THE CHILDE: A MYSTERIOUS SPRINT

A man who entered the illegal boxing ring in the Philippines for the sake of earning money to pay for his ailing mother’s hospital bills, Marco (Kang Tae-ju) hears about his estranged father, whom he never met in his entire life, coming to find him. Without knowing the exact reason, he is summoned to return to South Korea at once, throwing himself right into the middle of a chase by people unknown to him who want to gain possession of him, driving him into a corner like a bewildered deer that is at a loss. From the cunning and unpredictable Nobleman (Kim Seon-ho) to the persistent and bold Director Han (Kim Kang-woo), not to forget the mysterious Yoon-ju (Go Ara) who keeps appearing in front of him, a dizzying, full-speed chase centered around Marco ensues. Director Park Hoon-jung’s signature touch is apparent, with the jokes and jests imbued into the story ironically raising the dramatic and tension levels in the movie. What will be at the end of this chaotic and madness-fuelled chase? We met the four leads behind the movie The Childe (Korean title 귀공자, lit. ‘Nobleman’): Kim Seon-ho, Kang Tae-ju, Kim Kang-woo, and Go Ara.

Kim Seon-ho: A Challenge Beyond the Boundary

Without even disclosing his job and his identity, he is the mysterious man who suddenly barges into Marco’s life; he is Nobleman, whose real name is unknown until the end of the movie. His sly attitude and surly laugh bring life to this poker-faced character. Getting his name known to the public through the drama special You Drive Me Crazy!’s Kim Rae-wan and the drama Welcome to Waikiki Season 2’s Cha Woo-sik, Kim Seon-ho then went on to establish himself as a romance genre lead material through dramas Start-Up and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. The character Nobleman opens up a new opportunity for Kim Seon-ho to try something that he has never done before, going beyond his boundary.

“When I first received the scenario, I quickly made a mental drawing on my mind. It has always been my dream to become an actor starring in a fast-paced chasing noir. I like how Nobleman is a character who does not lose his wit even after beating everyone in action. I’m really thankful for giving me the opportunity to portray this kind of role.” Nobleman is more playful rather than serious, and light rather than heavy. In order to embody Nobleman’s attitude, Kim Seon-ho thought realistically about what would be the thing that Nobleman wanted to gain. As he continued to focus on the key context that is to be featured in a particular scene, Kim Seon-ho was able to integrate himself into the gestures, gaze, and manner of speaking used to portray the character Nobleman. “I put a lot of thought into how to become Nobleman. I wanted to build and show the ‘neat maniac’ per Director Park Hoon-jung’s words. (laughs)”

The director wanted Nobleman not to disclose and express any particular nuance or meaning before he confessed his secret. “There was this scene where Nobleman was talking with someone and he had to direct his gaze far away outside the window. Hence, I stared out the window, but the director suddenly asked me why I was looking in that direction. If my eyes got dim even for a bit at that time, Nobleman would seem to be unstable. Thus, the director wanted me to fix my stare in order to portray him in a tidier and more compact view. The Nobleman is someone who always oozes confidence and neither gets nervous nor afraid; with the director’s explanation, I was able to understand the character.”

His first movie and his first action. The Childe is a collection of many firsts for Kim Seon-ho. In order to show splendid action scenes, he underwent long training sessions, but he encountered an unexpected, tough opponent on the filming set: acrophobia, or fear of heights. It was the first time for him to find out that he was that scared of heights. “There were a lot of action scenes but the jump from the overpass was the most difficult one. I could feel my face making that frightened expression as I ran and jumped down. The most frightening thing? It was the realization as I ran, “Ah, I have to jump down again.” (laugh) Other than that, it was okay. I also learned important lessons, such as the process of using various actions from the new ideas after assessing the situation at the filming location.

KANG TAE-JU: Learning with His Whole Body.

1980:1. That was the number of candidates rookie actor Kang Tae-ju had to beat in order to score himself the role of Marco in The Childe. Living his life as an illegal boxer to support his ailing single mother, Marco flew to South Korea after knowing that his father – whom he had never met before – would be willing to pay for his mother’s surgery cost. Kang Tae-ju went through a total of three rounds of long auditions before he nabbed the role. “There was no exact info on the character up until the first round of audition. The production team requested for full-shot and bust-shot videos of acting, and I thought, ‘Maybe they want to see how I use my body (t/n: doing physical movements)’. I advanced to the second round and received a script for another work about a young man who has to live in an unfortunate situation. I guessed that I should prepare for emotional acting since the role might have something to do with the character’s background story which could include his parents. I chose to act out the character of Go Dong-man (portrayed by Park Seo-joon) in the drama Fight My Way in the third round. Plus, I made use of my confidence in using foreign languages during the audition. They asked, ‘Are you confident with swearing in English as well?’ I answered that I am confident, and they said, ‘You’re lucky to be good at swearing.’ (laughs)”

Kang Tae-ju also shared about the immense amount of pressure he felt during the script reading session and the first filming. “There was a lot to be improved when it comes to my acting so I was scolded a lot by the director during the script reading session. That made me extremely nervous when we were about to have the first filming. But then, after we were done with the scene, the director said to me, ‘There is nothing to worry about, then.’ I couldn’t believe that it was a praise and that certainly made me feel good.” He was ready to get injured for the sake of acting. “During the first chasing scene with Nobleman, I was ready to get injured for real during the take. If I get injured, my acting and the movie as a whole won’t be hurt. I just threw myself when the camera rolled for the first take.”

When asked about how he would like to see Marco being portrayed should the movie is having a sequel, Kang Tae-ju described his imagination with a light and cheerful voice. “If it is going to be a series, I would like to retain my character’s strength and show Marco’s ability to use a gun as well.” Kang Tae-ju, who continuously recounted all the senior cast’s cool scenes, regarded the set of The Childe as a place for him to learn. “After all, every single character is more or less intertwined with Marco. I got to learn a lot from my interaction with the seniors. (Kim) Seon-ho hyung’s cheerfulness and leadership, (Kim) Kang-woo hyung’s charisma and his emotional acting towards his acting partner once the camera started rolling for every take, and (Go) Ara noona’s thorough way of analyzing the script. Not just that. Wire action, speaking foreign languages, and even topless scenes were all a part of my experience gained through this project. I did a lot of mistakes on the set but it was a movie that allowed me to grow and develop myself further.

KIM KANG-WOO: Desperate and Accurate.

After dramas Item and Artificial City, Kim Kang-woo is back to portray another suit-clad chaebol. His character Director Han was planning a conspiracy and brought Marco to South Korea. Director Han is a madman who doesn’t play by the book; if his subordinate happens to be acting suspiciously or when things go wrong, he will not hesitate to make a move himself to deal with it. Kim Kang-woo gave an analogy to describe Director Han, “He won’t hesitate to wield his power and he can’t stand it when his plan goes awry, just like a medieval lord.” The character is an extended version of the ‘fearless psychopathic chaebol’. Rather than finding a particular factor that sets Director Han apart from the others, Kim Kang-woo chose to approach the character according to the standard of the script. “On the contrary, if I were to inject a distinct factor into the character, it might end up being tacky or typical, changing the essence of the character.”

Whenever he is portraying an antagonist, he establishes a rule himself of not regarding his character as a villain. “It could turn out to be an obvious and uninteresting acting as a result of that. An actor has to be earnest when it comes to their role; they have to think that the character’s action is not problematic at all and portray it so that the audience will be able to accept the character as an evil one in the narrative.” The Childe is another testament to how powerful actor Kim Kang-woo is when it comes to dominating a particular scene. In the early part of the movie, during the scene where he committed an insanely evil act in order to accomplish his target, it is a reminiscence of his character in the play Hamlet-the Play. “That scene was Director Han’s starting point as well as finishing point. It was difficult, considering that I had to design a scene with my very own nuance.”

“I tried to embody the beautiful scenery, contrary to the rough and wicked feelings of Director Han during the dawn. I hoped that my acting was able to fill the scene.” In the latter part of the movie, in the sequence where Director Han had to let go of his target as he had a confrontation with Nobleman, Kim Kang-woo’s different way of delivering the lines serves as an intentional way of further understanding the movie. “Director Han was like a lion that was extremely angry and upset, almost blowing his top off. He really wanted to bite Nobleman and kill him, yet he could only suppress his anger and growl because he had another target to achieve. Sometimes, in life, you would suddenly burst into laughter even during the most desperate and serious moment. I exchanged raw energy with actor Kim Seon-ho in order to emphasize that point.” After The Childe, Kim Kang-woo is reuniting with Director Park Hoon-jung in the movie Tyrant (폭군). “Director Park is someone who builds a character’s narrative together with the actor. Rather than solely pouring his own view into the character, he leads the set by making use of the actor’s research to strengthen the character’s details. The end product filled with such detail is amazing.

Go Ara: A Well Prepared Action Star.

Go Ara is usually associated with bright and cheerful characters. On the other hand, The Childe’s Yoon-ju is offering a totally different side of her never seen before: speaking coldly with an overwhelming gaze and her urging instinct when it comes to capturing what she wants. Go Ara discovered several overlapping qualities she shared with the character when she first met Yoon-ju. “She was the only female character among the many male ones, showcasing elegance in action scenes. She was a workaholic so she deemed her duties as her priority, plus her tendency to fully concentrate on her task while on the job resembles myself as well.” She is like an ally to Marco who is embroiled in an incident and seemingly acquainted with Nobleman; up until the middle of the movie, her identity remained undisclosed. In order to keep her secret intact, the movie did not explain further about her. Go Ara had a long conversation like a student who is sitting for an interview in order to ensure Yoon-ju’s actions and vague nuances were seamlessly flowing along with the story. “One day, I asked the director about the best time for me to start attending action school to prepare myself for the movie. But then, he said that I didn’t have to do so. He would like it if Yoon-ju could appear as someone ordinary who seemed to be unfamiliar with guns and fights.”

One unexpected thing she discovered after working on The Childe was the fact that she was fairly decent in the action genre. “People always thought that I was born in Seoul and raised to live in an urban setting, but it wasn’t the case. Hence, it became another reason for me to portray an even stronger character. I have always been fearless. Even when we were shooting the car chase scene, the stunt director said, ‘Ara-ya, you can stop turning the steering wheel.’ (laughs) I was so excited. During the gunfight scene, the director said it was the first time for him seeing someone who didn’t even blink while shooting a gun.” She said with a smile that she has recently taken up running every evening, asking us to add the phrase a well-prepared action star a few times.

Go Ara worked diligently to control her voice to match these changes made for the character. “I paid a lot of attention since the tone used had to match the character well. Thus, the voice tone used by Yoon-ju was different between the beginning and the middle towards the end of the movie. It was something unfamiliar, but I wanted to make a difference by trying out various things that I have never done before.” Go Ara picked these keywords to describe Yoon-ju: progressive, trailblazer, and professional. She showed how much she adored Yoon-ju, from how she imagined Yoon-ju living somewhere in this world. “Yoon-ju is someone who has to experience her job firsthand and is good at negotiation. She is also good at determining priorities for herself. If she didn’t pick up guns, would she be living as an editor-in-chief of a famous fashion magazine?“

©CINE21