The Haunted Monster Actor - Chapter 35



Only Krnovel

Episode 35

“Thank you all for your hard work. The art team will stay and finish the rest of the work, and the rest of you will move on to the next site!”

It was Bae Geum-sik who approached Maeng Jong-ho, whose movements had become more hectic along with the assistant director’s shouts.

“Director Maeng over there.”

“Yes, sir, go ahead.”

“Just in case… Is this really all I have to say?”

“Is there still one god left?”

“Other than that… … Is there anything else? I can do anything if you just tell me to do it.”

“… … Senior, what kind of daily drama is this? You know my style, don’t you?”

A bitter smile appeared on Bae Geum-sik’s lips as he heard Maeng Jong-ho’s words.

“Yeah, that’s true too.”

Unfortunately, this is all the screen time for the role of ‘Superman’s Country Boy’.

After the scene where Yoo-seol, who has returned to the pension, is guided to the ‘restaurant owner who keeps a secret (played by Seo Yeo-ok)’, ‘Chon-bu’ does not appear again in the film.

Although it needs to have the impact of reversing the mood of the play, the part itself is practically close to a minor role.

It’s something I’ve known since I started working on the project, but I can’t help but feel bitter.

“I don’t have any filming to do today, so should I go somewhere and have a drink during the day?”

As he was leaving the busy scene behind with a regretful expression, someone approached Bae Geum-sik.

“Thank you for your hard work, senior.”

“Huh? Actor Kim? Didn’t you have any filming to do today?”

Hyunsoo nodded.

“Yes, it seems that today’s schedule is centered around the gods that Professor Seo Yeo-ok appears in.”

“But what’s going on here?”

“I came to see my senior.”

“Huh? Me? Why?”

“Yes. Actually, I was going to come see you and tell you this in the morning… … .”

“So it was actor Kim who was chasing me since morning?”

Hyunsoo explained the whole story of his visit to Geumsik, who had a bewildered look on his face.

“The teacher told me to come and see you? I don’t know what he meant… … Anyway, let’s go.”

“Yes? Where?”

“If two men are talking, how can a well-made green bottle be left out?”

* * *

A shabby old shop by the sea.

In a restaurant that wasn’t even accepting lunch customers yet, Bae Geum-sik ordered a bottle of soju along with hot seafood kalguksu.

Just thinking about what to eat with the spicy soup seasoned with well-drained clams made me salivate from ear to ear.

widely!

Kyaa―!

Bae Geum-sik, who had just had a shot of soju, laughed as the restaurant left.

“Hahahahaha, in short, you came to me to ask for help with your acting? And on a day off from filming? Whee, you’re so passionate because you’re young!”

Hyunsoo was once again inwardly amazed as he watched Bae Geumsik smile with his broad shoulders wide open.

‘I understand better when I look closely. How can someone… … have such a different ‘line’ when acting?’

It was a line that I wouldn’t have paid much attention to if Seo Yeo-ok hadn’t given me a hint.

The ‘line’ that Hyun-soo mentioned has many meanings, but the part that he was most impressed by was Bae Geum-sik’s ‘body line’.

A completely different liveliness from when he played it as an old man.

It was hard to believe that Lee, who played the role of a country bumpkin with a hunched back and an unusual look in his eyes, and Bae Geum-sik, who played the role of a straight-backed, bright-eyed man, were the same person.

Hyunsoo opened his mouth as he received Bae Geumsik’s glass.

“To be honest, I didn’t know how special your acting was until I heard you say that.”

“… … Huh? My acting is special? Where exactly is it?”

Baek Geum-sik waved his hand with an embarrassed expression.

“What kind of special acting did I do… … You’re giving me such praise for acting that was just a short appearance and talking nonsense.”

“To be honest, I wanted to learn it. In particular, the part where he leans forward to pick up the receiver was really great.”

“… … Are you kidding me? That’s NG, I’ll take it.”

Hyun-soo’s face was serious as he looked at Bae Geum-sik, who had a bewildered expression.

“Don’t people instinctively use their muscles when they fall?”

When he made a mistake by falling, he was not a strong and healthy Bae Geum-sik, but an old man with a worn-out body.

Acting skills that even embody the subtle tremors of an elderly person’s body caused by their lack of muscle strength when bending over.

What this means is that he has perfect control over his muscles, like an ‘old man’.

In short, even the NG scene where he falls was part of the acting.

A level that is absolutely impossible to reach with the current state of affairs.

‘Is this why you train your body every morning?’

Now, Hyun-soo’s eyes looking at Bae Geum-sik were filled with respect for his senior.

“… … Ahem. I don’t know English very well, but it feels good to hear compliments.”

When he heard the compliment from a junior who recognized his acting skills, and especially from a rising star who is just starting to get attention for his acting skills, a smile naturally formed on his lips.

“Haha, actually, even in a theater world full of flying and crawling monsters, there aren’t many people who can keep up with me when it comes to ‘gesture acting.’ Okay, what’s the problem your junior is facing right now?”

“It is not easy to control a body that reacts to emotions in a random way.”

“A body that reacts to emotions on its own… … Okay. This is the most basic of the basics.”

“yes?”

“Controlling the body’s unconscious reactions. Isn’t that the most basic of basics in acting?”

“Is that the basic… …?”

“I don’t know much about cathode ray tubes or screens, but the place I was mostly active was the ‘stage.’”

“… … ?”

“On stage, every gesture of an actor and every tremble in their voice are conveyed to the audience.”

“Yes, that is true.”

“Anyway, I can’t kick out a junior who wants to learn from me and buy me drinks like this. Instead.”

“… … ?”

“The price you pay for learning from me… will not be easy.”

“What if you say it’s a price?”

In response to Hyun-soo’s question, Bae Geum-sik put down his glass and spoke.

“As you can see, I’m almost done with filming.”

“yes.”

“But… … I’m not going to go up to Seoul for the time being, using filming as an excuse. I’m just going to get annoyed if I see my wife’s face.”

“ah.”

But, what does this have to do with the price…?

“So for a while… … .”

“… … ?”

“Will you be my drinking buddy?”

Bae Geum-seok, who spoke like that, had a strong scent of Jang Do-seok(?).

* * *

If ’emotions’ are software for an actor, ‘gestures’ are a kind of hardware.

No matter how good your feelings are, if your imitation of gestures and actions is awkward, no matter how good your acting is, it will look awkward.

Theater actors, who always face the audience and expose their ‘full body’, cannot help but be more adept at gesture acting than actors in dramas or movies.

And Bae Geum-sik’s gesture acting was the best among them.

‘Opportunities to learn like this are rare.’

Hyunsoo focused on every word Bae Geumsik said.

“For example, let’s say a junior actor has to act as an ‘old man’ like me. What would it take for ‘Kim Hyun-soo’, who has a young and healthy body, to act out the ‘gestures’ of an old man?”

Hyunsoo, who had been thinking for a moment, continued to answer.

“Well… … I think it’s an analysis and study of the elderly’s usual movements.”

“That’s true too. But no matter how much you analyze and research, what if ‘Kim Hyun-soo’s’ body can’t keep up with that ‘movement’? Isn’t it all in vain?”

After all, acting is a kind of performance art.

Action is movement, and movement can never be accomplished through ‘imagination’ alone.

‘In order to implement movements that fit your purpose, appropriate physical training is essential.’

Fasting was what I wanted to talk about as a training method now.

“The way to become old is simple. Just don’t do Kim Hyun-soo.”

You’re not doing Kim Hyun-soo?

“What the heck is that… … ?”

“Human movement is fundamentally influenced by consciousness. Isn’t this something you learned in college?”

As Hyunsoo nodded, Bae Geumsik continued speaking.

“What I’m saying is to empty that consciousness. To completely abandon the fact that Bae Geum-sik and Kim Hyun-soo are the subjects of the acting.”

They become so immersed in a role that they forget that they are an actor and instead become the role itself.

What Bae Geum-sik is talking about now is also in line with the method acting theory that Stanislavsky talked about.

However, this is only theoretical content, and applying it to reality and putting it into practice is a completely different matter.

Hyunsoo could use his ‘dream’ ability to enter a state close to method acting, but that didn’t mean that Hyunsoo’s consciousness completely disappeared.

Do actors completely erase their own existence while acting?

Common sense tells us that this is impossible.

“Is that possible?”

“Yeah, it’s possible if you make a switch.”

“switch?”

“You could call it a kind of ‘default.’”

“Basic… … value?”

“Of course, it’s not as easy as it sounds.”

Fasting nodded and continued.

“For me, that default is ‘basic posture.’ Now, look at my posture.”

After hearing Bae Geum-sik’s words, Hyun-soo took another look at his body lines.

Despite having had some alcohol in her, she maintains a graceful and upright posture.

A posture that you might only see in dancers who receive posture correction every day.

‘So this is why it stood out so much during the script reading.’

Bae Geum-sik was an actor who displayed a unique presence even just by being still.

The secret was in the posture.

“Everyone unconsciously develops bad habits and bad postures as they live. And all of those bad postures.”

‘It’s not the character’s, it’s mine, ‘Kim Hyun-soo’s.’

“If you continue to consciously train yourself to maintain the most correct posture, you will learn. What is the difference between correct posture and incorrect posture? How much you have to move your muscles to make the ‘gesture’ you picture in your head deviate from the default.”

Baek Geum-sik’s lecture continued.

“You can learn through that process. How different is the movement of the ‘self’ that you recognize through the right posture from the ‘object’ that you have to express? Only then can you express the movement that you imagine with minimal error through action.”

After hearing Bae Geum-sik’s explanation, Hyun-soo sat there blankly for a while, lost in thought.

‘This is too high a level.’

Most of the theoretical content of the lectures he speaks of are things that Hyun-soo also heard during his college days.

But not only do you organize it clearly and systematically in your own way, but you also put it into practice and apply it yourself?

‘This guy… is he a genius?’

It’s not just about what he says and what he thinks.

The part where Hyunsoo now feels that Bae Geumsik is a genius is his teaching method of helping others understand what he knows.

Thanks to that, Hyunsoo was able to understand most of what Bae Geumsik had just said without difficulty.

“It seems that in any kind of acting, you need to know the ‘original state’ to be able to transform it.”

It was at that moment that a strange sight appeared in Bae Geum-sik’s eyes.

‘Huh? Look at this guy? You already understand all that crap just because I told you a few words? If this is how it is… … .’

Wouldn’t it be fun to teach?

Continued in the next episode