[Interview] Kwon Hae-hyo, "Park Jeong-min and I Are Different, But Alike"

Actor Kwon Hae-hyo expressed satisfaction with his work in the film "The Ugly", noting that despite having completely different appearances from Park Jeong-min, they could convincingly portray the same character on screen.

Advertisement

In an interview with News1 on the afternoon of September 29th at a café in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Kwon Hae-hyo discussed playing the present-day version of a character whose past was portrayed by Park Jeong-min. He said, "We didn't have long conversations about this. I've never really heard from director Yeon Sang-ho exactly what this character is like".

He added, "I was worried internally because Park Jeong-min is taller than me and, aside from both of us looking typically East Asian from the north, we don't resemble each other much. I wondered if audiences would easily accept it-but I didn't consider that a major problem". Kwon Hae-hyo clarified that he did not imitate Park Jeong-min to resemble him physically. He reflected, "It turns out that Park Jeong-min's father is visually impaired, and my father-in-law, with whom I lived for 17 years, was also visually impaired. I think I had some bodily experience of that unconsciously. When watching the film at the Toronto International Film Festival, I briefly thought, 'Park Jeong-min looks like me? Or do I look like him?'"

Kwon Hae-hyo continued, "If it were an American film dealing with real people, they would have obsessed over visual similarity. In the U.S., if one actor played both a father and his younger self, they would have gone to great lengths to find a lookalike. But in "The Ugly", there's a moment when the audience jumps to accept that it's the same character, and that is a cinematic, theatrical experience I really like. Some people even thought our voices sounded similar".

"The Ugly" tells the story of Im Yeong-gyoo, a master of seal engraving who is visually impaired, and his son, Im Dong-hwan, who investigates the mystery surrounding his mother's death 40 years ago. The film is adapted from Yeon Sang-ho's first graphic novel, also titled "The Ugly", published in 2018.

In the film, Kwon Hae-hyo plays the present-day Im Yeong-gyoo, while Park Jeong-min portrays the character's younger self, creating a dual portrayal of the same character.

"The Ugly" was released on September 11th.