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In Hollywood, you can often meet a versatile ‘filmmaker’ who is good at both the actor in front of the camera and the director behind the camera. However, the emergence of a director who was an actor is not common news in Korea.

Recently in Korea, however, the ‘wall’ between actors and directors is gradually breaking down. Especially, veteran actors in the Korean film industry have declared their directorship, creating a new wind. 

Korea's leading female actor Moon Sori's directorial debut film The Running Actress(2017), and Kim Yunseok’s directorial debut Another Child (2019), who was recognized as a box office hit actor in many movies including Escape from Mogadishu, and Jung Jinyoung's directorial debut ME AND ME, who was the hero of King And The Clown, the first costume drama that drew 10 million moviegoers for the first time, were recognized by winning prizes in many film festivals abroad.

From 2021, more remarkable new films by the directors who were actors are waiting. Actor Lee Jungjae, who is drawing attention as a global top star through the main character of Squid Game, will debut as a director in 2022 with a spy action film HUNT (TBD). Four young actors, Park Jeongmin, Son Sukku, Choi Heeseo, and Lee Jehoon who are drawing attention from the Korean film industry, also had been debut as director at the 2021 Busan International Film Festival through the short film Unframed project.

H​UNT, Lee Jungjae’s Directorial Debut

On November 13, Director Lee Jungjae's first movie HUNT cranked up. HUNT is a spy action film in which two government agents face huge truth as they chase a spy. Lee Jungjae has been a representative Korean actor for 25 years since his debut as an actor in 1994, starring Director Bae Changho’s film The Young Man. The directorial debut film made by Lee Jungjae, who was reborn as a global star through the Netflix Series Squid Game that brought a huge sensation around the world in 2021, is expected to draw attention from the film industry around the world as well as Korea.

Also, Director Lee Jungjae's HUNT is the first film in 22 years that reunites Lee Jungjae and Jung Woosung, the two main characters of City of The Rising Sun (1999). Director Kim Sungsoo cast the best two youth stars of the time, Lee Jungjae and Jung Woosung, and the film drew a milestone in Korean film history. Since then, Lee Jungjae and Jung Woosung have been in a relationship as long film comrades, but it is the first time in 22 years that the two meet again in one movie.

Lee Jungjae will also play the main character Park Pyeongho in his directorial debut HUNT. Park Pyeongho is a meticulous and cool-hearted character, an NSP agent with a natural sense and intelligence. In addition, Actor Jung Woosung, who has shown a wide range of characters across genres such as Innocent Witness (2019) and Steel Rain series, will appear as passionate and bold Kim Jungdo, an NSP agent. The two characters are special agents with their own beliefs, and the doubts between the two characters form an intense tension in the movie.

In addition, Actor Jeon Hyejin of The Merciless (2017), which was invited to the Midnight Screenings at the Cannes,  plays another agent to help Lee Jungjae. Heo Sungtae, who worked with Lee Jungjae in Squid Game, will also appear as an NSP agent pressuring him in the film. Heo Sungtae said, "Making a movie with Actor Jung Woosung and Director Lee Jungjae seemed to be dreaming in itself. I expect it to be a movie that resonates with the audience greatly." Jung Woosung, the producer and main character of HUNT, also expressed confidence. He said, "The 100 times of shooting was smooth as if it were flowing with water. It is especially meaningful to me in that I act in the film with Director Lee Jungjae after City of The Rising Sun. Thanks to the passionate actors and staff, I was able to run at full speed while filming the movie.”

Director Lee Jungjae does not hide his confidence in his first movie HUNT. “I'd like to thank all the staff for their fierce consideration to complete better scenes in the long journey of the 100 times of shooting for the last six months. I had to lead the film as a newbie director preparing for my directorial debut and a leading actor at the same time, but thanks to the fellow actors who worked together, I was able to finish it successfully. I think I can show a great movie to the audience waiting for HUNT.” Expectations are growing on how Director Lee Jungjae drew the spy games between the two agents digging into huge conspiracies amid suspicions and vigilance. HUNT is scheduled to be released in 2022 after completing the second half of the work.

Park Jeongmin, Lee Jehoon, Choi Heeseo, Son Sukku, Away from the Frame of Actors with Unframed 

In the past decade, four actors who have emerged as ‘new faces’ to take charge of the Korean film industry and have become pillars of the Korean film made their directorial debuts in 2021. Actors Park Jeongmin, Lee Jehoon, Choi Heeseo, and Son Sukku are those who debuted as new directors. Through the short film project Unframed, they showed their amazing capabilities as directors exploring new possibilities away from the frame of ‘actors.’ Unframed, planned for a long time, written, and directed by the four new directors, was invited to the Panorama category of the Busan International Film Festival held in October 2021 to prove its completeness. The four directors received favorable reviews for their individuality and mise-en-scene in terms of genres and subject matters.

Park Jeongmin and Lee Jehoon, regarded as ‘the Future of Korean Actors,’ co-starred in Bleak Night (2011), the Korean independent film masterpiece, and they debuted as directors through Unframed together.  First of all, Park Jeongmin directed Vote for ‘I don’t know’, which depicts the coming-of-age story of elementary school children in a ‘noir’ style. The movie depicts a problematic situation when a timid boy holds a ‘Casting Vote’ for the class president election, with impressive fast-beat music and brilliant camera work. Regarding this work, the director said, "Unlike the memories of adults, childhood is not as beautiful as fairy tales. Adults will be able to empathize with the boy who is in trouble between the strong and the weak as a member of society.” The scene with 27 child actors was almost a ‘war zone,’ but he says he gained pleasant worries as a director. "I made the movie while hanging out with the children as if I were an elementary school kid. After completing the movie, I respect all the directors in the world. In the future, I vowed to become an actor who follows the director's direction well." (Laughter)

Director Lee Jehoon's Blue Happiness is a story about finding happiness for an ordinary young man with anxiety and worries about the future. Director Lee Jehoon looks at the reality of youth in our time sharply and warmly in this work. "For my first movie, I wanted to draw the lives of people living in my contemporaries. I wanted to look at young people suffering from employment difficulties, being swept away by the stock investment craze, and dreaming of small happiness from their point of view. While writing the script, only Actor Jung Haein came to mind as the main character. I was really happy to see his acting through the camera."

Actor Choi Heeseo, who shows irreplaceable acting skills in Anarchist from Colony and Our Body, also played the main character in her directorial debut film. Bandi, which features a single mother raising a nine-year-old daughter, shows an outstanding POV of Choi Heeseo, a female director. "I once played the role of a single mom as an actor. At that time, I thought it would be nice to have a movie that depicts their lives deeper. I also wanted to tell the story of approaching the ‘pain of absence’ from the eyes of a child, not of adults. Also, I was happy to play Actor Park Soi’s mom again, who played the role of my daughter in DELIVER US FROM EVIL before.” Bandi shows Director Choi Heeseo's directing ability, which amplifies the character's emotions with a big close-up in an attractive way.

Finally, Director Son Sukku's RERUN is a road movie depicting the affectionate day of an aunt and her nephew who accompanied their relative's wedding. The short journey of the nephew, who is an aspiring actor but an ‘unemployed’ in reality, and his aunt, who understands him better than his mom, leaves a calm but long impression. Director Son Sukku said, "The main character shows a lot of me in the past. The relationship between an aunt and her nephew could be close, but it could be distant, too. Nevertheless, the relationship between a nephew and his aunt can have a deep intimacy, which is a bit different from that of his mother. I wanted to capture that deep and awkward relationship in the movie." Director Son Sukku added that he especially worked hard on location and casting. "I wanted to show real feelings. It was not easy to direct the first film, but I was able to complete it thanks to the great actors."

From now, the four directors are likely to expand their own stories by acting and directing simultaneously. “I want to continue the opportunity that I can experience writing screenplays and directing at the same time. I will continue to dream and make a world of movies." Director Lee Jehoon's ambition seems to represent the aspiration of his colleague directors. You can look forward to the next film by ‘famous’ new directors who cross boundaries and break the frame in the world of movies.