The Magic of Choi Woo-shik, the Youth Who Makes Fantasy Realistic, 'Number One' Choi Woo-shik① “I Have Great Luck with People, This Set Had Everything in Harmony”

When Choi Woo-shik does it, it seems plausible. The setting where numbers appear before his eyes, the setting where a number decreases every time he eats his mom's food, and the somewhat absurd setting of leaving his hometown to avoid his mom's home-cooked meals, all transform from fantasy to a realistic human drama when filtered through Choi Woo-shik's face.

Opening on February 11, 〈Number One〉 is a film about Ha-min (Choi Woo-shik), who starts seeing numbers decrease every time he eats his mom's food, and upon realizing that when the number reaches zero, his mom Eun-sil (Jang Hye-jin) will die, he strives to protect her.

〈Number One〉 is a reunion project between director Kim Tae-yong of 〈Set Me Free〉 (2014) and actor Choi Woo-shik after about 12 years. From 〈Set Me Free〉 to 〈Parasite〉, 〈Our Beloved Summer〉, and 〈The Killer's Shopping List〉, the so-called 'Choi Woo-shik style youth' face, resembling people living grounded in reality, has become a category of its own. Now, Choi Woo-shik has once again varied the 'Choi Woo-shik style youth' face as Ha-min in 〈Number One〉. On the afternoon of the 3rd, actor Choi Woo-shik met with Cineplay in Jongno-gu for an interview to commemorate the release. Below is the full interview, from the behind-the-scenes of 〈Number One〉 to his candid stories as an actor.

Many people cried after watching 〈Number One〉 at the screening. Did you also cry after watching 〈Number One〉, Choi Woo-shik?

It's a bit embarrassing to cry watching a movie I acted in, but my eyes did get a little red at the very end when the ending credits rolled. My mother's photo was inserted in the ending credits. It felt strange. I think this will be the first and last time in my life that I share the screen with my mom, so it felt like a big gift.

You said you cried when you first read the script for 〈Number One〉. Which part made you cry the most? Was there a line or scene that touched you the most?

I cried when Ha-min said something to his mom Eun-sil at the very end. Actually, I need to think something is really sad when reading a script to act out emotional scenes, and there were many truly sad points in the 〈Number One〉 script, so I was able to immerse myself while acting.

You reunited with director Kim Tae-yong, with whom you worked on 〈Set Me Free〉. What were your thoughts when you were offered a role in 〈Number One〉?

The director said he had a script he wanted to give me. Honestly, I was quite negative at first. Because we received good reactions with 〈Set Me Free〉, I was worried about what might happen if we met again, and I wanted to leave that meeting beautifully. There was also the pressure to show a better side than during 〈Set Me Free〉. And 〈Number One〉 required really good emotional expression, so I was worried if I could do it well. The biggest concern was the Busan dialect. I was really worried about that. Because I had to do emotional acting while using the dialect. Looking back at my filmography, I think I always tried to choose safe and easy paths. I often played characters I could do well and that suited me. So I wanted to take on a challenge with 〈Number One〉, and I decided to do it thinking that if I did it with director Kim Tae-yong, he would guide me a lot.

In what way did you think 〈Number One〉 was a big challenge for you, Choi Woo-shik?

The dialect is not just a device; it's a huge thing. It's not just about speaking; it's about how this person has lived, where they grew up, and all those things are embedded in the speech, and in 〈Number One〉, intense emotions are added to that. So I was really scared because I thought I couldn't do it to that extent yet.

How was it actually performing the dialect acting?

It was really hard. I'll be really honest. I went in with a certain level of giving up. Because the dialect is such a vast area, no matter how perfectly I do it, people will know I'm not a native. The most important thing is the emotion, and if I focus only on the dialect, I might not be able to do the emotional acting, so I was afraid of missing both. So in really important emotional scenes, I did it the way I wanted. I'm prepared to hear that the dialect was awkward. People are probably saying that now. But if they say the emotion wasn't understood, that's a real problem, so I focused more on the emotion. Fortunately, on set, there was the director, senior Jang Hye-jin (both from Busan), and a dialect teacher. Actually, my mom is also from Gyeongsang-do, but she doesn't use the dialect, so I was really burdened at first. When I usually prepare for a project, I value naturalness on set, so I often change lines and adjust them to fit me. But this time, because I had to do dialect acting, I couldn't do that. So I learned a lot of exclamations from the dialect teacher to fill in the gaps.

For example, what kind of exclamations?

All the exclamations that weren't lines were improvised. The teacher would tell me that exclamation isn't used at that time, or that it might be okay. Ha-min keeps saying 'ap', and actually, there are more times when 'ap' isn't used that way. But the director wanted to keep it. It turns out, the way exclamations are used varies slightly by neighborhood. So I was able to relax a bit more.

I didn't know Ha-min's constant 'ap' was a dialect.

If you search on YouTube, it comes up. It's actually used. When I asked my friends from Busan, there are neighborhoods that use it.

You reunited with director Kim Tae-yong after 〈Set Me Free〉. About 12 years have passed. How has director Kim Tae-yong changed over time, and how have you changed, Choi Woo-shik?

During 〈Set Me Free〉, the director was 27, and I was 24. We didn't have much experience. We shot really hard in a very short time, about 15 or 20 days, but it was really fun despite that. So I went in with expectations this time too. The director always wants to know me better than anyone else, and he actually knows me well. He can scratch where I need help in acting or on set. So there were aspects that were exactly as I expected. The definite difference was that after about 10 more years, we both had accumulated experience. We both seemed to have grown. But the funny thing was, I just did what I usually do, and the director seemed to see it as a huge growth. He said things like 'You've grown up', 'You're an actor now', but I didn't really do anything special, I just wrote things down in the script, and he said that. (laughs) So hearing that made me think, during 〈Set Me Free〉, I really was nothing. During 〈Set Me Free〉, we were both really pure and untainted by the world, like raw eggs. We met with sincerity, fought if we wanted to, talked if we wanted to. So we got to know each other genuinely and became close. So now, when we see each other's jaded sides, it's funny.

I heard you imitated director Kim Tae-yong's speech well. Did you reference the director's details when creating Ha-min on set?

Actually, the director's speech is closer to mom Eun-sil's speech. Senior Jang Hye-jin and the director grew up in the same neighborhood, so there were dialect details when they talked. And the dialect teacher also had their own details. But now I think I know what the director likes. Knowing the director well as a person, I know what humor code he likes, how he likes lines delivered. And I can easily talk to the director about things I couldn't ask on other sets. Those things helped in acting. And the director keeps saying he knows me better than anyone, so I told him not to say that. (laughs) But I think it's true.

You also reunited with actress Jang Hye-jin from 〈Parasite〉. I heard her real son resembles you, Choi Woo-shik. Have you seen him in person? And how was your chemistry with Jang Hye-jin?

Since 〈Parasite〉, she's been saying we look alike, and we really do. And actually, my mom and senior Jang Hye-jin's voice tones are exactly the same. So I could immerse myself more in acting. 〈Parasite〉 was more of an ensemble than one-on-one, but this time, we exchanged emotions and lines deliciously, so we talked more and became closer. I think I have really good luck with people. When people clash, it can't always be good, but this time everything was in harmony. The director and senior Jang Hye-jin were already close, and as soon as (Gong) Seung-yeon joined, she blended in so well. So on set, we laughed and had fun shooting.

Ha-min is in an ironic fate, but his witty personality is charming. How did you capture Ha-min's characteristics and acting details?

The biggest thing I captured for Ha-min's acting details was 'Let's not look too dark'. Ha-min's characteristic is trying to talk his way out of awkward situations smoothly. Whatever I did in acting, the director was there to catch the details, so I could do well on set.

Personally, I found the hospital scene with actor Kim Young-min fun. Despite the serious situation, humor appears. Was that scene ad-libbed or in the script?

Yes. It was in the script. I think that's why I liked this script even more. It resolves serious scenes with wordplay and funny actions.

As you mentioned, Ha-min in 〈Number One〉 wittily resolves serious situations. But then Ha-min suddenly becomes serious.

There are many fantasy elements in the movie, but for Ha-min, the fact that he sees numbers in front of his eyes remains a trauma. So in the scene where he realizes his girlfriend doesn't believe his secret, I tried to act really seriously. Only then does the story make sense. In the comments on the 〈Number One〉 trailer, there were many like that. Why doesn't he cook for his mom and just keeps eating? But it's a movie. If he feeds his mom, she could live forever. (laughs) But the biggest goal was to convince that the characters in 〈Number One〉 really feel Ha-min's situation is real.

Since the movie depicts serious situations, there were scenes requiring explosive emotional acting. How did you prepare for emotional acting?

Actually, I have a jinx about emotional acting. I really hate emotional acting, I'm really scared, and I feel like if I shoot something sad, I'll get caught up in it and become unhappy and depressed. So I avoided it a lot, but I really just received all the emotional scenes in this movie. The scenes with (Gong) Seung-yeon and with mom (Jang Hye-jin), both of them led me, so the emotions came out naturally. Usually, before important emotional acting, I can't sleep, and I worry all night about how to do it, but after the early to mid-shooting of 〈Number One〉, I felt like I could just receive the acting and it would flow. It really flowed smoothly.

▶ The interview with actor Choi Woo-shik for 〈Number One〉 continues in Part 2.