped in to stop him then…’

The atmosphere would have certainly become very awkward.

Of course, even if that had happened, it wouldn’t have harmed me at all.

Especially in a situation like now, it would have been an opportunity for An Myung-hyun to receive more criticism.

Anyway, An Myung-hyun, who had given a bad impression from the first meeting, was known as the ‘public enemy’ of the filming set.

Like a mudfish, he muddied the atmosphere, so no one could like him.

But even this was something that could happen often enough on set.

Moreover, such incidents didn’t greatly affect the viewership ratings.

It would be a lie to say it had no effect at all, but with the skills of writer Jung Su-min and Director Kang Han-sung, it was within a range they could sufficiently cover.

In fact, the situation where An Myung-hyun would become the only risk factor for “Arrest” had not yet been revealed.

‘When that time comes, there will probably be quite a commotion. I hope we can safely get through this hurdle this time too…’

It was while I was thinking this.

Finally, after continuous reshoots, Director Kang Han-sung reluctantly gave the okay sign.

But as soon as An Myung-hyun turned away, the director’s sigh made it clear that he didn’t give the okay because he was satisfied with the acting.

He had simply given up.

‘Even if he’s not satisfied, there’s nothing he can do. He can’t immediately change the actor or improve the actor’s skills.’

Moreover, in An Myung-hyun’s case, he was a card pushed by FQ as a condition for the main male lead and sub-female lead’s appearance.

So if they were to push An Myung-hyun out without justification in this situation, they would have to face protests from FQ.

‘It’s just that An Myung-hyun’s acting isn’t good for the role of Shin Han-jae’s high school version. It’s not like it’s terribly bad.’

Honestly, if it was just that level, writer Jung Su-min and Director Kang Han-sung wouldn’t have agreed to FQ’s conditions.

It was just that An Myung-hyun’s acting was disappointing compared to other actors.

As is often the case with works called masterpieces, “Arrest” was a case where everything – the writer, direction, OST, actors, etc. – came together well.

Except for just one thing, An Myung-hyun.

‘That’s probably why Director Kang Han-sung is being greedy even though he knows it won’t work. But it might all turn out to be useless…’

It was while I was thinking this.

On set, they announced the filming of the next scene.

This time it was a scene where I appeared.

I quickly took off my mask and checked my hand mirror.

I wasn’t wearing a hat because it was difficult to fix my hair on set.

But I always wore a mask.

It was necessary to avoid unnecessary attention.

As I stood in front of the camera, exclamations burst out from among the staff.

Someone might say it’s annoying, but for me, it was a familiar reaction.

Even Director Kang Han-sung’s expression, which had looked unwell as if he had a headache, seemed to brighten a bit.

“Good. If the actor is ready, please begin.”

I first gave the signal that I was ready.

Soon after, the opposing actor also sent the same signal.

The opposing actor, ‘Yang I-deum’, was playing the high school role of the main female lead, ‘Jung Bo-ra’.

After confirming all signals, Director Kang Han-sung opened his mouth.

“Ready, action!”

On a rainy day.

Someone approached me as I crouched on the ground with my head lowered.

I could tell who it was just by seeing their pink sneakers.

It was Jung Bo-ra.

As soon as I confirmed this, I buried my head between my knees once again.

To hide the guilt and the faintly trembling murderous intent from showing on the outside.

“Why are you here?”

“……”

“I asked why you’re here!”

“……”

Jung Bo-ra, who had spoken with tears in her voice, soon couldn’t hide her anger.

It was natural.

I, Hwang In-seop, was the son of a con artist.

And it didn’t end there.

Jung Bo-ra’s father had gone missing after being conned.

“Who do you think you are? Don’t act pitiful! It’s my dad who was conned, and it’s my dad who disappeared! So, so! Don’t just sit there like that!”

Unable to contain her anger, Jung Bo-ra threw her umbrella to the ground.

The sharp end of the umbrella grazed my ankle, leaving a wound.

A small wound.

It was only about a hand span in size, but it caused the wound in my heart to open wide.

With that, there was no more guilt left in that place.

Strong anger surged and enveloped my body.

I felt my body trembling uncontrollably as I raised my head.

Then I spat out words of condensed anger towards Jung Bo-ra.

“Get lost. Before I kill you.”

Jung Bo-ra’s gaze then wandered emptily in the air like a wild beast caught by the nape by a predator.

Then, startled, she began to hurriedly flee from that place.

I savored Jung Bo-ra’s retreating figure slowly, as if looking at prey that had narrowly escaped.

What was making my body feel refreshed at this moment was a sense of conquest.

* * *

“Cut! Okay!”

I received the okay sign in one go.

But even after that, I couldn’t shake off Hwang In-seop’s emotions for quite a while.

It was natural, as we had just shot the scene where Hwang In-seop truly becomes reborn as a villain.

After a long time, as I suppressed my emotions and returned to reality.

“Are you okay?”

I heard someone’s voice.

When I looked up, the assistant director was standing there.

I nodded as I grasped the assistant director’s hand.

“Ah. Yes. I’m fine.”

As I stood up holding the assistant director’s hand, I fully regained my senses.

Then I could see Director Kang Han-sung’s bright smiling face behind me.

Though he didn’t praise me separately, seeming conscious of the atmosphere around.

The director’s smile conveyed enough meaning of praise.

After reading all the positive reactions from other staff members as well, I thought.

‘I did well. That’s a relief.’

This scene was the most difficult part of acting for the Hwang In-seop high school role among all scenes.

For that reason, I put the most effort into engraving this scene into my entire body.

Even after hearing from Seo Myung-hee that it was good enough, I wasn’t satisfied and couldn’t stop practicing until last night.

So I couldn’t help but be happy that I had performed this scene well.

But the joy was short-lived.

“This side is fine… but it seems the other side isn’t doing so well?”

When I looked where the assistant director was pointing, Yang I-deum was standing there, supported by her manager.

But strangely, she seemed to be trembling as if terrified.

‘No way…’

Seeing that sight, I felt a strong catharsis along with a feeling of guilt.

The strong catharsis came from the fact that I had performed better than I thought.

The guilty feeling came from the fact that, even though it was acting, I had caused someone to be scared because of me.

I moved towards Yang I-deum to apologize.

But the assistant director immediately stopped me.

“I understand how you feel… but it’s better not to go. It might have the opposite effect.”

Hearing that, I realized it was right and stopped walking.

Meanwhile, Director Kang Han-sung stepped in to handle the situation with a bright expression.

“Alright. We have time left, so let’s move on to the next scene right away. Please get ready.”

The shooting resumed in a much brighter atmosphere, and fortunately, Yang I-deum also seemed to have regained her composure.

This was possible because Director Kang Han-sung decided to make the next scene one where Yang I-deum didn’t appear.

I substituted an apology with an eye greeting to Yang I-deum.

Fortunately, Yang I-deum accepted my apology with a faint smile.

Certainly, it wasn’t good to have a bad relationship with a friend of the same age because of something like this.

* * *

A few days later.

Finally, we finished shooting up to part 3 of “Arrest” where the high school roles were active.

An Myung-hyun’s acting never improved until the end, but Director Kang Han-sung seemed to have completely given up and sped up the shooting.

Just as “Arrest” was entering the shooting of part 4 in earnest, bad news came.

[Nex’s main vocalist An Myung-hyun! Stirring up school violence controversy? Agency checking the facts…]