Lee Jung Jae will present his directorial debut film Hunt.
Hunt is a spy action movie that follows NIS agents Park Pyung Ho (Lee Jung Jae) and Kim Jung Do (Jung Woo Sung), who doubt each other as the mole in the agency, as they face a huge incident called “Korea’s No. 1 Assassination Op.” In an interview with the media ahead of its release on August 10th, Lee Jung Jae introduced Hunt, set in a period of political upheaval in the 1980s, saying, “You need to have an understanding of Korean society to enjoy the movie.”
Hunt also deals with real events, such as the Rangoon bombing in Myanmar. “It was a burden to add real history into a spy movie,” Lee Jung Jae commented. “It was even terrifying. At first, I tried to make a modern spy movie. Hunt was a movie that all directors said they couldn’t make, so I even thought that I was being stubborn. But I thought it was a project worth trying at least once for people my age.”
It’s been reported that Jung Woo Sung has turned down Lee Jung Jae’s offer to star in the movie three times, making headlines. “Woo Sung and I are so close, so whenever the script changed, I showed it to him,” Lee Jung Jae explained. “I worked on seven projects while writing the Hunt script. So I didn’t have enough time to solely focus on the script. I made major changes in the script once a year, and each time, I showed it to Woo Sung.”
Wasn’t he upset every time he got rejected? Lee Jung Jae answered, “Not at all. This is work, personal choice.” Then what did Jung Woo Sung say when he finally agreed to join the production? He answered with a smile, “I don’t remember. I was so hammered.”
He was invited to the Cannes Film Festival with his directorial debut film Hunt. Saying that a lot of people recognized him in France, he added, “The cheers that the cast and I received were almost 100 times bigger thanks to Squid Game.” “I’m old, not a K-pop idol; I’m just an actor. The fact that people recognize me a lot on the streets abroad and that I got complimentary in restaurants was just amazing. It’s a personal pleasure and joy.”
Lee Jung Jae also gave updates on Squid Game 2 that everyone’s been curious about. “Director Hwang Dong Hyuk came to the after party after the Hunt VIP premiere. The first impression that I get from the script is very important in the way I act. So I don’t ask for information here and there, just in case I lose my inspiration. But the director gave a spoiler through his interviews.” The actor then commented, “I heard he’s finished writing detailed treatment and will soon turn it into scripts.”
Source (1)
