The question was whether Taeha absolutely had to be the main character of Ego.
Representative Han’s expression turned pale upon hearing that. For him, it was an unexpected question.
‘What did I just hear?’
***
After Your Brilliant Sparkle, it had become perfectly natural for Taeha to star in the works he wrote. Neither Representative Han nor any viewers questioned it. Rather, they thought it was completely obvious.
The fact that Taeha had won both the Best Writing and Best Actor awards at the Primetime Emmys was a clear example of this public perception.
‘But to throw out a question like that now… what’s the intention?’
Representative Han couldn’t help but be flustered.
However, upon further reflection, he thought he understood why Joo Chan-seong had asked that.
Certainly, Joo Chan-seong had never experienced a case where the writer and actor of a work were the same person.
Above all, there was one important fact that shouldn’t be forgotten: Ego was a film.
Unlike dramas, where the writer’s influence was greater than the director’s, in films the director’s influence was larger than the writer’s.
That meant Joo Chan-seong had never been anything other than the captain of the ship called a movie in any of his previous projects.
But what if an actor who was also a writer joined?
That would be no different from having two captains on that ship. If handled poorly, Joo Chan-seong could even lose his position as captain.
So it made sense that Joo Chan-seong would prefer that Taeha not take on the role of actor in Ego as well.
‘But…’
Just because Representative Han understood Joo Chan-seong’s feelings didn’t mean he thought it was okay to cast someone other than Taeha. On the contrary, Representative Han was very anxious.
He was afraid that Joo Chan-seong might insist on casting someone else.
The reason was simple.
‘No actor can play the role of Ego’s main character better than Writer Kang.’
That was only natural since Taeha was the one who wrote Ego.
Of course, just because someone was the writer of a work didn’t mean they could perfectly handle every role. It was possible that the role itself was impossible to portray due to the setting, or that the image didn’t match.
But Ego was different. From the start, Taeha had designed a role that had no issues with the setting and fit his image well, considering he would be the one playing it.
Therefore, there was no problem with Taeha starring in Ego. More than anything, for the success of Ego, it was right to encourage Taeha’s participation. Objectively speaking, at this point, there was almost no actor with better acting skills and more popularity than Taeha.
‘Besides, the fans want this too—seeing the writer appear in his own work.’
So Representative Han had no choice but to most desire the picture where Taeha became the main character of Ego. If that were impossible, he even thought it would be better to bring in a different director instead of Joo Chan-seong.
That was why Representative Han desperately hoped that Taeha would not say it was okay to cast another actor instead of him.
But…
“It’s fine to cast another actor besides me as the main character of Ego. I think you should do as the director wishes.”
Contrary to Representative Han’s wishes, such an answer came from Taeha’s mouth. It was the moment Representative Han felt despair.
***
Taeha, who had told Joo Chan-seong it was fine to cast another actor, thought to himself.
‘It’s a shame. I wanted to play the main role of Ego myself.’
But despite that regret, Taeha had stepped back for another reason.
It was because Taeha also recognized that Ego was a film.
More than anything, the director in front of him was no ordinary person. One of the greatest film directors of this era.
Joo Chan-seong.
For someone like that to step forward and agree to direct the first scenario he had ever written, only to have Taeha overturn the table out of greed for a role—that didn’t make sense.
So after much thought, Taeha had decided to step back.
At the same time, he also had faith in Joo Chan-seong. Faith that Joo Chan-seong would cast an actor better than himself for Ego.
And so it seemed the matter was settled to cast another actor instead of Taeha.
But…
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
Upon hearing Taeha’s answer, Joo Chan-seong asked back, his expression showing he had no idea what was being discussed.
Taeha countered, “Didn’t you say you didn’t want to cast me as the main character of Ego?”
Joo Chan-seong thought for a moment, then seemed to realize the issue and opened his mouth.
“Ah. I misspoke. I was wondering if it was right for Writer Kang to take the lead role in Ego.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Yes. I really hope Writer Kang will take on the main role of Ego. Currently, there is no actor in the entire world better than Writer Kang.”
When Joo Chan-seong finished speaking, Representative Han let out a relieved sigh.
Hearing what Joo Chan-seong said, Taeha also felt much more at ease. That was only natural since he had secretly regretted not being able to take the lead role in Ego.
“That’s a relief. Actually, I was hoping to play the main character of Ego if possible. Of course, I was prepared to back off if the director didn’t want that.”
“Oh, was that because you thought I might want to exert influence as a film director? If that was the case, you don’t need to worry. I plan to focus on directing Ego faithfully to the scenario.”
Taeha was quite surprised by Joo Chan-seong’s words. He never expected a film director of Joo Chan-seong’s caliber to answer that he would direct while being faithful to the scenario.
But Joo Chan-seong was even more surprised.
“That’s unexpected. I thought Writer Kang would naturally want this kind of directing style. But you even respect the director’s influence to the point of yielding on casting. It’s just as the rumors say.”
“Rumors?”
“The rumor that despite achieving the great feat of succeeding as both a writer and an actor at a young age, Writer Kang is very humble.”
“Ah.”
“And to find out it’s true… I have a good feeling about this project. I think we’ll not only enjoy working together but also achieve great results.”
Joo Chan-seong wasn’t the only one thinking that. As Taeha talked with Joo Chan-seong, he was having similar thoughts.
He could tell that Joo Chan-seong was also a person who knew how to humble himself, no less than Taeha.
***
After Joo Chan-seong was confirmed as the director of Ego, casting began in earnest.
Casting went smoother than expected.
Even without sending out the scenario separately, people lined up to appear in Ego.
That was a natural result because the mere fact that Taeha and Joo Chan-seong had joined hands created unimaginable anticipation.
And it wasn’t just industry insiders who felt this anticipation.
During the casting process, many people naturally heard about the production of Ego, and eventually articles came out. At the same time, various SNS and communities went wild.
-Wow, is this for real?
-Are they really saying Kang Taeha and Joo Chan-seong are working together?
-Is Kang Taeha appearing in a Joo Chan-seong film?
-Or is Joo Chan-seong directing a Kang Taeha drama?
-I heard Kang Taeha wrote a film scenario this time.
-He wrote a scenario? Is it any good?
-Yeah, I can’t imagine a film scenario written by Kang Taeha.
-Wouldn’t it have been better to stick to what he usually does?
-Going into films seems a bit greedy.
-The scenario must be good if Joo Chan-seong decided to film it.
-I think Kang Taeha’s film scenario will be fine too.
-It’s the same writing, how different can it be lol.
-What? Films and dramas are completely different.
-They’re totally different, but why am I so excited about a Kang Taeha film?
-Me too lol. Whenever Kang Taeha does something, I feel like it’ll be fun lol.
-Anyway, it’s been a long time since Kang Taeha appeared in a film.
-I think it’s his first since Killer x Killer?
-I wonder if this will be an action movie too.
-Judging by Joo Chan-seong being the director, it probably won’t be action.
-Has any info on what Ego is about been released yet?
-I’m curious too, but I couldn’t find anything.
-Working with Joo Chan-seong… Is Kang Taeha eyeing the film industry now?
-I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the feast lives up to the rumors.
-I think I already know without seeing it lol. Ego will be fun lol.
-Doesn’t that mean the country’s biggest box office guarantees are gathered?
-Joo Chan-seong doesn’t really feel like a box office guarantee lol.
-Then it feels like a ticket to the Cannes nomination?
-I hope Kang Taeha leaves a big mark on the film industry this time.
-He might even sweep Cannes and the Academy…
-(Info) Joo Chan-seong has never won a Best Director award at the Academy.
-Then he’ll win this time lol.
-Oh, too bad. I was waiting for a Kang Taeha drama.
-Me too. I prefer dramas to movies.
-A film scenario… no matter how I think about it, it’s too risky.
-Isn’t it cool instead? Not settling for reality and constantly challenging himself?
-I think that’s cool too.
-Kang Taeha didn’t achieve such great feats at a young age for nothing.
-I hope the movie comes out soon lol.
-Me too. I’m getting dizzy lol.
The anticipation was so high that even though no information about the movie had been released, everyone was only talking about Ego.
But even in this situation, Taeha didn’t explain what kind of movie Ego was.
Many people contacted Salamander Studio to ask what Ego was about, but it was the same. They gave no answer.
Some called it a mystery strategy, but that wasn’t actually the case. First of all, times when such strategy worked were long past, and Ego was not a work that needed that kind of marketing.
The reason Taeha couldn’t release information about Ego was simply that Ego was a work where it was extremely difficult to summarize the plot in a few lines.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible if he tried, but Taeha didn’t bother. Because the plot wasn’t that important to the work.
In fact, the scenario of Ego was delivered to the actors, including Director Joo Chan-seong, without a synopsis.
‘Because I thought that was the best way to read a mystery genre scenario with interest. But I can’t leave it like this forever.’
So Taeha belatedly began writing the synopsis for Ego.
Ego was a mystery film about a man who married his missing friend’s wife.