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In The Deal, KIM Sang-kyung took the role of the detective. Some may think of him as the go-to actor for detective characters in films, but surprisingly it’s only his third role to date. His character in Memories of Murder (2003) had a huge impact, which may be the reason why many people associate him with the image of the detective. Following Memories of Murder, Montage (2013) and now The Deal, KIM has made a detective trilogy for himself. But KIM emphasized, “This will be the last detective role I’ll play.”

 

I think you might get sick of people associating you with detectives in films with just three films in your filmography.
The Deal’s scenario came from the same production company as Montage. When I asked about the role and they told me that it was a detective, I was going to decline. (Laughs) But the role was quite different from my previous characters. It wasn’t a detective that was just going after the suspect, but I was also the family of a victim that was murdered by the serial killer. The character I played, Tae-su, is a completely different character when he is working as a veteran detective, and after he realizes that he lost his sister. In this point of view, I think the character is completely different from what I’v played in the past.

 

In order to show the emotional changes to the character, you’ve also gone through some physical changes.
I wanted to look like two different people before and after Tae-su finds out about his sister. I’ve lost 10kg ito show how Tae-su suffering after losing a member of his family. It was quite hard to do.

 

What did you want to express as the victim’s family?
Until now, the detective characters were good at hiding and controlling his emotions and the only goal was to capture the suspect. But in The Deal, he’s someone who lets out all of his anger. It was hard psychologically for me to play Tae-su. I was consistently angry and I couldn’t stop crying on set. The side effects were huge. That’s how much I wanted to portray Tae-su’s dramatic emotions. But really, this will be the last detective role I’ll play.

 

The Deal talks about the termination of the death penalty. It’s a sensitive topic to talk about. What are your thoughts on this?
Because I’m the family member of a victim, I could only think of it subjectively rather than objectively during the shoots. However, I hope the film will raise questions about the death penalty and personal revenge as social issues. By probing such questions, I think the film would have done its purpose.

As an actor, don’t you want to try a playing a villain instead of a detective?
I think an actor is highly influenced by what kind of characters they play. Although it is just a performance, one must feel the psychology behind killing someone and that’s not something easy to do. If I took on the role of the serial killer, I think I would likely have to get treatment from a psychiatrist after the shoot. However, I’m interested in trying new roles. Just like doctor Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs, I find killers who do not have an explanation behind their actions more attractive.

 

It seems as though you’re more interested in bringing laughter to the audiences than fear.
Being an actor is like working in customer services. If there are no audiences, we wouldn’t exist. I could only be an actor if the audiences want to see me. Actors should console, laugh, and cry with the audiences. It’s a wonderful job to be an actor and I try never to forget that.