The Face Genius Actor

Episode 145

After finishing filming Part 8.

Director Kang Han-sung and I focused on editing “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” for two months.

Except for the time needed to take care of the three basic elements of human life – food, clothing, and shelter,

It’s no exaggeration to say we were solely devoted to editing.

During this time, Netflix finalized the service date for “Toema Hwan Ya Dam”.

It was the first Thursday of December, and as soon as they secured the teaser video, they used it to promote the work everywhere.

Naturally, expectations for “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” soared, but I was so focused on editing that I only realized this fact two days before the service.

It couldn’t be helped since the editing had just finished then.

“Phew…”

As I was sighing after finishing the editing, 

I received a call from my brother.

“Hello.”

-It’s me. Is the editing done?

“Just now. I thought I was going to die. I didn’t like Scene 24 of Part 7 that we left to the CG team. I was wondering if we should reshoot it.”

-Did it get resolved well? That’s where I appear, right?

“Don’t worry. I sorted it out well. When I removed one cut and connected it differently, it looked acceptable.”

-What did Director Kang Han-sung say?

“He likes it. I just checked his email and talked on the phone. Ah! It’s finally over.”

-That’s right. Though we’ll have to start filming Part 9 soon.

“…Do you really have to put it like that?”

-Ah. Sorry.

My brother suddenly apologized, and at that moment, I realized something was off.

It couldn’t be helped.

If it were the usual my brother, he would have changed the subject in this situation.

Sure enough, my brother continued as if he had been waiting.

-Ah. This is actually a broadcast now. Radio.

“What? Why are you… telling me this now?”

Come to think of it, I think I heard that my brother was appearing on the radio today to promote “Toema Hwan Ya Dam”.

-Hello, Si-joon! This is “Babam’s Dancing Radio”. It’s been a while.

“Yes, hello. It really has been a long time.”

-You must have been very surprised by the call just now. You had no idea it was radio, right?

“Yes, I was a bit surprised. And I feel like I said a lot of things I didn’t need to say.”

-Thanks to Si-joon, the reporters must be very busy. SNS is also heating up.

“Haha. You mean it will help with promotion, right?”

-That’s exactly it! Si-joon, since it’s come to this, could you introduce what kind of work “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” is?

“Ah, yes. ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ is set in a fictional Joseon…”

Because I was busy with editing, other actors were promoting “Toema Hwan Ya Dam”.

My brother appeared on various programs with Lim Seung-hee (Seo-hee) and Kim In-ho (Wi-rang).

It seemed they didn’t discriminate in accepting invitations, from “Babam’s Dancing Radio” to “Battle Man”.

It was especially unexpected that my brother, who used to adamantly refuse invitations to physical variety shows, appeared on “Battle Man”.

It made me think he had really become an entertainer.

My brother who appeared on “Battle Man” showed unexpected athletic ability and performed greatly.

In this way, the promotion of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” was mainly centered around the three lead actors.

Although Kim Jung-hoon, who played the role of Ma-yeok-ryeong, was also a key figure, he didn’t show his face much because his screen time was relatively small in Season 1.

He participated in promotions when they needed four people for appearances.

-Okay, Si-joon. Thank you for today. Then let’s meet again soon.

“We’ll do that. Thank you.”

I finished the call by personally introducing what kind of drama “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” is and exchanging greetings with my brother.

When I checked my phone just in case, several articles had already been uploaded.

The response from online communities was also heated.

It seemed that talking candidly about the production process at the beginning of the phone connection had attracted interest.

‘Even so, the speed at which the story is spreading is too fast?’

It was a point where I could see how much people were looking forward to “Toema Hwan Ya Dam”.

Naturally, I started to look forward a little to the response when “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” would be released two days later.

* * *

First Thursday of December.

With the start of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” service, people’s reactions started to come in one by one.

I was about to check these reactions but pushed them aside and sat down with my family after a long time.

It wasn’t like a broadcast where the airing time was set, but watching something like this together was the best.

Especially since my brother and I officially appeared in a work together for the first time, our father’s expectations were high.

So we put beer and soju on the table along with a whole chicken as usual.

One difference was that there was also burdock tea on the table.

It was a setting for our father who couldn’t drink alcohol for health reasons.

Moreover, the presence of burdock tea wasn’t the only thing that had changed from before.

The place where we were gathered had also changed.

When filming for Part 7 of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” was in full swing, my father and I finally moved.

My father also seemed to feel that our old house was small and worn out, so he readily accepted my suggestion to move.

My brother’s subtle encouragement that moving would be good also played a big role in making a quick decision.

Certainly, moving wasn’t a bad choice for my father either.

Although it might be a bit sad to leave the familiar neighborhood, we were planning to continue using the first floor of our original house as a store anyway.

Also, we decided not to sell our original house but to remodel it and rent it out, so we could go back anytime.

Of course, we wouldn’t suddenly visit when there were tenants.

So my father and I moved to a residential-commercial complex apartment located near Hapjeong Station.

Today was the first day we were monitoring a work we appeared in at this new house.

There was no unfamiliar feeling as we had been living in the new house for several months.

Rather, it felt more comfortable than usual because my father and brother were together.

“Well, before we turn on Netflix, shall we toast first?”

“Dad, are you okay with not being able to drink alcohol now?”

“It’s completely fine. Honestly, these days burdock tea tastes better than beer.”

Father filled a stainless steel cup full of ice with cooled burdock tea.

Perhaps because of that, it looked just like flat beer.

The color was also similar, a brownish hue.

“Alright. Then let’s toast.”

“To the success of ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’!”

“Cheers!”

As always, the soju and beer mix my brother made was delicious.

It felt refreshingly cool all the way down to the pit of my stomach.

I wrapped some chicken in white kimchi, ate it as a side dish, and then immediately turned on Netflix.

As “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” started, the three of us were instantly drawn into the work.

We toasted every time there was a scene we liked, so by the time we finished watching Season 1, we felt somewhat tipsy.

“Wow. That was interesting. So what happens in Season 2? Does Ma-yeok-ryeong die?”

Father deliberately looked towards my brother as he asked this.

From experience, he knew I wouldn’t reveal future content.

During “Let’s Live Together, Princess”, Father tried several times to sneak a peek at the script I was practicing, but always failed.

That experience probably played a decisive role in making this choice.

Quite a strategic approach.

But unfortunately, my brother didn’t properly know the future content either.

“I’d like to tell you, but your younger son hasn’t shown me the script yet either.”

“What? Is that true? Wow. Our younger son. He’s ruthless. Ruthless.”

Father shook his head, clicking his tongue, and I watched him with a smile.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t shown my brother any of the later scripts at all.

Parts 9 to 14 of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” had been revealed to all actors appearing in the show.

But the scripts for Parts 15 and 16, which would reveal the ending of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam”, hadn’t been shown to anyone except Director Kang Han-sung yet.

It was an unavoidable choice.

‘The content of Parts 15 and 16 is still changing bit by bit.’

The overall framework that forms the core of the incident remained the same.

But as we filmed, unexpected mistakes kept appearing, and parts of the ending needed revision.

This was something I couldn’t experience when writing the scenario for “I Am Not a Villain”.

Of course, the volume was different to begin with.

‘Maybe because there’s so much content, there were cases where the beginning and end became subtly different.’

So the ending kept changing subtly, which is why it was still impossible to deliver the scripts for Parts 15 and 16.

It was especially difficult to deliver the script when there were dialogue changes.

A single line of dialogue could drastically change a character’s emotions in the drama.

This wasn’t common in the early stages of drama filming.

Back then, even if the dialogue changed slightly, it was possible to simply memorize it again and start filming.

But in the later parts, a character’s accumulated emotions were often dealt with in a single line of dialogue, which made it difficult.

For this reason, from my perspective, I couldn’t just hand over Parts 15 and 16.

If modifications were made later, actors who had finished practicing might become confused.

And through this process, I realized why the drama writers I had worked with until now were reluctant to revise scripts.

The writers had taken the direction of not revising scripts as much as possible to prevent this confusion.

‘This is something I wouldn’t have known if I wasn’t a writer.’

While I was organizing these thoughts,

Father seemed to have given up and stopped asking about future content.

But the drama must have left an impression, as he went on talking about “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” for a long time.

And as I watched him, I realized that Father was acting a bit differently from usual.

It occurred to me that he didn’t show this kind of reaction even during the first broadcast of “Let’s Live Together, Princess”, which featured Cindy whom he liked so much.

‘What is this reaction? Is he just excited about watching a drama his children appear in together?’

I thought this for a moment, then shook my head.

It seemed a bit odd to simply think this and move on.

Feeling suspicious, I quickly checked my phone.

[Exceeding expectations by far, ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ sees success in sight!]

[‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ receiving continuous praise? Can it surpass the record of ‘Dalgona Game’?]

[Smelling like a big hit? ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ already getting reactions from abroad!]

[The feast lived up to its reputation! The prestige of K-content as seen through ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’!]

[‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ compared to ‘Dalgona Game’ as soon as service starts, just how good is it?]

[Parallel theory between ‘Dalgona Game’ and ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’? The path of two similar yet different works!]

[When is Season 2? ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ flooded with inquiries just 3 hours after service start!]

[A strange meeting of history and fantasy…. Can ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ capture the hearts of overseas viewers?]

[Dialogue, acting, direction – everything was good! The key to ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam” success is Lee Si-joon!]

[Foreign press sensing the spirit of a big hit? Articles about ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ pouring out quickly….]

[‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ draws praise within hours of service! All that’s left is the official viewing ranking!]

Surprisingly, all media outlets were treating the success of “Toema Hwan Ya Dam” as a fait accompli.