[Interview①] 'Peninsula' Kang Dong-won "Cannes Festival Officials Praised It as a Completely Different Film from 'Train to Busan'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] Actor Kang Dong-won revealed that the positive reviews from the Cannes Film Festival were impressive.

On the 10th, Kang Dong-won shared various stories about the film during an interview held at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, ahead of the release of the movie Peninsula (director Yeon Sang-ho).

Peninsula is an action blockbuster depicting the final battle of those left behind on a ruined land four years after Train to Busan. The cast includes Kang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Kwon Hae-hyo, Kim Min-jae, Koo Kyo-hwan, Kim Do-yoon, Lee Re, and Lee Ye-won.

When asked how he came to appear in Peninsula, Kang Dong-won cheerfully said, “I’m close with Yang Jin-mo, the editor of Parasite. One day he contacted me and said, ‘Yeon Sang-ho wants to see you.’” He continued, “As an actor, I saw it as a work that could make a significant mark in the Korean film industry. It was my first zombie movie, so it felt fresh. Also, when I heard a sequel to Train to Busan was being made, I was curious as an actor, and after hearing the story, I thought it was worth trying.” He added, “I talked with director Yeon Sang-ho privately, and I liked his human values. We shared the same point of view. He said he didn’t want to make a good film by making others suffer, and I think similarly.”

Kang Dong-won worked with director Yeon Sang-ho for the first time through Peninsula. He expressed satisfaction, saying, “After reading the script, I felt the director did a lot of visualizing. He said he tried light acting himself and drew pictures. Since he mainly worked on animation before doing live-action films, he felt sorry to demand something from actors as a director.”

He added, “I felt the structural completeness of the Peninsula script was high,” and laughed, “The filming set was happy. Even though it was a tough film, it was very happy. Above all, I was glad it ended early.” Kang Dong-won shared an episode, saying, “About one out of three times, we finished early. For example, if the schedule was to end at 4 p.m., if everyone was in good condition, we sometimes finished around 1 p.m., before lunch. When we thought if there was anything more to shoot and found none, we just ended.”

Peninsula, which expands director Yeon Sang-ho’s universe following Seoul Station and Train to Busan, attracted worldwide attention early on. Train to Busan was invited to the Midnight Screening at the 69th Cannes International Film Festival in 2016 and was recognized as the Bible of K-zombie films. It attracted 11.56 million viewers domestically and achieved worldwide box office revenue of 140 million USD.

Was it a burden to star in the sequel to Train to Busan? Kang Dong-won said, “I’m not usually burdened by the score,” showing confidence by adding, “I think the score doesn’t matter as long as the film is well made.” He also said, “I try not to be obsessed with numbers. I just worked hard because I didn’t want to disappoint the fans of Train to Busan when they watch the film.”

Following Train to Busan, Peninsula was officially invited to the 2020 Cannes International Film Festival, marking the first time a Korean work with a shared universe was consecutively invited to Cannes. This year’s Cannes Film Festival decided to hold the event online due to the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus infection).

When asked if he was disappointed not to walk the red carpet at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Kang Dong-won replied, “As an actor, it’s disappointing, but it’s an honor to be selected as an invited work.” He added, “A Cannes Film Festival official emailed me saying they really enjoyed the film. They thought Train to Busan was a fresh zombie movie, and since Peninsula is a sequel, they wondered if Cannes would be interested, but the reaction that it was a completely different film was interesting.”

Peninsula will be released on July 15.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.