[Dispatch=Park Hye-jin Reporter] 'Not repeating what came before.'

This is the task Park Hae-il has set for himself. He returns to the screen after four years with the film "Assassin(s)." It marks a reunion with director Hur Jin-ho after 10 years since "Deokhye, the Princess."

The joy was brief, and he soon found himself wrestling with concerns. It made sense—he and the director had already given everything once before. He had to draw out something new.

"There was both joy and burden. I wanted to scrape up something and show something new, and that created a sense of responsibility."(Park Hae-il)

He found the answer in "speed." Park Hae-il had previously shown restrained acting, swallowing emotions inward rather than bursting them out. That had been his strength.

This time, he chases evidence in a first lady assassination attempt, steps forward against censorship, and never stops questioning. He delivered acting with impact and tempo. If restraint was his weapon before, this time speed was his weapon.

◆ "Why haven't I done this role?"

"Assassin(s)" traces the suspicions and forces behind an incident at the first lady shooting that occurred on August 15, 1974, at the 29th Liberation Day ceremony. It pursues the mystery of six shots fired and two bullets that disappeared.

Director Hur Jin-ho had Park Hae-il in mind for the reporter role from the script adaptation stage. Park Hae-il revealed, "When I read the script, I felt like, 'Ah, did I wait four years to do this project?' I was that curious."

What drew him to the project was the character's profession. "Every time I've done a project over 26 years, journalists are something I always encounter," he said. "I thought, 'I've had to experience this profession with a long breath, but why haven't I done this role?' I definitely wanted to do this role well."

Park Hae-il played Jae-hwan, a social affairs desk chief at a newspaper in the 1970s. While everyone else tries to conclude the case, he's a character who digs into what lies beneath. With sharp and persistent reporting, he approaches the truth.

The challenge was how convincingly to convey 1970s journalism to audiences. Park Hae-il didn't separate the era as distinct. Whether it was a journalist then or now, he decided to focus on the most universal aspects of the profession.

"I tried to feel the atmosphere of the era with my whole body. The project was my navigation system. Jae-hwan starts in a newspaper space and explodes within that space. So I worked to be most natural in the newspaper office setting."

◆ Tempo and Impact

In Park Hae-il's memory, director Hur Jin-ho's films move slowly. From "August Christmas" to "Deokhye, the Princess." They're the kind that linger long on a character's emotions.

"Working on two projects with the director is a joyful thing, but at the same time, I've already given everything I have, and I felt simultaneous responsibility to scrape up something and show something new."

A different rhythm was needed than 10 years ago. Park Hae-il said "not repeating what came before was my task." The answer he found was speed.

"I felt the director's sense of rhythm was evolving. So I thought this time I'd show acting with more tempo. The director felt that speed with me."

He designed each piece of the character that way. He was cautious of dogmatic tones. Instead, he valued horizontal collaboration with the team. "It was interesting to gather at one desk and piece together a puzzle as each person discussed what they'd reported. It was important that it be horizontal," he explained.

He had to move like a gear with his colleagues. "The film has a structure where one incident breaks and the story rushes forward. I wanted to shoot meshed with the team with tempo and impact," he added.

◆ Raw Temperature

The film's climax is the free press declaration scene. The moment Jae-hwan bursts with anger and conviction he's been suppressing. Even facing the reality of oppression, he cried out for press freedom. His face was trampled, blood burst, but he didn't let go of the truth.

It required enormous energy, both physically and emotionally. "From when I received the script, I thought, 'I need to carefully stack soldiers and convey this persuasively as an actor,'" he said.

It was the kind of scene where mistaking the tone could feel burdensome to the audience. "I thought if I got it wrong, I could burden the audience. I adjusted the tone with the director," he explained.

The temperature on set was beyond imagination. "It's a scene where dozens of journalists stand in solidarity. When reciting the declaration, the other side was pounding on and entering through glass doors. Supporting actors and minor roles were all prepared at the same temperature," he recalled.

He felt a force as if everyone became one. "I felt the strength of everyone uniting so that Jae-hwan could read the declaration. That consideration helped me a lot in the acting," he credited them.

"It was a temperature of a situation I hadn't seen before. I decided to feel the situation as it was and read it. If you look closely, I mumble words, drop a word or two. I surrendered to the flow of the chaotic situation. The director said that 'rawness' came through."

◆ The Power of Solidarity

"Assassin(s)" features numerous actors. Jungwoo Sung, Oh Dal-soo, Park Jung-min, Bae Sung-woo, Eom Ji-won, Eom Tae-woong, Shim Eun-kyung, Park Hae-jun, Park Ji-hwan, Oh Jung-se, Kim Dae-myung, Shin Hyun-bin, Ryu Hye-young, and Park Sung-hun lent their strength.

Park Hae-il considered the relationships with these many characters. He adjusted pace differently for each relationship. His breathing with reporter Man-seop (played by Kim Dae-myung) and Yun-hee (played by Ryu Hye-young) was a point he put effort into.

"I wanted to do well in every small take. Starting with senior and junior reporters, down to censors, the desire arose to well show scenes created by diverse professions. It was a relationship where everyone had to work organically together for one article to come out."

The chemistry with detective Chul-gu (played by Yoo Hae-jin) and rookie reporter Young-il (played by Minho) is also a viewing element of this film. The film unfolds through the perspective of both a detective and a reporter digging into fragments of the incident.

Park Hae-il said, "Senior Yoo Hae-jin is the most prominent performer in Korean cinema right now. As a junior colleague, I want to continue watching the backs and footsteps of seniors who are ahead."

Regarding Minho, he praised, "He had a masculine feeling but also the sense of a boy at the same time. I have no doubt that Minho threw his absolute maximum and delivered good acting results."

The meeting with Jungwoo Sung (playing Han Sang-il) was especially long-awaited. "I've always thought of him as an icon of the film. I've lived watching his acting. It was an important scene, and we shot it all night with fond feelings," he laughed.

◆ A Film That Poses Questions

"Assassin(s)" doesn't pinpoint the forces behind the incident. Park Hae-il said, "I want to deliver the question (about the truth) to audiences rather as a question mark."

"There will be diverse viewers—those who witnessed that day live, those who didn't know about the incident. It could be an opportunity to learn about this incident. You could also be satisfied as a thriller genre. I think that's the essence of making this film."

Park Hae-il said, "Our film's selling point is really having so many diverse actors," and was confident, "All generations can enjoy it, and it will be fun to participate in the breathing and rhythm of a pursuit thriller genre and follow along with the film."

He plans to pick up the pace with his next project. Park Hae-il is preparing to film director Lee Joon-ik's new work "Fireflies," a story that pursues an incident going back and forth between 1974 under dictatorship and 1950 just after the Korean War broke out.

Park Hae-il said, "I'm an actor who uses everything from one project, so I've been someone who needed time to prepare until the next project. My thinking has changed now. I want to approach multiple projects with more energy," he said.

"I'm on the slower side. Now I'm thinking I'll try to run a bit. I'm matching the goal of doing given films properly, one after another without rest. I'll pick up the pace.(laughs)"

<Photo source=HIVE Media Corp.>