[Comprehensive] 'Kingmaker' Seol Kyung-gu: "Portraying Late President Kim Dae-jung, I Embraced the Will to Change the World"

Movie 'Kingmaker' Press Screening

Photo by Megabox Joongang(주) Plus M

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] Actor Seol Kyung-gu reunited with director Byun Sung-hyun through a story about the late former President Kim Dae-jung and his election aides.

On the afternoon of the 13th, at the press screening of the film Kingmaker (directed by Byun Sung-hyun) held at Megabox COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Seol Kyung-gu confessed, "It was burdensome to play a role inspired by a real person."

Kingmaker is a drama that begins with politician Kim Un-beom, who challenges to change the world, and the election strategist Seo Chang-dae, whose existence and name are hidden, entering a fierce election battlefield.

The film is a fiction created based on the dramatic election processes of the 1960s and 1970s, inspired by the late former President Kim Dae-jung, his election aide Eom Chang-rok, and others.

Director Byun Sung-hyun, returning after five years since The Merciless (2016), said, "I added cinematic imagination to stories passed down like unofficial history and approached it genre-wise," explaining the background of writing the screenplay.

Director Byun added, "While reading his autobiography, I became curious about a man who was mentioned in only a few lines. I thought it would be attractive as a genre film, so I portrayed Kim Un-beom," and requested, "Please see it as a genre film, a commercial film."

He continued, "There was not much accurate information about the characters. I exercised cinematic imagination on the historical background. It is not a lie, but it is not a documentary either. Please consider that imagination and historical facts coexist to some extent."

Regarding releasing the film three months before the presidential election, Director Byun said, "It was not intentional," and added, "I do not feel burdened."

He said, "Is it possible to use improper means for a righteous purpose? If possible, how far is it possible? I was curious about that," and continued, "I thought politics and the era were materials to pose such questions. I wanted to raise questions embedded not only in politics but also in universal human life."

Seol Kyung-gu, who worked with Director Byun for the second time after The Merciless, said, "Although the outer shell is a political story and it was burdensome, I trusted the director and did it. I think the good memories from The Merciless continued into Kingmaker," showing his trust.

Seol Kyung-gu, who played Kim Un-beom inspired by the late former President Kim Dae-jung, said, "I could not imitate his appearance during his lifetime. It was burdensome because the character was a real person, and I requested to change the name," and emphasized, "I tried to focus on the portrayal written in the screenplay."

Regarding the speech style in the film, he said, "During the script reading, I performed with a dialect, but there was a consensus that it would be better to remove the dialect and keep only the feeling."

He emphasized that it was a challenging role, saying, "I hoped various aspects, including the strong will to keep challenging despite constant failures as a leader and wanting to change the world, would be well shown," and added, "I tried to portray it three-dimensionally."

Lee Sun-kyun, who acted with Seol Kyung-gu for the first time, said, "He was like a reliable older brother. He accepted and embraced any acting," and added, "He has been a role model actor since I started acting. I acted as if Seo Chang-dae in the drama was looking at Kim Un-beom."

He also said, "Since there was no information about the character, I talked with the director and created the role by adding imagination. I focused on the justification of why he had to exist only as a shadow role," and added, "I am curious how the audience will watch the film. It feels like running an election."

Kingmaker will be released on the 29th.

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