I Will Live As An Actor - Chapter 99:

Chapter 99

“Historical drama?”

The rumors in the broadcasting industry spread as fast as those in the financial district of Yeouido.

If you ask who is the most popular actor in South Korea right now, the name Jang Young-guk would be the first to come to mind.

He not only broke the new record in the Korean film industry, but also aced the college entrance exam.

He captivated both the entertainment and education sectors in one breath.

He was the actor who even drew the attention of the parents who had no interest in celebrities.

“Is that a tabloid? Even a passing dog would laugh. How can an actor who is at the peak of his popularity choose a historical drama out of all the options? He’s not in a movie or a prime time drama. That’s nonsense.”

“Park sunbae, have you been living in a bubble? It’s true. I have a college friend who works as a PD in MBS drama department. He said Jang Young-guk really did the script reading. The rumor is already spreading like wildfire over there. They just have to negotiate the appearance fee and other details, so they put an embargo on it.”

“Huh.”

Park Yong-soo, a PD in KBC drama department, let out a sigh of disbelief.

He was the director of the special project historical drama that was scheduled to air next year on KBC.

He sneered when he heard that MBS was airing a historical drama at the same time slot.

After all, KBC was the traditional powerhouse in historical dramas.

“Is Jang Young-guk crazy?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Do you know how much the film industry is trying to get him? But he suddenly switched to a historical drama. I thought he would definitely go to the film industry, but I don’t know what’s in the head of their CEO.”

“Do you think it was the CEO’s decision? Of course, Jang Young-guk insisted on it. I don’t know if I should call him brave or arrogant. He’ll probably cry and beg to cancel the contract after the crank-in.”

Come on, filming a historical drama is not the same as a regular drama.

Jang Young-guk’s next work was not only the talk of the town in KBC, but also in SBC.

If anything, SBC was the most sensitive.

The PDs were as restless as the shareholders who nitpicked at the general meeting.

“Laozi said, if someone harms you, don’t try to get revenge. Just sit quietly by the river and watch the water. Soon you’ll see his corpse floating by.”

“Cha sunbae, isn’t corpse a bit harsh?”

“Hey, if an actor loses his popularity, he’s not an actor, he’s a corpse. Frankly, Jang Young-guk has been lucky so far. I didn’t understand why he tried to cast him for more money than Kim Hyuk in our SBC. But he even ruined that himself. He’s a young kid who’s full of himself. Honestly, he’s overrated for getting a perfect score on the college entrance exam. Right, Kim PD?”

PD Kim Jin silently walked to the editing room. His colleagues exchanged glances and whispered.

“That guy, he was so confident when he prepared for the masterpiece drama. He said he would take all the production pie in the drama department.”

“Cha sunbae, be careful, Kim sunbae might hear you. The ratings were pretty good, weren’t they?”

“Listen, he messed up the lineup because of his greed. And the ratings are good? They barely avoided a deficit thanks to the PPLs plastered all over the work. Anyway, you have to be humble at all times. You never know when you’ll fall like that.”

Kim Jin heard all the backbiting from his colleagues, but he didn’t care.

It was true.

He had prepared a masterpiece drama with a huge budget from SBC, but the response was lukewarm.

Come on, the ratings were worse than the drama Youth, not to mention the public reaction.

The ratings would have been fatal if it wasn’t aired during prime time. Anyway.

“Historical drama.”

Kim Jin thought of Jang Young-guk’s face.

Someone said he was lucky to be successful at a young age. But Kim Jin thought differently.

Jang Young-guk’s chosen works were all high-difficulty paintings.

No one could easily imagine the brush strokes.

But Jang Young-guk was an actor who drew every picture perfectly.

He felt it when he filmed with him.

It was like watching a veteran actor’s performance. In that sense.

“I have a feeling he’ll hit it big this time.”

Kim Jin’s sharp intuition was activated again.

***

[Jang Young-guk’s next work is MBS’s historical drama, tentative title ‘Yeonsan, The King’s Secret’]

[Jang Young-guk’s appearance fee sets the highest record for MBS dramas!]

[Challenging Yeonsan-gun, will Jang Young-guk create a syndrome in historical dramas?]

[‘Yeonsan, The King’s Secret’ original novel in high demand!]

As the appearance fee and contract details were agreed upon, the embargo was also lifted.

As the most popular actor in Korea, Jang Young-guk’s next work news started to pour out through the mass media.

The public’s interest was amplified by the fact that he would play Yeonsan-gun, the most brutal tyrant in the history of the Joseon Dynasty, recorded in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.

‘He really sharpened his sword.’

MBS drama department did not hesitate to promote it massively.

They even broadcasted the video of Young-guk’s script reading on the internet and their entertainment program.

-A storm is coming.

Young-guk, dressed in plain clothes, recited the last line with reddened eyes.

The viewers who were watching the TV screen gasped in admiration.

Yeon-su, who was watching him from home, revealed her complicated feelings.

“Oppa has everything.”

He was a man who had both acting skills and brains.

When they were young and co-starred as child actors, she never imagined that the gap would be so high.

Of course, at that time, Yeon-su was too young to know what acting was. But didn’t she realize it painfully when they shared the stage at the Korean Theater Festival?

‘A person born to be an actor.’

That was the only explanation.

He said he had never been on a theater stage before, but he was different from her.

He confidently showed his own acting in front of countless audiences, as if he had swallowed the word ‘nervous’.

She felt an indescribable aura from him.

“Now that he’s going to college.”

Why is there such a saying?

Everyone dates when they go to college.

That’s how much the students who were tied to the entrance exam enjoy their freedom.

How many female college students would fall for Young-guk?

Her mother, who was watching TV with Yeon-su in the living room, asked.

“Yeon-su, isn’t that actress Cha Hye-jin?”

It was MBS’s entertainment program.

They were reporting the news of Cha Hye-jin, the most beautiful actress among the current actresses.

How could there be so many beauties among the Korean actresses, but when Cha Hye-jin was in the middle, they all became background.

The MC added in an excited voice.

-We have some news about the casting of the historical drama ‘Yeonsan, The King’s Secret’, which is being produced by MBS drama department. The role of Yeonsan-gun, the hottest topic these days, is played by actor Jang Young-guk, and the role of Jang Nok-su, who everyone was curious about, is…

Yeon-su felt her heart sink at the following words.

-Actress Cha Hye-jin has decided to take the role.

***

‘Jang Nok-su’s role, Cha Hye-jin.’

Young-guk blinked his eyes at the unexpected result.

It seemed that MBS had pulled out a real sword.

Jang Nok-su was the legendary courtesan who shook Yeonsan-gun’s heart.

In that sense, Cha Hye-jin’s beauty was a passing score.

Even the average actresses would become squids next to her, as the saying goes.

‘But can she act well?’

In his previous life, Cha Hye-jin’s acting skills were controversial.

She was a prolific actress, but the common opinion was that her acting skills did not improve.

There were various theories behind it. Her face was too outstanding to cover her acting skills, or she did not get a proper role.

‘I’ll see when I go to the set.’

In the end, it was something he had to see for himself.

Anyway, visually, there was no actress who suited Jang Nok-su’s role as much as Cha Hye-jin.

As evidence, the reaction was quite hot among the media and the public.

They already called Young-guk’s Yeonsan-gun and Cha Hye-jin’s Jang Nok-su a fantasy couple. That was when.

“Young-guk, are you really decided on the college?”

Kim Sung-hwan, CEO, asked with curiosity.

There were a lot of talks about which college Young-guk would choose.

Some said he would boldly give up college admission for his acting career.

‘What a nonsense.’

If he was going to give up college admission, why would he take the college entrance exam?

“You really want to go here?”

Kim Sung-hwan’s eyes showed a doubtful look.

It was because the major that Young-guk said was.

***

“Korea National University of Arts, Department of Theater and Film…”

Korea National University of Arts was a well-known university in the country.

However, it did not care much about the academic scores of the applicants, but rather their practical skills.

That’s why students of various ages were enrolled without being bound by their grades.

It was the place where the rising stars of the art world sought to go.

“What a waste of grades.”

Kim Sung-hwan, the CEO, muttered to himself without realizing it. He had every reason to do so.

The boy was a perfect scorer on the college entrance exam.

He could have gone to Korea University, or any of the prestigious departments where the top students gathered, such as Business Administration or Law. His grades were outstanding even among them.

“Young-guk, think about it again. It’s not that Korea National University of Arts is bad, but it doesn’t make sense to not go to Korea University with your grades. And your major too. Why don’t you broaden your horizons and think about it? You know that learning on the field is more important than learning at college, right? And you don’t have to choose Theater and Film just because you want to be an actor. There are many celebrities who are known for being smart and they deliberately go to college for Sociology or Psychology.”

Being an actor meant losing some of the social skills naturally.

The culprit was the huge amount of money they received, and the help they got from the people around them, such as managers, stylists, and so on.

Kim Sung-hwan had seen many cases where once-famous actors were scammed because of that.

That’s why he originally wanted to recommend Law as a major.

“Even if I go again, I’ll choose Theater and Film.”

“Again?”

“There’s something like that.”

At that moment, Young-guk uttered a single word.

He remembered that he didn’t have a dream of becoming an actor when he entered the Department of Theater and Film in his previous life.

He was just envious of the glamorous lives of the actors who lived in luxury apartments overlooking the Han River and adorned themselves with designer brands.

It was a choice he made to escape from poverty.

That’s why he didn’t have any pride as an actor while attending the Department of Theater and Film.

He only had one obsession: to get away from poverty as much as possible.

Of course, he did grow into an actor who was crazy about acting in the process. But the reason why Young-guk chose the Department of Theater and Film again was simple.

This time, he wanted to live as a true.

“Actor.”