Ryu Seung Ryong scores his fourth box office hit with Extreme Job
Veteran Korean actor loved Extreme Job director's sense of humour
As the first Korean to star in four movies that have attracted more than 10 million viewers each, veteran actor Ryu Seung Ryong is on a career high.
After headlining back-to-back top-grossers Masquerade (2012), Miracle In Cell No. 7 (2013) and The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014), the 48-year-old's latest box office hit is action comedy Extreme Job, which is showing here.
In it, squad chief Go (Ryu) leads a team of detectives (Lee Hanee, Lee Dong Hwi, Jin Seon Kyu, Gong Myung) on the brink of disbandment to start a fried chicken restaurant for an undercover drug-bust operation, but they end up busier than ever when the eatery becomes famous for its food.
The film has become a major commercial success in South Korea, grossing 91.5 billion won (S$110 million) on a production budget of 6.5 billion won, and surpassing 10 million ticket sales in just 15 days.
It is also the highest grossing Korean comedy film ever (surpassing the previous record held by Miracle In Cell No. 7), and is the second-most-watched film in Korea of all time (behind The Admiral: Roaring Currents).
What was your reason for choosing to be part of the cast of Extreme Job?
The story theme is a very interesting and unique one.
I had also heard that director Lee Byeong Heon has a great sense of humour and the way he sets his lines is one of a kind, and that he was the mastermind behind this film. Also, I have always wanted to take on another comedic film since Miracle In Cell No. 7.
How was working with your on-screen narcotics team?
Is it possible to have this much fun and joy from start to finish while also having such good colleagues while working on such a good production? As we came towards the end of filming, I felt like ending it was such a pity and that was the extent of how fun it really was. We were as tight-knit as a family and I hope we all will continue to stay that way till the film gets officially released.
How was it like collaborating with Lee? Was there anything special about his methods?
I found myself giggling while reading through (the script), which has never happened to me before accepting a role. I have always thought that Lee is a fun figure. However, when I got to meet him, he was more introverted and shy towards people. Whenever there was a problem with our performance or if it was different from what he thought it should be, he would always give accurate and brilliant directions which really helped a lot. Besides that, he was mostly trying to get us going with our own style of speech, rhythm, language and so on.
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