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| From left, director Takashi Miike and actors Jung Hae-in, Ko Kyung-pyo and Kim Hye-jun pose during a press conference for Disney+'s upcoming Korean crime thriller original series, "Connect," at the Disney Content Showcase in Singapore. Courtesy of Walt Disney Company |
By Lee Gyu-lee
SINGAPORE ― Actor Jung Hae-in offered a peek into his role as an immortal human in the first sci-fi genre series in his career, Disney+ original series "Connect."
"This is the first sci-fi project I've taken part in and there were more computer graphic-made scenes than I expected. I came to realize how impressive those actors in the Marvel superhero projects that have a lot of CGI scenes are," the actor said during the Disney Content Showcase APAC 2022 held at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Thursday.
"Shooting for a CGI scene is very hard. You have to act with your imagination and it feels awkward and uncomfortable. But we had such a great working environment and the staff, the director and the co-stars were very considerate of one another. So I was able to shake off that awkwardness."
The six-part Korean original, set to release on Dec. 7, revolves around an immortal human, Ha Dong-soo (Jung), who is kidnapped and gets one of his eyeballs taken for organ trafficking. He starts seeing from the perspective of someone else, (Ko Kyung-pyo) who received an eye implant.
The crime sci-fi series, based on the webcomics of the same name, is led by Japanese director Takashi Miike, who helmed the 2010 action film, "13 Assassins."
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| A scene from the series, "Connect" / Courtesy of Walt Disney Company |
Jung said the first thing that came to his mind when he created his character was loneliness.
"He's naturally a nice person. So, as this character learns more and more about his power and feels that he should use it for the right cause, I kept trying to put myself in his shoes in terms of how he would act and think," he said. "I didn't think of him as a superhero, but rather as someone who wants to become one. I felt that he is a man who struggles to stop accidents and crimes."
The director said that the series will talk about human loneliness and weakness. "The themes of this work are 'uniqueness,' 'how weak a human's mind can be,' 'realizing the differences between me and others and whether I feel insecure about it,' and 'because I feel those insecurities, I became lonely and need to fight it off,'" he said.
"On the surface, it has thrilling elements like action and chase sequences. But at the same time, it's also the story of a human."
The Japanese director said that he was able to experience the passion and energy of Korean actors by working on this series together.
"I'm a big fan of Korean content. And whenever I watch them, I would wonder what would be the difference between Japanese actors and Koreans. And (with this series) I've learned that the fundamental passion is different. (Korean actors) are enthusiastic and have a lot of energy. So along with their acting skills, they have every important element that an actor should have," he said.
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