Interview with Yoo Haijin of The Night Owl

This fall, The Night Owl, a ‘Well-made’ Korean costume drama, is revitalizing the Korean theater district. And Actor Yoo Haijin is at the center of it. And he has already well-known as a strong box office powerhouse. In September, Actor Yoo Haijin revitalized the sluggish theater district with Confidential Assignment 2: International, in which he starred with Hyun Bin. If Confidential Assignment 2: International confirmed Yoo Haijin's ‘Ticket Power for Comedies’, The Night Owl is a work that once again confirms the wide range of his ability to pull off various characters in-depth. 

Released on November 23rd, The Night Owl surpassed 1 million viewers in a week and enjoys a steady box office hit, maintaining the top spot at the box office in the 2nd week of its release. Director Ahn Taejin, a former assistant director of King and the Clown, which recorded the first legend among Korean costume dramas with 10 million viewers, recalled Yoo Haijin when he planned the historical thriller, The Night Owl. In King and the Clown, Actor Yoo played a street clown, but in The Night Owl, he plays a heartless king who tries to secure his throne. It is quite symbolic that Actor Yoo Haijin stars as ‘King’ for the first time after playing numerous characters in his career. 

Yoo Haijin said about the box office hit of The Night Owl this way, "I was rather worried because I enjoyed the original script so much. Anyway, it's a relief that many movie fans love the film. Since the market is so sluggish, I hope it will be a little more than BEP (Break-even Point)," smiling pleasantly. 

“I Was Worried That the Audience Would Laugh at”

Actor Yoo Haijin's new film, The Night Owl, is a thriller about a blind acupuncturist (Ryu Junyeol), who can only see at night, fighting to reveal the truth after witnessing the death of Crown Prince Sohyun (Kim Sungcheol). In the drama, Yoo Haijin plays King Injo, the father of Crown Prince Sohyun. King Injo is the 16th king of the Joseon Dynasty, who ascended the throne through a coup. He spent years of glory and humiliation through the Qing invasions of Joseon twice and the Indignity at Samjeondo. King Injo has been portrayed several times in various historical dramas and movies because he is at the center of dramatic history. 

Actor Yoo said, "Actually, I acted the king, regarding him as a fictional character. I've never seen King Injo in movies and dramas, and I'm not well-informed about history. I thought it would be better for me to have only basic information on him because it would give me more space to create a unique character of my own. I thought it was rather fortunate that I only knew what was necessary because there was nothing to compare. It must have been confusing if I referred to and compared the character with existing images from other movies or dramas. So, I just thought that I could express it as just one character in the script. Director Ahn Taejin said, “Since we have a record of the incident in history, we should create the characters based on the facts, neither less nor more, without decorating it nicely or badly. Except for the fact, we created everything with the cinematic imagination.”

In the meantime, Yoo Haijin confessed that there was something else he was worried about. It was the audience's adverse reaction. Although he is a representative actor of Chungmuro, who has appeared in many films and has made numerous hits, this was the first time that he played a king. Moreover, since he had made box office hits with such comical characters, the actor was concerned that the audience would not be able to fully accept him as King Injo. He was relieved to see that no one laughed at his appearance at the premiere before the release.

"I was really worried that the audience would laugh at me. I also worried so much about the first scene I appeared in The Night Owl. I thought I shouldn’t appear so openly when the audience wasn't ready to accept me as a king character. I thought the audience needed time to slowly get used to it. That's why I appeared with my feet in front of me first to give some time to get ready for the audience to imagine, ‘Well, Yoo Haijin is behind the feet scene, and he’s dressed up as a king!’ Although it’s a movie, I’ve known with the comic images more, and even Confidential Assignment 2: International was released recently.” 

An Assistant Director & a Supporting Actor Became the No. 1 Director & Actor at the Box Office in 17 Years 

Of course, all those worries are Yoo Haijin’s overcare. He showed solid acting skills and perfectly portrayed King Injo with his nature from the fragile side shaken by the external environment to the crazy side to protect his life. In particular, the scene of the reversal in the middle is overwhelming. In fact, Yoo Haijin contributed greatly to the fact that the story of The Night Owl can run without losing its strength until the end.

"On the theater stage, I often played roles as important as the king. So, instead of portraying King Injo realistically, I thought I was just doing a play. But not every scene was easy. We filmed the same scenes this way and that way. Especially, since the scene where the king faces a twist in front of Royal Concubine Kang (Jo Yunseo) was a very critical part, I put a lot of thought into how to express my lines. Acting for the scene with facial nerve paralysis was one of the hardest scenes, and I thought a lot about the actual cases that I witnessed in my life. For the scene King Injo was dying, I recalled the last moment of my father when he was dying. I felt that he wanted to say something, but he couldn't."

Actor Yoo Haijin also mentioned the special story with Director Ahn Taejin. Director Ahn and Actor Yoo worked together once in the movie, King and the Clown (2005). Of course, Director Ahn was an assistant director at the time while Yoo Haijin was a supporting role (playing Clown Yukgab). However, 17 years later, the two faced each other again as a director and the main actor, and it was truly touching. In addition, the filming was held in the same place (the Buan set in Jeollabuk-do), where King and the Clown was filmed before, so it was even more touching.

"King and the Clown is a very meaningful work and gave me a lot of good memories. When I met Director Ahn again for The Night Owl, I remembered every scene of King and the Clown. Director Ahn hasn't changed at all, still as skinny as a skeleton. (Laughing) We communicated greatly and could talk comfortably while discussing. Of course, Director Ahn is not the only reason that I decided to join the work. No matter what environment or relationship I am involved in, my priority is the meaning and value of a film and what I want to do with it. I thought The Night Owl was also a good work that made me think about the fundamental desires of humans while having fun as a thriller. So I hope the audience can notice such points as well."