Interview with THE WORST OF EVIL lead

Ji Chang-wook has spent the last three years immersed in romantic comedies and human dramas such as Lovestruck in the City, which depicts the romance of an immature convenience store manager, Backstreet Rookie, which tells the romance of an immature convenience store manager, and If You Wish Upon Me, which explores life and death in a hospice. With its tough language, fast-paced high-stakes action, and violent showdowns, The Worst of Evil is nothing like the rest of his works and allows us to glimpse a side of the actor that we haven't seen before.  

Like a magnificent flower that bloomed in parched soil, Ji rises strong and does not give up easy. However, like the roots slowly creeping beneath the earth in quest of a water source, he has a deep yearning for survival and acknowledgment. How much can one person change? That question is what brought us to meet Ji Chang-wook, who plays Park Jun-mo in The Worst of Evil.

The Worst of Evil is a far cry from the projects you've been working on for the previous three years.

This is my first foray into the noir genre. I've always been intrigued by crime thrillers, as well as nervous about them. I even questioned if I might in fact elicit the profound feelings of a character living in the criminal underworld. And there are already numerous well-known exemplary works in the genre. I could feel the strain and tension, but my desire to accomplish it never wavered. The Worst of Evil has a certain color that I was keen to capture and represent. As an actor, I was also interested in expanding the kind of roles I accept. I had a great urge to broaden my acting repertoire by taking on parts I had never done before. 

The Worst of Evil tells the story of a police undercover operation to bring down a drug trafficking group. The realistic portrayal of the characters' game of manipulation was critical in raising the emotional tension.

Jun-mo goes undercover in a drug trafficking organization, and the psychological war between him and gang leader Ki-cheol (played by Wi Ha-jun) must be constant if the story's suspense is to be maintained. The overall balance had to be perfect. I struggled at first with determining how much I should portray Jun-mo's nervousness. If I concealed Jun-mo's nerves too much, it would lessen the suspense, and if I displayed it too much, it would appear phony. It was really difficult to walk this fine line as thin as a sheet of paper. After conversations with Director Han Dong-wook and examining the overall flow of the narrative, we concluded that Jun-mo didn't need to make it clear how nervous he feels. Given Jun-mo's personality, it felt more natural to keep those sentiments hidden. I depended greatly on the director, who could see the forest for the trees. 

Jun-mo is someone who naturally seizes chances that come his way. When reading the screenplay, how did you see this character?

I tried not to assume Jun-mo would have a particuliar sense of righteous duty just because he's a cop. When you consider why Jun-mo is putting his life in danger to investigate drug cases, it appears to be more superficial, like the promotion of a double promotion as a reward. But is that reward really worth sacrificing his life for? Jun-mo is a multidimensional character. Predicting how he will respond next is tough since he can display uncertainty, desire, selfishness, envy, obsession, and more, but this also means he carries a vast spectrum of humanity within him. He's a bit conflicting and ambiguous. With this role, I wanted to demonstrate how much a person can change. 

The moment when Jun-mo enters Ki-cheol's office and fights after mentioning Tae-ho's death suggests that their feud could escalate in the future. During this sequence, he has to take on Ki-cheol's subordinates while also dealing with a flow of emotions, which appears like a difficult undertaking.

It was especially challenging because I had a bad cold that day. (Laughs) I had a congested nose which gave me a nasal voice, so it wasn't easy. This sequence is essential because Jun-mo acts as someone else in front of Ki-cheol while expressing his own emotional rage. That's why I felt anxious during the filming of this sequence. I was under pressure to handle both emotions and fight choreography in a short amount of time, but with the support of several staff members and fellow performers, I was able to pull it off. More specifically, I needed a method to control my wrath since I knew that Jun-mo was going to confront Ki-cheol about Tae-ho's passing. For my part, I wanted to emphasize how hard Jun-mo was fighting in this situation. He gets injured, stumbles, and falls, yet he always gets back up and returns to the fight. That's why we portrayed him as someone who battles unrelentingly rather than as an action movie hero. I approached it with the idea that I was expressing feelings via my body. 

You frequently use terms like concern, stress, and anxiety while discussing the shooting process.

That's what happens anytime I start a new project. And it's not getting any better with age. I can't help but let those thoughts and feelings run wild when they arise. So I try to participate in healthy pastimes or activities to divert my attention from work. My peers consistently provide me with the most positive energy. I immediately restore my calm when I see the other performers and the crew on set. 

The way you move in this film is more brutal and harsher than in prior works. You appear to have attempted to imbue Chun-mo's temperament in every move he makes.

I attempted to make my hand motions, my eye movements, and my voice erupt in quick succession. In fact, you don't come up with maneuvers like these while sitting at a desk. They emerge spontaneously when you try to move around on set and keep going over the lines in the back of your mind once you've mastered the script. They may even undergo additional transformations while acting alongside other performers. 

The connections between the characters of Jun-mo, Ki-cheol, and Ui-jeong have a significant influence on the plot's development. How should viewers interpret these dynamics?

I believe the audience can form their own opinions about the dynamics between the three. The narrative depicts each character's psychological development in sufficient detail to allow for several interpretations. Despite the fact that it is a noir picture, there is a lot of emotional and intricate staging, making it quite fascinating to uncover something of your own. 

Interview by Lee Ja-yeon