The Face Genius Actor

Episode 105

After sitting in front of the laptop all night, I stretched.

Then I briefly recalled the content of “High Bird” that I had read yesterday.

“High Bird” contained the tragic story of a poor screenplay writer.

At the same time, it expressed how production companies exploited poor screenplay writers.

How they trampled on their dreams.

After reading the screenplay of “High Bird,” I could understand how this work was able to win the Best Screenplay award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.

“High Bird” was not a work aimed at box office success.

Rather, it was a work with a strong will to expose the dark side of the film industry.

People who have to endure poverty to achieve their dreams.

In reality, such people lived in this world, and we too easily turned a blind eye to the dark side of society.

There were even many cases where people pointed fingers, saying it was stupid to dream when you’re poor.

‘It’s a sad thing.’

However, the current film industry was taking measures for these people in its own way.

There had actually been a case where a screenplay writer with a similar story met a tragic death.

Of course, it’s true that this help was still not enough.

But there was certainly meaning in trying to provide help.

The work “High Bird” was also born with the intention of not forgetting the poor people who continue to chase their dreams.

‘The organizers of the Blue Dragon Film Awards must have sympathized with this intention of “High Bird” and given it the Best Screenplay award.’

It was meaningful in many ways.

At the same time, while looking at the work “High Bird,” I could realize what my problem was.

I was in a state of having lost my dream.

‘My dream…’

My dream wasn’t anything special.

It was to continue appearing in good works and acting as an actor.

But now this felt too natural to me.

It couldn’t be helped.

Currently, unless I slipped up badly, I was in a state where I could easily achieve that dream.

I gained recognition for my acting skills by appearing in dramas.

I became the main lead and led the success of dramas.

It was natural since I had achieved the feat of attracting 10 million viewers by appearing in Director Kim Pil-sung’s work.

Moreover, I could become anything now.

I could become the main lead of another drama that records 10% viewership.

It was also possible to appear in a movie that surpasses 10 million viewers.

‘Because I know such works. Moreover, I can appear in them anytime now.’

As a result, the preciousness and desperation for the dream became blurred.

I still wanted to act and was happy to live other people’s lives.

But I kept wondering if it was right to gain honor so easily.

After seeing the screenplay of “High Bird,” these thoughts became even more firm.

It felt like I was taking away the opportunities of people who were rightfully working hard to achieve their dreams.

Of course, it’s not that I wasn’t making efforts.

Perhaps even the coincidence of regression could be the result of my efforts.

But it was hard to shake off a bit of doubt.

I kept wondering if it was right to be greedy in this situation where I had already achieved my dream.

So I realized that I was at a turning point.

Deep contemplation continued.

And finally, I decided to take a new path.

That was why I had stayed up all night in front of the laptop today.

‘Let’s sleep for now… We’ll think about the next steps after that.’

I moved straight to the bed and closed my eyes.

* * *

2 PM.

I woke up and finished showering.

Then I quickly finished my meal and headed straight to the meeting place.

Today I was scheduled to meet Seo Myung-hee.

Now that the Blue Dragon Film Awards were over, it was time to make appointments with people I couldn’t meet while filming “Escape.”

And naturally, the first person I had to meet was Seo Myung-hee.

I often called Seo Myung-hee to check on her even during the filming of “Escape.”

But it had been a long time since we had a direct meeting like this.

As the filming of “Escape” took longer than expected, it became even harder to see her face.

“Teacher!”

“Yes! Over here! Si-joon!”

I greeted Seo Myung-hee happily in front of the W Acting Academy.

Then we moved to another place and started talking in earnest.

The newly relocated academy interior was equipped with a cafeteria, probably because they had earned a lot of money.

We talked in the meeting room inside the cafeteria.

“I’ve seen the screenplay you sent this morning. Are you planning to join this project?”

“I’m still considering it. How was the screenplay?”

“It was good. Especially the overall atmosphere of the dialogue and the artistic quality were impressive. The structure also felt solid.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But on the other hand, I was worried. Because it’s a bit different from the works Si-joon has done so far.”

“I’m also worrying a lot about that part.”

“If it’s okay, can I hear why you became interested in this work?”

I chose my words carefully for a moment.

Then I explained the part I was worried about now, excluding the regression part.

As always, Seo Myung-hee listened to my story slowly to the end and then opened her mouth.

“Certainly, in the current situation, it’s understandable to have such thoughts.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

“Also, considering what Si-joon has shown so far, there are many parts that make me nod automatically.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Si-joon has always been a person who worries about how to improve the quality of acting rather than success. How much trouble you had at first because of that…”

Seo Myung-hee smiled as she said this, seemingly remembering how I was reluctant to appear in “Arrest” at first.

I also remembered that time.

Come to think of it, if Seo Myung-hee hadn’t helped me when I took the level test at W Acting Academy, I don’t think I would be who I am now.

Seo Myung-hee continued speaking, regardless of whether she knew I was thinking this or not.

“Certainly, I think an actor can’t always pursue commercially good results. Not just actors, but all professions are like that. In the end, what remains is not money, but people.”

“Yes, I think the same.”

“But I think it’s also a problem to pursue artistry too much. Now Si-joon has many fans, right? And these fans are people who have supported Si-joon’s path so far.”

“That’s right. If I try to go on a completely different path, fans might be disappointed.”

“Exactly. So try to walk an appropriate path between commercial and artistic. If I go the way I want this time… Next time, I might go the way others want me to go.”

After hearing Seo Myung-hee’s advice, I could feel my thoughts becoming clearer.

“So, you’re in favor of me preparing this screenplay for my next work?”

“Of course. How could I oppose something Si-joon is doing? By the way, this script is very good. Who wrote it?”

Seo Myung-hee asked me as if she was genuinely curious, and I answered with a smile.

“I wrote it.”

At the same time, Seo Myung-hee’s eyes widened.

“Did you really write this, Si-joon?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Wow. How did you come to write such a screenplay… More importantly, when did you study how to write screenplays?”

“I didn’t particularly study it. By the way, I’m curious. Did you really think the screenplay was good?”

Seo Myung-hee nodded.

“Yes, it was really good. In fact, some parts were excellent. There were many parts where I was surprised, thinking ‘Oh, you can have thoughts like this.'”

“Thank you.”

“Our Si-joon is really amazing. What can’t you do… Let’s talk about it. How did you come up with the idea to write a screenplay?”

In fact, after the success of “Escape”,

There was one more reason why I had difficulty choosing my next work.

It was the fact that I couldn’t work on the next project like “Escape”.

“Escape” was a work that was filmed in a unique way with Ji Jung-hyun involved in investment and production.

It felt like there were two writers and directors.

With me getting involved in the work under Ji Jung-hyun’s influence, it changed to feel like there were three writers and directors.

And this was possible due to the combination of the practical issues of investment and production and Director Kim Pil-sung’s unique open-minded thinking.

No director of any other work would give such leeway to an actor.

Rather, this was an infringement on the director’s authority.

In the case of films where the director often takes on the role of the writer as well, that authority was even more powerful.

So if you carelessly infringed on the director’s authority, it could lead to the set falling apart.

For this reason, I couldn’t think that I could act from a producer’s perspective again like during the filming of “Escape”.

I could go back to acting as before, giving up on acting from a producer’s perspective.

But I had fundamental doubts about whether that was really me doing my best in acting.

So I hesitated to choose other works.

At the same time, there were only two ways to solve this problem.

Either find someone like Director Kim Pil-sung and work together somehow,

Or get involved in production myself to secure authority.

What I attempted, just in case, was the latter.

Moreover, while looking at the screenplay of “High Bird”, I realized something more clearly.

That there was a story I wanted to tell, a story I wanted to create in my heart.

I wanted to act it out myself.

That’s why I decided not to just be involved in production, but to write the screenplay myself.

The result was unknown, but the challenge was free.

Anyway, I was confident that it would help create a new path.

Actually, writing the screenplay myself seemed like it would be very helpful for acting as well.

At the same time, I realized that all the thoughts I had about characters and narratives while acting were not in vain.

So I struggled and pondered every night.

Thanks to that, I was able to complete a screenplay that was more satisfactory than I thought.

However, as a screenwriter, I was completely new.

I needed to be evaluated objectively.

“So that’s why you showed me the screenplay. Without revealing who the writer was?”

“That’s right. There’s no one who could look at the screenplay as accurately as you, teacher.”

“What were you going to do if I said the screenplay wasn’t interesting?”

I smiled at Seo Myung-hee’s question and answered.

“I was going to try investing in the work, just like Senior Ji Jung-hyun did. I earned quite a lot of money thanks to ‘Escape’.”

That’s right.

I didn’t simply get back the amount I invested in “Escape”.

I agreed to receive more running guarantee according to the box office performance, in proportion to what I invested in “Escape”.

As a result, I was able to stack almost twice as much money in my bank account.

‘Since the screenplay is good, I can save this money. Is it the next step now?’

Thinking this, I turned my head towards Festa Entertainment.