Actor Oh Jung-se has revealed the secret behind his prolific career.
On the 24th, the JTBC weekend drama ‘Everyone is Fighting Their Own Worthlessness’ (hereafter ‘Mo-ja-mu-ssa’) came to an end. The drama follows a person’s journey to find peace while struggling with envy and jealousy among successful friends. It has been praised as a well-made series for its empathetic portrayal of characters healing and growing while facing their inner inferiority and wounds.
Oh Jung-se played the role of Park Kyung-se, a “successful” director who has directed five feature films and is the husband of Go Hye-jin (played by Kang Mal-geum), the CEO of Gobak Film. However, Park experiences internal turmoil after his latest film flops, earning Oh Jung-se praise for portraying a “lovely loser.”
Oh Jung-se explained, “Although the setting is the film industry, I didn’t dive too deep into that. I thought of it as a story about ordinary people. The line that felt most refreshing was, ‘Who makes movies to make money? You make them to enjoy it.'”
Even though ‘Mo-ja-mu-ssa’ just ended, Oh Jung-se is immediately jumping back into “hard-working mode.” First, he returns to viewers in the MBC drama ‘Fifty Percent’.
Oh Jung-se shared, “People say I work without resting, but for me, going to work feels more like going on a trip. I feel like I’m resting within that process. I think I can give a different feel to each project by trying to immerse myself as much as possible in the work and the character. I had a blast acting alongside Shin Ha-kyun and Heo Sung-tae in a project where we spend a lot of time together. I hope viewers enjoy it with a relaxed mind.”
In the movie ‘Wild Thing,’ releasing on June 3, he transforms once again into Choi Sung-gon, an unfortunate ballad singer who remained in 2nd place for 39 weeks, pushed aside by a “triangle” hit.
Oh Jung-se introduced the film, saying, “I was one of the audience members who really enjoyed ‘Sweet and Salty Life,’ so I wanted to work with the director, and it finally happened. I actually put in a lot of effort behind the scenes for ‘Wild Thing’ and made many suggestions to the director. The director, as the captain, trimmed the excess and helped shape the character while looking at the overall picture. We tested several looks for the long hair, and it came down to long hair versus a bob. The staff voted, and long hair won.”
He continued, “When transforming into a wild boar hunter, I wanted a style that wasn’t just purely ridiculous. In the original scenario, the hunter style was only for the audition, and he would return to straight hair when performing on stage. However, we decided it would be better to sing ballads in the hunter visual. For the choreography of ‘I Like You,’ I tried various things, including finger movements, to give it a more spontaneous feel.”
Although the movie hasn’t officially opened yet, teasers have already sparked praise, with some saying, “Oh Jung-se just made everything funny, and that’s it.” Oh Jung-se confessed, “On set, it was a battle with myself. I received vocal training, but I’m not a great singer. Since I had to act like I was the best on set, I felt embarrassed as soon as the scene ended. I fought a lonely battle with myself on stage. There were discussions about appearing on music shows, but I worried that performing with lip-syncing might be a nuisance to some people.”
