Jung Woo is finally returning to the big screen about three years after Heung-boo: The Revolutionist. With Good Neighbor, which is set to be released on November 25, he will greet the audience with his unique Busan dialect and realistic acting.
Good Neighbor tells the story of a wiretapping team on the verge of getting demoted going undercover as neighbors of a detained politician. It is a new film by director Lee Hwan Kyung and the production team of Miracle in Cell No.7, the highest-grossing film of 2013.
In the recent interview, Jung Woo expressed his thoughts calmly regarding the delayed release, saying, “Rather than being frustrated and sad, I was more grateful about the wait.”
Jung Woo talked about why he chose to join the project.
“The way I choose my projects is simple. It’s important to see whether I can get immersed in the character. If I have empathy for these characters’ stories and the emotions of these characters, I can dive into the story. The most important thing is the script. Then who I am working with comes next. Director Lee Hwan Kyung took a big part this time.”
Dae Kwon, played by Jung Woo, is the team leader of the wiretapping team who is slowly touched by the politician’s humane nature as he monitors his every move.
“I’ve never done a rough job because the character I played has such a big gap in emotions. It was tough both mentally and physically. There were quite a few scenes where I thought, ‘I have to do this in this project.’ There was psychological pressure because I worked with pressure in these scenes. No matter what project you work on, anxiety and tension are obviously followed, but when the title ‘lead actor’ comes in front of you, they get bigger.”
Every scene of the movie was completed with passion, but it hit a rough patch until its official release. The movie’s release has been delayed for more than two years due to controversy over Oh Dal Soo’s “Me Too” incident.
“I just waited with a praying heart. Whether the movie is released or not is not up to the actors. I already finished working on a few projects, and one of them is Good Neighbor.”
Jung Woo finished filming for Dirty Money and Hot Blood (literal title), but both of their releases are uncertain due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“On the surface, I have been on a hiatus, but in a way, I’m grateful. Working on three projects nonstop, a lot of what I can jog out from myself has run out. I took about a year and three months off from filming, and in the meantime, I took time to empty and fill myself as an actor. It was such a valuable time.”
Soon, Jung Woo will return to the small screen with Kakao TV original web-drama Crazy Person in the Area (literal title). He added, “It’s a rom-com. I play a character with anger management issues and Oh Yeon Seo plays an anger-including character. It’s a bit of a violent rom-com, so I am having fun filming it.”
