I Acted Once, and Now They Call Me a Genius - Chapter 234

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 234
“—Cut!”
When Seo Tae-rok’s cut sign rang out a beat too late, Jin-wook finally exhaled the breath he’d been holding.
‘……What was that?’
Jin-wook had watched Seon-woo act many times before.
And precisely because of that, he could tell: this time, Seon-woo’s performance felt completely different from his usual style.
Before, it had felt like he was immersed in the role, almost drunk on it. But this time……it was more like he was deliberately controlling the emotional arc of the character with precision.
A completely different approach from what he normally did.
The problem was that this different approach wasn’t half bad.
No, if anything…….
‘It’s good.’
Solid. Weighty.
It stung his pride a little to admit it to Seon-woo, but for a moment there, he’d been reminded of acting opposite great senior actors.
That’s how assured his performance was.
“……How exactly did you prepare for this?”
“I trained a bit while wearing weighted sandbags.”
“That’s un……believable.”
For a moment, Jin-wook had almost called him crazy, but catching the eye of the sound crew, he’d hastily swallowed the word.
Meanwhile,
“Seon-woo.”
“Yes, Director.”
“That was good. I think we could go with that as is, but let’s do two more takes to be sure.”
“……Yes! Thank you so much!”
Seon-woo had essentially secured Seo Tae-rok’s approval on the first take.
It was an encouraging result. Considering how difficult it usually was to satisfy Seo Tae-rok even when pushing Method Acting to its limits, this was all the more remarkable.
Of course, this success couldn’t be attributed to Seon-woo alone.
Jin-wook, who’d played his scene partner, had delivered an equally solid performance.
‘That clumsy Hamhung dialect couldn’t have been easy.’
Seo Tae-rok hadn’t forgotten that Jin-wook had collapsed on set.
The reason an actor collapses during filming is simple. Especially for an actor with as small a role as Jin-wook, there’s only one explanation.
He’s straining himself that hard.
Pouring everything he has into those brief moments of filming, trying by any means to make his presence felt.
Sometimes such ambition could be detrimental to a production. But when that ambition manifested itself the way it did in Jin-wook—quietly, faithfully doing his part—there was nothing better than it.
‘Seo Jin-wook, is it…….’
Seo Tae-rok decided to properly remember that name.
The name of that young actor with the restless face, waiting only for the light to fall upon him.
The scene at the tomb wrapped in just three takes.
Given that the cut was already approved on the first take, it was essentially a one-shot success. The staff began chattering about how rare such an occurrence was.
“Man, when we shot this before, Seon-woo needed dozens of takes…….”
“Looks like he really polished this up this time. His whole aura is different.”
“Right? Like he’s matured somehow.”
“……Is it because Yi Bang-won’s mother died, and he adjusted his emotional tone to that?”
“Could be, but……would that change someone’s aura this much?”
“Not sure. He seems more grown than before. Must have worked really hard during the break.”
For them, it was nothing but a welcome change.
Regardless of the film’s commercial success—after all, they too felt like crying when they had to shoot the same scene dozens of times.
So when he delivered a performance that convinced Seo Tae-rok so quickly, they had nothing but gratitude.
And Seon-woo’s strong showing didn’t stop at just the tomb scene.
In the subsequent scenes—conferring with his retainers and then setting out with Jo Young-gyu and the others to rescue Lee Seong-gye—Seon-woo’s acting remained flawless.
Even Kim Yeon-jun, watching from beside him, couldn’t help but ask,
“Seon-woo. Seriously. Who are you taking acting coaching from? Who taught you to look this polished?”
“Well, I learned from you and all the other seniors.”
“……No, I never taught you anything like that! I’m still shaking in my knees when I stand in front of the director—who am I supposed to teach!”
“I learned through watching you like that too.”
“Kim Seon-woo……!”
Praise poured down on him.
Seon-woo was genuinely proud. And there was also a sense of relief—he’d believed that confronting himself squarely had made his acting more solid, but he’d worried that others might not see it that way.
But watching everyone praise him in unison like this, it seemed he could set those worries aside.
‘Don’t get overconfident.’
Seon-woo deliberately dampened his elation.
Park Du-ho had just advised him recently: no matter how great an actor is, the moment arrogance takes over, they fall.
Seon-woo agreed. With just a little progress to celebrate, the world of acting was far too deep and wide.
If you think you can swim a bit and lose your caution, you only increase your chances of drowning.
And now, Seon-woo faced his most difficult challenge yet.
‘……The next scene is with Senior Kwon Seong-min.’
Yi Bang-won rushes to Byeokran Island, retrieves the wounded Lee Seong-gye, and returns to Gaegyeong.
What’s recorded in history is just this much, but here Director Seo Tae-rok added his own imagination.
Specifically, he elevated the severity of the wound to make Lee Seong-gye unable to move easily.
So his attending generals and guards all told him not to move, that doing so might aggravate his injuries severely……but Yi Bang-won looks at Lee Seong-gye and says:
You must move.
Yes, moving now might worsen your wounds, but if you don’t move, all of your dreams will crumble to dust.
What awaits you if you don’t is a life worse than death.
In the end, Lee Seong-gye agrees with Yi Bang-won’s words and sets out toward Gaegyeong.
And what’s striking here is that Lee Seong-gye shows his weakness to Yi Bang-won for the first time.
For good reason—the seasoned general who wandered battlefields his whole life fell from his horse because some young scholar threw a stone at him. “You would sever five hundred years of history for your own ambition!” the scholar cried, hurling a rock; the startled horse reared, and Lee Seong-gye tumbled from the saddle.
So with his heart in turmoil, Lee Seong-gye tells Yi Bang-won:
Is it truly a sin to overthrow Goryeo?
Is it not a sin to protect this rotten nation……he laments like this.
It’s the moment when the relationship between Yi Bang-won and Lee Seong-gye undergoes its first transformation.
The instant Yi Bang-won realizes that his father, who’d seemed so respectable and perfect, is ultimately just human. Yi Bang-won’s mental image, which had been tinted with the colors of summer since his mother’s passing, shifts to autumn from this moment onward.
‘……Of course, this isn’t explicitly written in the script.’
But in a way, it’s expressed all the same.
The vulnerability Lee Seong-gye shows in this moment makes Yi Bang-won realize he cannot simply entrust everything to his father and depend on him.
Yi Bang-won comes to think: perhaps it’s filial impiety to leave all the burden to his father.
……And this very realization will later give Yi Bang-won the resolve to kill Jeong Mong-ju.
It’s a scene with much to express.
And in the midst of it all, he must also confront the han—the deep sorrow—that Lee Seong-gye has been suppressing in his heart throughout his nation-building journey.
Of course, that acting will be captivating, but Seon-woo cannot simply sit back and enjoy his co-star’s performance. He must face it, overcome it…….
‘If I can, I should support him too.’
Kwon Seong-min is a remarkable actor.
While performing himself, he naturally guides his scene partner’s emotions—a person who acts almost like a director.
But that doesn’t mean Seon-woo could simply entrust everything to Kwon Seong-min’s hands.
He shouldn’t be satisfied with merely receiving help; he should think of providing it instead.
Seon-woo lifted a color orb onto his palm.
The brush isn’t something only Kwon Seong-min holds.
Though imperfect, he wanted to add his own.
His sincerity, to Kwon Seong-min.
* * *
“It’s summer, isn’t it, sir.”
“……Yeah. It’s getting hot now.”
Kwon Seong-min stretched out his hand to touch the sunlight, then nodded.
Watching him do so, Song Jae-yeol opened his mouth with a somewhat worried expression.
“Don’t you need to sleep? I’m so worried because you seem to be getting less sleep.”
“People sleep less as they age, they say.”
“It’s not that you sleep less because of age—it’s just that the older you get, the more stubborn you become. You just cling to the script all day.”
“Ha ha…….”
He had no answer to that. While Kwon Seong-min chuckled silently, Song Jae-yeol sighed.
“When you were young, sir…… I just thought, well, you’re young so that’s natural. I even thought without that kind of passion, how could you succeed as an actor. But sir, you’re almost sixty now.”
“Are you calling me young as a joke?”
“Oh, sir!”
“Just kidding, kidding.”
Kwon Seong-min laughed softly and shook his head.
Then, gazing at his own face in the mirror, he murmured,
“Joseon……! Joseon! Joseon. ……Hmm, yes. Yes. I see.”
He made various expressions and pronounced “Joseon” in several different tones, then murmured to himself and nodded.
Kwon Seong-min turned to Song Jae-yeol and asked,
“Jae-yeol. Which sounds better? ‘Joseon!’ like this—does it feel natural? Or ‘Joseon……!’ like this—is that more like a general?”
“The shorter way sounds better.”
“Right?”
Kwon Seong-min nodded with a satisfied expression, as if vindicated.
Song Jae-yeol sighed watching him.
“Let’s take a break and rest a bit, okay? Sir, you’re getting older now, and you should think about your health.”
“That’s true, but……what can I do. Acting is something that comes out in proportion to what you pour into it.”
“Pour in a reasonable amount! No wait, not reasonable—at least sleep while you do it!”
“There are too many eyes watching me.”
Kwon Seong-min shook his head.
And recalling the gazes of his juniors as they watched him, he smiled.
“The kids are all watching me. I need to show them something good.”
When he was a junior himself, his seniors had done exactly the same.
Kwon Seong-min simply wanted to return what he’d received to his juniors. The presence of a senior who seemed to understand everything about acting……sometimes became the very force that kept his juniors from giving up on the craft.
Someday I could become like that too.
Someday I could act as beautifully as that person.
That’s why Kwon Seong-min strived for perfection in every shoot. To give his juniors hope—though that sounds grandiose. Rather, to give them faith.
Song Jae-yeol understood Kwon Seong-min’s heart. And he also understood that this very heart made him the greatest actor he was.
Still, he couldn’t help but worry.
After all, Kwon Seong-min was almost sixty.
They say death is inevitable before age, so how much longer would he exhaust himself like this preparing for roles?
When he was young, he’d thought that things might ease up with age……but he was wrong. Rather, the older he got, the more he seemed to see, and the more he strived for perfection than before.
Then came that moment.
“Have you seen the way that kid Seon-woo looks at me?”
“……His eyes were sparkling.”
Song Jae-yeol answered with a sigh to Kwon Seong-min’s words. Kwon Seong-min nodded.
“Right. They sparkle. When you see eyes like that, you forget your age and get energized. I’ve never looked at myself that way, but how does that kid manage to look at me with such joy?”
So there was nothing to do but reciprocate.
It was a senior’s duty to answer a junior’s expectations. He wanted to guide him.
Of course, it wasn’t just a desire to guide him.
Seon-woo was an actor worth working with.
Though perhaps not yet fully ripened, he brimmed with the freshness that only comes from being not yet fully ripened.
Youth, vitality, purity…….
Kwon Seong-min’s heart already quickened at the thought of facing Seon-woo.
Meeting a young junior’s performance was always a joy. And seeing that junior grow was even better.
‘……How should I best guide this?’
Kwon Seong-min thought as he studied the script.
Yi Bang-won will soon confront Lee Seong-gye, broken both physically and spiritually. And watching such a Lee Seong-gye……Yi Bang-won will finally realize he cannot simply lean on his father.
Kwon Seong-min read and reread the script, preparing.
So that Seon-woo could deliver the finest performance possible.
Song Jae-yeol said it was meddling, this concern for his juniors’ acting……but what could he do. He enjoyed it.
After studying the script like this for a while, Kwon Seong-min soon found himself waiting only for filming to begin. All his preparation was done.
Confidence bloomed in him to guide Seon-woo toward his best performance.
But then,
“……Why do you lie there, Father?”
When filming actually began, Kwon Seong-min realized.
That in this scene, perhaps……he wouldn’t need to meddle at all.
“Father!”
The son meeting his father after so long, Yi Bang-won……
Was already complete without his touch.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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