Translator: Dreamscribe
Since when had Kang Woojin been ‘Henry Gordon’? In the vast set teeming with hundreds of foreign staff and Hollywood actors, crowded with executives and officials from ‘Columbia Studios’.
-Tak!
With the first slate.
“Action.”
From the moment Director Ahn Ga-bok’s first cue rang out, officially marking the crank-in, Kang Woojin was ‘Henry Gordon’. The first shoot of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ had begun, its prologue had opened. Hundreds of eyes and ears fixated on one spot. All watching Kang Woojin, fully immersed.
Each person had different thoughts.
‘As long as he shows the same tension from the audition and screen test, there’s nothing to worry about.’
‘I’m curious to see if his energy during the script reading was just for show or the real deal.’
‘Even though it’s the first shoot, he’s as indifferent as ever. And damn, so many people showed up. Guess they all came to gauge Kang Woojin’s acting. How will he respond?’
‘I’ll judge whether what I saw during the reading was him holding back or giving his best.’
Though their perspectives varied, at the core, their thoughts aligned.
Show us your acting.
Then, Kang Woojin stepped into the artificially created rain. Dressed in a black zip-up hoodie and jeans, he had already fully become ‘Henry Gordon’. ‘Henry Gordon’ had been unleashed into reality. Flowing through his veins was ‘Henry Gordon’ intertwined with ‘Corporal Jin Sun-cheol’, both the weak one and the rough one.
“……”
But right now, the leash Woojin had been holding onto was completely unfastened. Without any emotional buildup from the earlier part of the script, he stood on the verge of Henry Gordon’s awakening. Twisted in tragedy, yet, to him, seething with the boundless euphoria of comedy.
He was ‘Henry Gordon’ itself.
To Kang Woojin’s eyes, the hundreds of onlookers, the numerous cameras, the boom mics hovering above, and the lighting equipment, all ceased to exist. Even the artificial rain was real. Everything in the script was reality, and this side was no different. Thus, Woojin did only what ‘Henry Gordon’ would do.
His shoulders slumped, his posture grotesque.
He was at the edge of a cliff.
If he gave in here, something would be born. Woojin could feel it himself. Once he opened this pizzeria’s door, the person he had been until now would cease to exist.
So what? Who cares?
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kang Woojin committed his first kill without hesitation, a thick grin on his face. A few more gunshots followed. The camera moved slowly from the front to Woojin’s side. Holding a gun in one hand, Woojin.
“Phew-”
Let out a peculiar breath while tilting his head up toward the ceiling. His eyes closed. It felt like classical music was playing from somewhere. No, it was playing. A television left on was the source. It urged Woojin forward.
‘Joker’ was about to awaken.
As the classical music intensified, the madness reverberating within Kang Woojin swelled.
-Swish.
He lowered his face that had been raised to the ceiling. His smile had grown several times deeper. He rolled his eyes. The heavy chunks of meat scattered at his feet, the floor covered in blood and flour, the interior cluttered with various objects.
Just then.
-Ku-gu-gu-gung!
A thunderclap roared, accompanying the storm. Lightning struck, momentarily illuminating the darkened pizzeria. Kang Woojin suddenly sneezed.
“Puh-choo!”
Because of the flour covering his face. He sniffled, then casually tossed the gun in his hand onto a nearby table. Everything was overturned, but that was the only table still standing. Woojin’s expression remained unchanged. Just a face simply existing in this space.
-Swish.
He took a step forward. Then.
“Hup!”
He slightly slipped. The blood-soaked floor was the cause. Catching himself by pressing down on the heavy corpse’s forearm, Kang Woojin steadied his balance. The camera zoomed in on his face. His eyes widened, just a little. A mere flicker of emotion, a mistake, nothing more. A few subtle movements further solidified Henry Gordon’s presence.
Except, this wasn’t in the script.
‘……Wait, was that movement in the script? Things like the sneeze, the slip, they weren’t there.’
‘Damn it, he’s flexible. He not only brings out these details but integrates them seamlessly into the performance.’
Dozens of actors from ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ had come to the set, some with the intent of scrutinizing, yet.
‘These natural, everyday movements amplify the madness in the scene tenfold. It’s smooth and realistic. No, I’ve only watched for a few minutes, but all I see is ‘Henry Gordon’.’
They were barely breathing. Their concentration was razor-sharp. At some point, they were no longer evaluating Kang Woojin’s acting. They were simply enjoying it, utterly captivated, unable to think of anything else.
Among these actors, one Hollywood star, eyes widened, stood out as he stared at the monitor.
‘The ‘Henry Gordon’ from the audition wasn’t his limit.’
It was Chris Hartnett. His brown eyes, usually brimming with charm, now carried an ambiguous expression, somewhere between amusement and deep contemplation.
‘He had something even beyond that? What the hell is that insane portrayal? Every tiny movement is packed with impact, the tension never once falters. Damn it, what the hell is this guy?’
Director Ahn Ga-bok, with his short white hair and face streaked with wrinkles, had been silent ever since calling, “Action”, through his headset.
“……”
He stared at the monitors without a word. Not blinking. Dead serious. His determination was clear, he wouldn’t miss anything.
Unlike the Hollywood actors, who were slowly getting overwhelmed with excitement, he was different. In fact, out of the hundreds of foreigners present, he was the only one like this. While everyone had experienced Kang Woojin through his audition and script reading, only Director Ahn Ga-bok had witnessed his true essence.
He knew better than anyone just how ridiculous this man’s acting was.
So, there was no room for shock.
‘I can’t watch with a viewer’s eyes, must use a director’s eyes.’
Kang Woojin’s performance was the kind that devoured you if you let your guard down. A presence that could consume directors and writers alike. Ahn Ga-bok had already witnessed such a thing before in ‘Leech’.
‘Anyone would get distracted seeing the character they created running wild in reality.’
Even though Woojin was performing based on the script, the character he brought to life was boundlessly free. His acting far surpassed a director’s imagination, to the point of inducing despair.
‘Even now, his madness-infused, realistic movements… those alone have expanded the scale of this scene several times over.’
Next to Ahn Ga-bok, standing with her arms crossed while watching Woojin’s performance on the monitor, was the executive producer. She had sharp features, her expression tough, until she let out a short chuckle.
‘If the writer of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ saw this, they’d probably be on the verge of tears. But were those movements improvised? Or planned? Either way, it was the right decision to cast him as ‘Joker’.’
Soon.
“Cut.”
Director Ahn Ga-bok stood up and gave the signal. It wasn’t an NG. It was to change the camera angles.
Only then did the murmurs swell among the crowd of hundreds behind him.
“Hoo-”
“Hah…”
Sounds of breathing could be heard. The murmuring grew louder. The executives from ‘Columbia Studios’ were busy having serious discussions. The dozens of actors and their staff were frozen, unable to take their eyes off the monitor. Throughout the production crew of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’, quiet exclamations of awe could be heard.
Director Ahn Ga-bok glanced at the foreign staff behind him, his excitement rising at the sight.
“Yeah, whether in Korea or here, Kang Woojin’s acting creates the same reaction.”
It overlapped with what had happened during ‘Leech’.
Meanwhile, inside the pizzeria set.
-Swish.
With a poker-faced expression, Kang Woojin extended his hand toward the heavy actor sprawled on the floor.
“Take my hand.”
The actor, drenched in blood and flour, reached up and took it.
“Ah, thank you.”
“No problem. Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
He looked slightly bewildered.
‘The speed of his switch… isn’t it way too fast? That’s not normal.’
His return to a neutral state had been instantaneous.
Shortly after.
Dozens of foreign staff members rushed into the pizzeria set. They needed to restore everything to its original state. But with so many people working on it, the reset didn’t take long and.
“Action.”
The shoot resumed immediately. Once again, the torrential rain poured, and Kang Woojin entered the pizzeria. The same scene was repeated at least five times.
“Cut, let’s make the rain a bit heavier.”
There were adjustments to camera angles, changes in the actors’ positions, and modifications to props and set pieces. Perhaps because it was the first shoot, the first cut, Director Ahn Ga-bok’s passion was overflowing. Yet, not a single actor, including Kang Woojin, raised any objections, nor did the hundreds of foreign production crew members. They were all professionals.
And so, about an hour passed.
Finally, the first cut of the storyboard was completed. But they weren’t moving to a new location, naturally so. The next scene was also set in this pizzeria.
Even though they had been fixed in place for over an hour, not a single one of the numerous foreign crew members or the dozens of Hollywood actors left their spots.
“So, during the script reading, he really was holding back.”
“Right? Honestly, I didn’t think the difference would be this drastic-”
“But Kang Woojin’s acting is… I don’t know how to put this, but it doesn’t feel like acting. It keeps making me feel like I’m watching the real ‘Henry Gordon’ in reality.”
“Same here. Even though he’s using method acting, the way he instantly resets his emotions is unreal. Just how many times has he repeated this to reach that level?”
At this point, Kang Woojin was inside the pizzeria, speaking with Director Ahn Ga-bok. It was about the next scene, and the heavy Hollywood actor was there as well.
“Woojin, you can keep performing however you feel comfortable. Do you need anything?”
At the question, Kang Woojin glanced down at the floor and replied indifferently.
“I’d like a bit more flour on the ground.”
“Flour?”
“Yes.”
“Got it.”
More flour was scattered on the floor, and then Director Ahn Ga-bok and the staff stepped back.
Before long, only Kang Woojin, the heavy actor, and the cameras remained inside the pizzeria. A few minutes later, Director Ahn Ga-bok, seated among the hundreds of foreign crew members, gave the next cue.
“Action.”
The heavy actor, no, the pizzeria owner, had once again become a lifeless mass of flesh sprawled on the floor. Kang Woojin, or rather, ‘Henry Gordon’, stepped over the body. The camera followed. He turned up the volume on the TV placed on a table near the kitchen.
-♬♪
The classical music playing grew twice as loud. It nearly drowned out the rain and thunder outside. Kang Woojin raised both hands. He ran them through his wet hair, which clung to his jawline. His face was ghostly white, covered in flour. Blood splatters marked his skin in several places. The camera captured Woojin’s face head-on. He took a deep breath.
“Sssss- Paha.”
He was laughing. His lips curled into a wide grin that wouldn’t drop.
And then.
-Swish.
Kang Woojin began to dance. He surrendered his body to the classical music echoing around him. A mad dance. At times, he swayed smoothly in a wave-like motion. At times, he tiptoed before sliding forward as if gliding. At times, he spun in place. Several times, he leaped playfully over the massive corpse on the floor.
At one point, his foot kicked the body.
Well, that happens when you’re lost in dance, right?
As the transformation into a clown progressed, Kang Woojin glanced down at the corpse and casually muttered an apology.
“My bad.”
Then, he lost himself in the classical music once more.
And at that moment, euphoria burst from his lips.
“Kuhuhuhu! Hahahahaha!”
This was it. This feeling. A wave of liberation spread throughout Kang Woojin’s entire body. The ghastly white-faced clown, dancing in sync with the classical melody.
-♬♪
It was grotesque beyond words. And every bit of it was captured vividly by the camera. Yet, unaffected, Woojin kept swaying, until suddenly, his movements stopped. He had just stepped on something.
“Oh-”
A shattered beer bottle and scattered playing cards lay across the floor. Among them, one card was drenched in blood. Kang Woojin picked it up. The image on the card depicted a mischievous-looking clown.
There was text as well.
– ‘JOKER’.
Kang Woojin, who had been staring at the card for a moment, smirked and spoke.
“‘JOKER’, I like it.”
That was the end of the scene according to the script. Chris and the dozens of actors watching the monitor, who had been holding their breath, were about to exhale. Director Ahn Ga-bok, who had been observing, was also about to call “Cut”.
But.
“Hm?”
The scene had ended, yet Kang Woojin on the monitor did not stop. Chris Hartnett and the other actors furrowed their brows or tilted their heads in confusion.
‘What is this?’
‘Was there more movement scripted? No, there wasn’t. What’s he doing?’
‘What the hell is he planning?’
Director Ahn Ga-bok felt the same, but.
“……”
He kept watching.
On the monitor, Kang Woojin casually wiped the blood off the card with his hand. The ‘Pierrot’ on the card became even clearer. Then, he moved his other hand, touching his own cheek. Flour. Something flashed in Woojin’s mind as he raised his head. He noticed a small, square mirror mounted on the wall.
It wasn’t intact. Half of it was shattered.
But it still reflected Woojin’s face clearly. Slowly, he approached the mirror. The camera followed him from the side. Standing so close that his nose was almost touching the glass, Woojin glanced at the card in his hand.
“Hm.”
Looked back at his own face in the mirror. They were similar. His current appearance and the ‘Pierrot’ on the ‘JOKER’ card. But… it was missing something. Woojin reached for a handful of flour from a nearby table and smeared it across his face. His complexion turned several shades whiter.
Then.
-Swish.
He glanced around the floor.
“That’ll do.”
He walked over to the massive corpse sprawled on the ground. Scooping up a handful of the blood that had pooled beneath it, Woojin coated his hand in red. Then, he returned to the mirror. He stared at his reflection for a few seconds, before suddenly whipping his face toward the camera next to him. From this point on, he used the camera as his mirror.
That brief pause in front of the actual mirror had served as an editing marker.
“Eyebrows first-”
Grinning, Woojin used the blood on his fingers to draw eyebrows, mimicking the ‘Pierrot’ on the ‘JOKER’ card. Red eyebrows on a ghostly white face. Next, he shaded the areas around both eyes. Then, he pressed his fingertip onto his nose, leaving a large, bold red dot.
“Not enough.”
He needed more blood. Scooping up another handful from the floor, Woojin returned to the camera.
-Swipe.
With his blood-drenched palm, he covered his mouth. The red smeared all around his lips. It wasn’t complete yet. Using both index fingers, Woojin shaped the bloodstains, until a grotesquely wide, exaggerated smile was fully formed.
A white face. Red-stained eyes, nose, and mouth.
Woojin glanced at the ‘Pierrot’ on the card in his hand.
“Hehe, identical.”
Now that he had completed his ‘Joker’ face with blood, Woojin lifted his gaze, staring directly into the camera just inches away.
He shoved the card into the hoodie’s pocket.
Then, placing both index fingers at the corners of his drawn-on red lips.
He flashed the brightest smile in the world.
“Fantastic.”
A single tear slid down from his eye.
Amidst the hundreds of foreign crew members watching this unfold on the monitor, Chris Hartnett, his lips slightly parted, had a single thought flashing through his mind.
“……That trophy belongs to him.”
The Academy Award shimmered before his eyes.
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