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| Actor Lee Jun-hyuk / Courtesy of Ace Factory |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
In "The Roundup: No Way Out," Lee Jun-hyuk undergoes one of the most dramatic physical changes of his career. For the villainous role, he gained around 20 kilograms, got a tan and changed his tone of voice.
"Since I've taken on characters of all types in roles both good and bad, I wanted to make myself unrecognizable to the audience. So I decided to transform my body and change my voice," he said during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Tuesday.
The actor described the process, explaining that he was told by actor, producer and writer Ma Dong-seok to do two things: go to the tanning salon and learn boxing.
"Personally, I don't like getting a tan because I burn easily. So spending a lot of time inside a tanning bed was quite uncomfortable," he said.
While the process was a challenge for the star, he was satisfied with the reactions he got after the transformation. "Now I lost all the weight I gained for the film, but when I was bigger, I loved seeing people's reaction," he said. "I became more extroverted after gaining weight. My personality changed. So did the music I listened to and the films I watched."
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| Actor Lee Jun-hyuk in a scene from the film "The Roundup: No Way Out" / Courtesy of ABO Entertainment |
Lee revealed how he was a fan of Ma and shared his respect for the global action star.
"Ma called me up one day and offered me the role of Joo Sung-cheol, a mysterious drug kingpin. Although I was not sure what kind of movie or character that would be, I just said 'yes' without any hesitation. It was before the release of 'The Roundup,'" he said.
"It was fun revising the script together for 14 hours, sharing ideas about the film and rehearsing. I love how he's always looking to challenge himself and embrace every crew and cast member as one team. There is so much to learn from him."
Lee said he realized there is another villain in "The Roundup: No Way Out" after agreeing to star in the film. "I later found out that there is another villain named Riki (played by Japanese actor Aoki Munetaka). I thought it would be more interesting to have two villains instead of one because that would clearly set us apart from previous installments."
On being compared to actors Yoon Kye-sang, who took up the villainous role of Jang Chen in "The Outlaws" (2017) and Son Suk-ku, who portrayed Kang Hye-sang in "The Roundup" (2022), Lee said his character has more power and money.
"Joo Sung-cheol has more money and power compared to the other two villains. He is a quick thinker and is good at disguising his true identity," he said.
"The Roundup: No Way Out" is currently playing in theaters.
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