Lee Jung Jae will finally get to work with his longtime friend, Jung Woo Sung, in his directorial film, Hunt.
Lee Jung Jae and Jung Woo Sung debuted in 1993 and 1994, respectively, leading them to work in several flicks as they established their careers.
The two actors — who eventually became friends — also became busy with their separate projects.
Lee Jung Jae, who recently became an international star after appearing in Netflix’s Squid Game, starred in dramas The Last Witness, Over the Rainbow, An Affair, The Housemate, and The Face Reader.
Meanwhile, Jung Woo Sung scored high-grossing box office hits like Reign of Assassins, Don’t Forget Me, Scarlet Innocence, A Moment to Remember, Innocent Witness, The City of Madness, and Steel Rain.
Twenty-three years since they worked together in the 1999’s City of the Rising Sun, Lee Jung Jae and Jung Woo Sung finally found their way back to each other.
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Lee Jung Jae, Jung Woo Sung To Work Together in Hunt
In a recent press conference for Hunt, Lee Jung Jae revealed that Jung Woo Sung rejected him four times when he showed the actor the script during the early stages of development.
He also told the fans present at the Megabox Seongsu cinema (via The Korea Times) that he went through a lot of revisions in the past four years before he was able to cast his friend for Hunt.
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Hunt is an upcoming film directed by Lee Jung Jae. It is set in the 1980s, telling the story of two rival intelligence agents, Lee Jung Jae’s Park Pyong Ho and Jung Woo Sung’s Kim Jung Do. They are tasked to uncover a North Korean spy who stole confidential information that can threaten the country’s security.
The film also received an invitation from the 75th Cannes Film Festival for its Midnight Screening’s non-competitive category.
To allow themselves to play their characters perfectly, the real-life friends reportedly did not speak to each other so they could stabilize their characters’ conflict.
Lee Jung Jae Almost Quit While Making Hunt
Aside from facing Jung Woo Sung’s rejections, Lee Jung Jae also struggled because he nearly quit several times after starting to direct “by accident.”
"Initially, I was offered a role and then I just wanted to produce the film. I had to search for a screenwriter and a director, but I couldn't find one. So I took on the task of writing the screenplay and directing myself," he said.
But his decades-old of a career as an actor helped him as a director. He communicated with the cast and crew during the rehearsals to ensure a smooth-flowing recording.
Lee Jung Jae’s Hunt will premiere on August 10.
Check back for more stories, updates, and rumors about Hunt and Lee Jung Jae here at EpicStream!