'The Outlaws 3' Villain Lee Joon-hyuk "Felt Intimidated by Ma Dong-seok's Fist"

Actor Lee Jun-hyuk [Photo by Yonhap News]

Actor Lee Joon-hyuk (39) takes over the baton from Yoon Kye-sang and Son Seok-gu to play the villain in 'The Outlaws 3.'

On the morning of the 9th, at the production briefing for the movie 'The Outlaws 3' held at Megabox COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Lee Joon-hyuk said, "I bulked up and practiced boxing so that I wouldn't look strange when fighting Ma Seok-do (Ma Dong-seok)." He added, "I tried to bring freshness to the existing 'The Outlaws' series. I worked hard to transform my image."

The sequel to 'The Outlaws 2' (2022), which attracted 12.69 million viewers and became the first film to reach 10 million viewers after the COVID-19 pandemic, 'The Outlaws 3' depicts detective Ma Seok-do (Ma Dong-seok) moving to Seoul Gwangsu Police Station and launching an operation to catch Joo Sung-chul (Lee Joon-hyuk), the mastermind behind a new type of drug crime, and another villain involved in the drug case, Ricky (Aoki Munetaka).

Ma Dong-seok previously compared Jang Chen from the first film to a tiger and Kang Hae-sang from the second film to a lion. Regarding Lee Joon-hyuk, who plays the new villain Joo Sung-chul in this series, he likened him to "a wolf and an eagle."

He said, "Joo Sung-chul is like a wild, hungry wolf. Wolves are strong even when alone, but they use their pack to seize prey. Ricky (Aoki Munetaka) is like an eagle that watches from above and swoops down like lightning to snatch prey when it appears."

Still from Crime City 3 [Photo by ABO Entertainment]

Lee Joon-hyuk said, "I was determined to perform action scenes even before filming started." He added, "When Ma Dong-seok's fist came back and forth right in front of my eyes, I felt something. I tried not to close my eyes, but I felt intimidated by the huge fist."

About Ma Dong-seok, Lee Joon-hyuk humorously said, "He is like King Kong who left a great achievement in the film industry," and added, "His fists are too strong."

Ma Dong-seok, who is both the lead actor and producer of the film, said, "I told Lee Joon-hyuk, 'You just need to gain a little weight. About 20kg?' and he was surprised." He continued, "He said he thought he needed to bulk up a lot while working out, and he gained 20kg. He put on a lot of muscle. He bulked up through a lot of eating and exercising."

Will 'The Outlaws 3' reverse the stagnant atmosphere of Korean cinema? Ma Dong-seok said, "It’s very unfortunate that fewer people are coming to theaters to watch movies. If our film can help even a little in bringing audiences back to theaters, I will work hard and run around."

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