On October 21 Korea’s top stars attended the preview of “Top Star” at a theater in Seoul. Starring some of the nation’s best-regarded actors and actresses, the film was the talk of town even before it was released in the theaters. But the preview drew not only the glitterati but ordinary movie lovers as well.



(Woman 1) The cast is wonderful, and its director is an actor himself. So I came to see what really goes on in show business. I’m also curious to see how much of actor-turned-director Park Joong-hoon was incorporated in the film. He’s such a good actor.
(Man 2) I’m a fan of Park Joong-hoon and I’ve seen almost all of his films. So I’m looking forward to the first film he directed. It focuses on the industry’s biggest stars and Park himself is a top star, so I expect him to present us with a more honest look at the industry.

Park Joong-hoon has been at the pinnacle of the movie industry for nearly 30 years. Moviegoers are interested in seeing how his long acting career has carried over to directing. In fact, the film “Top Star” is Park’s directorial debut. Here’s Park Joong-hoon at a press conference.

Many people want to see how I’ve made the film. The storyline is nothing new, but I wanted to make the feelings portrayed in the film very original. I know that people would apply stricter standards on my work, because I’ve been an actor for a long time. But I can assure you that I’ve worked very hard on this film and poured everything into it.

With a star-studded cast of Uhm Tae-woong, Kim Min-jun and So E-hyun, “Top Star” follows the rise and fall of a hard-working manager named Tae-sik태식 who takes the blame for a hit-and-run committed by his charge, actor Won-jun원준. It presents an honest look at all the successes, betrayals, dreams, desires, and failures hidden behind the blinding aura of stardom. Director Park says it was really embarrassing to bare so much introspection on the screen.

As an actor I showed my emotions to the audience, but as a director I had to show my thoughts, which I wasn’t used to. So I was really nervous this time. What made the director job so difficult was that I got too involved in acting when I should have remained more objective. It was especially hard when a character was crying. There was a scene where Lee Jun-hyuk had to cry in jail. It was so sad that I cried along with him. An actor can stop crying and take a moment to gather himself, but a director has to instruct other staff members to move on to the next scene. So I didn’t have the time to pull myself together and would give directions in a weepy voice. I lost my cool and that was the hardest part of directing.

Actor Ha Jeong-woo is the most bankable star in the Korean film industry. All the films he has starred in were huge hits and people don’t even think about questioning the quality of his performances. But now he has transformed into a director and has shown his film at the last Busan International Film Festival. This is the first time he directed a feature film. Here’s Ha Jeong-woo at a press conference.

Hello, I’m Ha Jeong-woo who directed the film. I’m showing my film at the Busan International Film Festival and I came down from Seoul early in the morning, thanks to all the support and encouragement I got for this film. The actors in the film may not be well-known but they’re all very capable of interpreting and expressing their characters. My first concern was how I can capture their appeal and competence on film. And my second concern was how funny it would be. I really wanted to make a funny movie full of jokes and word plays.

Ha made his directorial debut with “Fasten Your Seatbelt” just to make people laugh.

A hallyu star, who shot to fame for spewing out cuss words, gets tangled up in a scandal with a much younger singer when he is in Japan. To avoid unwanted attention, he rushes back to Korea on a plane, but the plane fails to make a landing and the hapless star is subjected to hilariously bizarre experiences. Ha has played serious and impactful roles, such as a serial killer, a crime boss, and a news anchor, so people were curious as to how such a thoughtful actor would make a comical film.

I played so many serious and dark roles as an actor that I think I was really exhausted by the time I decided to make this movie. I wanted to see a really entertaining film. So I decided to make a mindlessly ludicrous movie and that’s how I ended up writing the script.

Even when Ha Jeong-woo studied stage play in college, he mostly worked in comedies. His whimsical imagination shined through in “Fasten Your Seatbelt” in the most offbeat way.

Just like Park Joong-hoon and Ha Jeong-woo, many actors are venturing out into filmmaking. In fact Koreans actors have been doing double duty as director for a long time. The legendary Choi Moo-ryong최무룡 of the 1960s cinema was the first actor to stand behind the camera, followed by many more in the years to come. Here’s culture critic Kim Sung-soo김성수.

Choi Moo-ryong directed 16 movies and Shin Seong-il directed four. There was an actor named Ha Myeong-joong하명중 whose career change to director worked out really well. These days Director Bang Eun-jin방은진 is another example. She is now better known as a director than an actress. Her films “Perfect Number” and “Princess Aurora” have been commercial hits. The latest in the line of actor-turned-director is Koo Hye-seon구혜선, who has directed five fairly successful movies. Actor Yoo Ji-tae has also directed five movies so far and his last directing job for “Mai Ratima” won the Jury Prize at the 2013 Deauville Asian Film Festival.

There are some elements that set the films directed by Park and Ha apart from other movies made by actor-turned-directors. Cine21 reporter Lee Da-hye이다혜 explains...

Yoo Ji-tae and Koo Hye-seon have made mostly short films or independent films for international film festivals. But Park Joong-hoon and Ha Jeong-woo have directed commercial films released in theaters. Such cases are found more often in Hollywood, such as the commercially successful hits directed by Clint Eastwood or Robert Redford. In Korea only a handful of actors have succeeded in establishing themselves as directors. Clint Eastwood’s acting career now seems to be overshadowed by his directorial achievements. But Koreans still see Yoo Ji-tae, Park Joong-hoon, and the likes only as actors who also direct movies.



While Yoo Ji-tae and Koo Hye-seon have chosen to direct low-budget, independent movies, Park Joong-hoon and Ha Jeong-woo have decided to compete against other commercial film makers. What prompted them to try their hands at this competitive and difficult discipline? Here’s what Cine21 reporter Lee Da-hye thinks...

Actors live other people’s lives vicariously and tell other people’s stories, but directors tell their own stories. The most important difference is that actors are confined by their physical features. An actress cannot play a man and a 70-something actor cannot play a teenager. An actor cannot escape the confines of his body. Sometimes a really good-looking actor is disadvantaged by his appearance and vice versa. But a director is not affected by his looks, age, or gender. He just needs to hire the right actors to tell his story. Directing is a very tempting option for actors in that a director can overcome the limits of acting to tell a story.

An actor may want to let out his inner thoughts, but that is not easy when he is limited by a script or a character. Also, the roles he wants to play may be different from the ones he is good at portraying. But it’s a different story for a director. He can choose a screenplay or an actor he wants to show his story. A director has a whole new set of options to express his thoughts. Here’s cultural critic Kim Sung-soo.

An actor may want to see his acting from a broader perspective. That means he may want to see the whole film, not just the part he is in. A film is really a work of the director. How a director edits his work makes a big difference to the outcome. Recent advances in filmmaking technology have allowed anybody to make a film. So, actors making their own films could provide more diverse options to filmgoers.

Ordinary people are naturally intrigued by the films directed by actors, says Cine21 reporter Lee Da-hye.

The movies by Park Joong-hoon and Ha Jeong-woo are entertaining. They are top stars people willingly pay to see. So, although they are new to directing, they are already famous and have drawing power. That gives them an edge in movie promotion. Also, their movies are well-made and fun to watch. They’ve done a good job for first-time directors.

People came to theaters with high expectations for these movies directed by these top stars. So, did the movies measure up to their expectations?

(Man 1) I thought it was interesting that an actor made a film about other actors. It was quite realistic. I thought Park would make a funny movie, but it turned out to be more serious than I thought. I realized that Park Joong-hoon as a director may have a serious side to him that he wanted to demonstrate.
(Woman 2) Ha Jeong-woo supposedly wrote the screenplay himself. The dialogue was lively and the characters were real. I very much enjoyed it. The lines were really memorable, just like his acting.

Although the two actors’ directorial debuts garnered people’s attention, they failed to post impressive gross figures at the box office. They probably realize by now that directing is quite different from acting and their successful acting careers are no guarantee for the commercial success of their films. Now the issue is their second films. The reality of the Korean film industry is that when a debut film bombs at the box office, there won’t be a second film no matter how talented the director is. This fate may await even these established actors who attempted directing. Here’s Cine21 reporter Lee Da-hye again.

Both movies are about actors. I believe they wanted to show the anxiety and hardship of working as actors in Korea. Their own stories may have made fine topics for their first films, but what else could they talk about in their second films? We need to see what else they can come up with as storytellers.

Reports say that Ha Jeong-woo has already chosen a film he’s going to start shooting sometime next spring. Moviegoers can’t wait to see his next work.

Clint Eastwood has won two Oscars and Ben Affleck was honored with best picture and best director awards at this year’s Golden Globes. Perhaps Park Joong-hoon and Ha Jeong-woo are aiming for the same acclaim as they venture out to the new field of directing.