NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 266

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 266. First Filming of “Parabola”

A sharp tension could be felt on the filming set.

 

The atmosphere of a crank-in scene was the same no matter how veteran the actors were.

 

When entering a new work, it’s always unfamiliar and new.

 

Once filming begins, you immerse yourself in the role and live another person’s life, so feeling unfamiliar while adapting to that character was the same no matter how much acting experience you had.

 

Yeon-woo looked around the filming set.

 

He could feel through his skin that not only the actors standing in front of the cameras but also the staff were tensed up like tightly drawn bowstrings.

 

They had rented out an entire outdoor basketball court located in one section of Hangang Park.

 

This was a section where the green space suitable for spreading picnic mats was narrow, so it was unpopular for Hangang Park standards and relatively deserted.

 

Fortunately, there was also a fence between the walking path and the basketball court, so it didn’t seem like there would be any accidents caused by crowds.

 

Still, due to the nature of outdoor filming, it was best to finish shooting as quickly as possible.

This was both because natural light shines differently at different times of day, and because the longer filming takes, the more onlookers gather nearby, which can lead to dangerous situations later.

 

‘There are quite a few familiar faces, though.’

 

Since this was Director Kim Han-su’s work, most of the staff were the same ones who had worked together when filming his first work, “Summer’s Wardrobe.”

 

He could also see lighting director Im Seong-su, who had performed theater together at Saebyeol Theater Troupe.

 

“We’ll be starting filming soon, so please get ready, everyone.”

 

At Director Kim Han-su’s words, the actors standing in front of the cameras lightly warmed up their bodies.

 

This was both the first group filming of this drama and a quite important scene at the same time.

It was a scene that clearly presented the characters of the main characters.

 

Watching his colleagues each warming up their bodies, Yeon-woo nodded slightly.

 

‘I just need to do well myself.’

 

The most recent filming he had done was the movie “Moon.”

Before that was the play “Mirror.”

And before that, he had filmed “White Blood.”

 

Thinking about it, none of those three works involved working with veteran actors.

 

In the movie “Moon,” his co-star Hong A-yoon was a newcomer after all, so there were many times when Yeon-woo had to unconsciously match her rhythm and take the lead.

 

And the play “Mirror” was actually twice as difficult as “Moon” because he was working with amateur friends.

 

Finally, “White Blood” also featured Han Byeol, who was a newcomer selected through open auditions, and Jung Su-yeon and Dong-ha, who similarly had no notable acting experience at that time.

 

In contrast, this drama “Parabola” was different.

 

Jung Su-yeon and Dong-ha, whose acting skills had now matured considerably compared to back then.

Jeong Cheol-min, Son Jin-wook, and Jin Yu-han, who were veteran actors that needed no introduction.

 

There were no beginners among the actors filming together.

 

‘In this work, I don’t need to match my co-stars’ acting rhythm or take the lead, so I should just focus on showing my own acting purely.’

 

He had faith that the actors he was working with would be able to support him sufficiently.

 

Yeon-woo immersed himself in the situation.

As discussed in the meeting, they had decided to use his real name for the character’s name.

 

Yeon-woo focused on the story of a twenty-one-year-old young man named ‘Ryu Yeon-woo’ in the world of “Parabola.”

 

‘Ryu Yeon-woo’ had grown up under elite parents and lived his entire life according to a schedule as rigid as a hamster wheel.

 

And after entering high school, the greater pressure he faced caused what had been festering inside to burst at some point, leading to a mental illness.

 

When people are extremely tense, their thought processes often accelerate extremely, making the world appear relatively slow.

The problem was that for ‘Ryu Yeon-woo,’ this had become his daily reality.

 

He began to perceive every single wrinkle on the lips of whoever was speaking in front of him in minute detail, and started calculating every possible scenario of what the other person might do next.

 

Like reading an opponent’s moves while playing Go.

 

Having such situations continue constantly eventually led to brain overload, making it impossible to maintain daily life.

 

Eventually, ‘Ryu Yeon-woo,’ who had dropped out of school and was living a life fighting his illness, one day happened to see people playing street basketball under a bridge.

 

‘That part is the content of episode 1, and the part we’re filming today is when he realizes that strangely, only when playing basketball does the illness he considers a curse not manifest.’

 

To properly portray ‘Ryu Yeon-woo’ in the drama, he had continuously researched and created for several months after completing the character development.

 

He had tried to apply what he learned by reviewing the behaviors of countless war trauma patients he had seen in his previous life.

 

“Okay. Everyone standby, and we’ll film straight through first, then we’ll retake each dialogue separately. The first line starts with Kim Dong-ha. Ready, cue.”

 

Director Kim Han-su’s signal came through.

 

Since the character name was the same as his real name, Kim Dong-ha rather than his stage name Dong-ha kicked off the first start of this filming.

 

“Great work, hyungs! Jin-wook hyung, is the spot where you collided with the opposing team earlier okay?”

 

Receiving Dong-ha’s cheerfully delivered line, Son Jin-wook shrugged his shoulders.

 

“What, it’s nothing at all? He probably felt like he ran into a rock. Heh.”

 

Then Jin Yu-han poked Son Jin-wook’s shoulder hard with an expressionless face.

 

“Argh!”

“But why is this getting more swollen? You said you were like a rock, hyung, so did moss grow on you?”

 

Son Jin-wook was startled and hunched his large body when his bruised arm was suddenly poked.

 

“This bastard. Why did you suddenly poke me?”

“Tell me honestly. Does it hurt?”

“What! It’s not that it hurts, I was just surprised. How could I get hurt bumping into a skinny guy like that?”

“That’s because you play basketball so crudely. That’s why I told you to learn from me, the starter.”

 

Jung Su-yeon, who had been watching the two bicker pathetically, turned her head to look at her father.

 

“Father. We need to go quickly. We have to prepare for the evening business soon.”

“Oh, right. Guys, I’m going in first?”

 

At that moment, Yeon-woo, who had been quietly shrinking his presence among the actors, spoke for the first time.

 

“Ex, excuse me. Me. I, I have something to say…!”

 

His hunched shoulders, wandering eyes, and compulsive hand clenching and unclenching made anyone watching feel anxious.

 

The gazes of all the actors who had been delivering their lines turned to Yeon-woo at once.

 

Of course, the script also said that everyone stops talking and looks at Yeon-woo, but that wasn’t the only reason.

 

‘What kind of speech pattern is this…’

 

No one felt like the person in front of them was Yeon-woo.

 

The trembling voice, awkward posture, and anxious eye movements combined with other non-verbal elements to form a single character.

 

And it wasn’t Ryu Yeon-woo, who usually seemed confident and capable of doing whatever he was asked.

Even though he had the same face, his constantly shaking pupils and slightly trembling lips made even the viewers feel nervous.

 

Using the actor’s real name for the character has both advantages and disadvantages.

 

Since viewers are already familiar with the actor’s name, they can intuitively understand even if there are many complex characters in the drama.

 

However, conversely, it becomes difficult to separate the character in the drama from the background the actor actually has.

 

The other characters were fine since there weren’t major discrepancies with their real images, but Yeon-woo was different.

With his ‘overpowered character’ image who’s good at everything, and now having gained some global recognition due to his Netflix success.

 

On the other hand, ‘Ryu Yeon-woo’ in the drama is a vulnerable person who would break out in cold sweats even when buying triangle kimbap alone at a convenience store.

 

Jin Yu-han stared at Yeon-woo intently and nodded slightly, barely enough to avoid being caught by the camera.

 

‘I was curious how he’d resolve the gap between reality and the role, but he’s just smashing through it with pure acting ability.’

 

The man before his eyes was clearly Yeon-woo but not Yeon-woo, and simultaneously ‘Ryu Yeon-woo’.

The ‘Ryu Yeon-woo’ from the drama that he had only read about in the script and imagined.

 

Jeong Cheol-min, who had to deliver the next line, barely managed to time it right and jumped in.

 

“Ah, yes. We suddenly stopped you on your way and asked you to fill out our numbers, but you gladly joined us, so thank you. But what did you want to say…?”

“…I am.”

 

Ryu Yeon-woo tried to say something, then looked around and shrank back again.

His eyes, busily shaking left and right, seemed to be looking at people’s lips for some reason.

 

Seeing him try to muster courage to say something again only to shrink back once more, Kim Dong-ha approached and tried to pat Yeon-woo’s back lightly in a friendly manner.

 

No, he tried to.

 

As if he had eyes on his back, Yeon-woo had already turned around and politely caught Kim Dong-ha’s hand flying toward his back with both hands, then bowed his head.

 

“Ah, sorry…”

“This hyung, I saw earlier that even if you can’t do other things, your pass cutting was amazing? Since we played basketball together today, it’s fate, so let’s be friends from now on? Do you live around here?”

“Be, be friends… Around here…”

 

Yeon-woo looked around.

 

Actually, Ryu Yeon-woo in the drama doesn’t even know basketball rules well.

 

It’s just that while watching basketball, even when his thoughts accelerated as usual, it somehow didn’t feel difficult, and he ended up getting swept up in the atmosphere and running together on the basketball court.

 

But that was something he felt was truly fun for the first time in a long while.

No, the emotion of fun might be his first time ever.

 

He did what he had to do, and only did what he was told to do.

He didn’t do what he was told not to do, and couldn’t do what he wanted to do.

 

Like a marionette doll, he just endlessly turned the predetermined wheel while hanging from strings disguised as parental love.

 

As a result, it seemed like he had never once done something he wanted to do proactively without parental interference.

 

Ryu Yeon-woo bit his lips and mustered courage.

 

“I, I also want to play basketball from now on, I, I want to? Ah, teach…”

 

His accent and grammar were all messed up.

The speech should flow in a connected chain, but some parts seemed to cut off abruptly while other parts were either too fast or too slow.

 

Son Jin-wook clicked his tongue watching Yeon-woo like that.

He probably couldn’t imitate it even if asked to.

 

‘Since Ryu Yeon-woo in the drama feels like time flows slower than for others, he can’t grasp the clear accent of speech? Just how detailed did he make this character creation.’

 

Pretending you can’t do something you’re good at is twice as difficult as the opposite case.

 

Even someone who can’t speak English can pretend to be fluent for a few words if they practice beforehand.

 

However, when a Korean tries to imitate the characteristic awkward pronunciation of a foreigner, the fluent pronunciation of their native language that has stuck to their tongue for a lifetime ends up slipping out at some point.

 

But right now, Ryu Yeon-woo’s every word from start to finish was consistently awkward and consistently anxious.

At the same time, he compulsively clenched and unclenched his hands, and his pupils shook restlessly as if there was a major earthquake.

 

Watching Yeon-woo like this, Jeong Cheol-min delivered his next line.

 

“Oh my, what should we do? Then if I could just a little…”

“Father. What are you talking about? We’ll be late even if we leave now.”

“Ahem, right? Then Dong-ha…”

 

When Jeong Cheol-min tried to pass it off to Dong-ha, he shook his head.

 

“I have a date.”

 

Then Son Jin-wook grinned.

 

“Oh, that sister with the red sports car who came to pick you up last time?”

“No. That sister is Wednesday. Today is Saturday.”

“…Crazy bastard.”

 

Son Jin-wook shook his head and looked back and forth between Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han.

 

“Then there’s no choice.”

 

There are magic words that move Jin Yu-han.

 

“Yu-han, who’s a former player, should teach him. A basketball beginner needs an expert to teach them systematically, don’t you think?”

“Why should I bother with that?”

“Well, you’re a former player.”

“…I am a former player.”

 

Jin Yu-han looked at Ryu Yeon-woo with a displeased expression, who seemed somewhat abnormal.

 

“Ha, it really seems like it’ll be annoying, but I’ll specially teach you a little. I’m a former player, you know.”

 

He was a typical tsundere who would do anything if you gently touched his pride about being a former player.

 

“Th, thank you… But why are you speaking informally…?”

 

When Yeon-woo tilted his head and muttered to himself while looking at the ground, Director Kim Han-su’s signal could be heard.

 

“Okay, cut!”

 

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