Ha Jung-woo chose role in 'Ransomed' for its entertainment value

Movies

Published: 25 Jul. 2023, 16:10 Updated: 25 Jul. 2023, 16:11

Ha Jung-woo chose role in 'Ransomed' for its entertainment value

Actor Ha Jung-woo [SHOWBOX]

Many of the characters played by actor Ha Jung-woo seem to go through bullet-biting pains or have some sort of hardships to overcome. But the actor says he did not select those characters intentionally — rather, it's the result of putting entertainment value as his first priority when selecting the roles.

Ha, one of the highest-grossing actors in Korea with his films having accumulated more than 100 million tickets in total, has starred in films such as “Take Off” (2009), “Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time” (2012), “The Berlin File” (2013), “The Terror Live” (2013) and “Tunnel” (2016). Ha’s characters in these works usually face a daunting task or some physical difficulty — having to stop a terrorist, escape a tunnel, fight criminals and more.

“I think it just turned out that way, for my characters to face difficulties,” Ha said during a group interview with local reporters at a cafe in Jung District, central Seoul, on Monday. “I only look at how entertaining a film would be when I choose the roles, not how hard it will be to play the character.”

Ha Jung-woo plays Min-joon, a diplomat who is tasked with rescuing another diplomat who is held captive by delivering a ransom to the kidnappers. [SHOWBOX]

In his most recent role in the upcoming film “Ransomed,” Ha again faces a challenge. His character Min-joon needs to rescue a kidnapped fellow diplomat being held captive, with the help of Ju Ji-hoon’s character Pan-soo.

“I think this is a very classic story where the main character goes through a lot of trouble to save someone,” Ha said. “And there is also humanism in it. I thought that precisely because the story is a classic, simple one, we could add a lot of things to make it entertaining.”

As “Ransomed” is set across the Middle East and North Africa, Ha had to film on location in Morocco, which was another challenge after having to film “Narco-Saints” (2022) in the Dominican Republic. While the people of Morocco and the Dominican Republic were very kind and welcoming, Ha said he found it hard to spend months on end in a foreign country.

“It was like being back in the military,” Ha said, referring to the mandatory military service that all able-bodied Korean men have to fulfill. “Morocco is an Islamic country, so we couldn’t eat certain foods or drink alcohol, and we were there during Ramadan, which made it even harder. But the Moroccan staff that we worked with together while filming became such great friends during the months we stayed there. I was sad to leave them and gave them a present when we packed up.”

One of the things that enabled Ha to make it through those hard months filming overseas was his friendship with co-star Ju. The pair previously starred together in the blockbuster ”Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” (2017) and its sequel “Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days” (2018).

“The bond and fellowship I have with Ju was what kept me going through those months,” Ha said. “I think the better I know a person, the better I can work with and act with them. Ju and I are like two brothers who grew up in the same household. Of course, because we each played central characters in the ‘Along with the Gods’ series, I did worry about our images from the characters overlapping in ‘Ransomed.’ But that wasn’t a big enough reason to not do this film together.”

Main poster for ″Ransomed″ [SHOWBOX]

Ju is not the only person in “Ransomed” with whom Ha has had a lasting relationship. Director Kim Seong-hun, who has directed films and dramas such as “A Hard Day” (2014) and “Kingdom: Ashin of the North” (2021), previously worked with Ha in “Tunnel.”

“This is my second time working with director Kim, and I look forward to seeing whether our teamwork that paid off in ‘Tunnel’ will also hit home this time,” Ha said. “We prepared for a very long time with ‘Ransomed.’ I received the script for this film around fall 2018, and had so many meetings and discussions about the scenes and characters in the years leading up to actually filming ‘Ransomed’ during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ha, meanwhile, is also preparing for his next role, not as an actor but as a director. He has previously directed two feature films, “Fasten Your Seatbelt” (2013) and “Chronicle of a Blood Merchant” (2015), both of which received good reviews and were moderately successful at the box office. Ha is looking to direct his third feature soon, which will begin filming in September this year.

“Looking back at my career as a director, ‘Fasten Your Seatbelt’ was something I really just wanted to make, while ‘Chronicle of a Blood Merchant’ was my attempt at commercial success with a film,” Ha said. “I wonder now if with that second film I truly had an unspoiled intention for making a film. With my third film I want to go back to when I was making ‘Fasten Your Seatbelt’ and make something that I want and enjoy.”

To find out more about Ha Jung-woo, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]