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| Actor Lee Jae-hoon recently starred in two series, "Taxi Driver" and "Move To Heaven." Courtesy of PRJ |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Since his breakthrough role as a college student experiencing his first love in "Architecture 101" that won the hearts of women, heartthrob Lee Jae-hoon has been widening his repertoire as a versatile actor by taking on various roles.
"I strive to grow in each role and to show a new layer of myself as an actor," Lee said during an interview with The Korea Times, Monday.
And his two recent works, the SBS series "Taxi Driver" and Netflix series "Move to Heaven," where he plays two diversely opposite characters ― a stringent ex-special force officer and a rowdy ex-con ― prove his point.
"As an actor, I always spend time studying and thinking of ways in which I can develop a new character when choosing a project, and through those worthwhile efforts, I was able to deliver meaningful stories through the two works," Lee said.
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| Lee, right, plays ex-con Sang-gu in the series "Move to Heaven." Courtesy of Netflix |
Despite the differences in characters, both "Taxi Driver" and "Move to Heaven" bring the limelight on people in need, either victims of crimes or underprivileged individuals.
The action series "Taxi Driver," which successfully wrapped last Saturday, reaching its highest viewership rating of 16 percent, revolves around a driver, Kim Do-ki (Lee), at a taxi company that takes revenge on behalf of its clients who are victims of injustice or violence.
The heartfelt series "Move to Heaven" follows trauma scene cleaners ― Cho Sang-gu (Lee) and his nephew (Tang Joon-sang) ― who clean out the possessions of deceased people and deliver their untold stories to their loved ones. The ex-con Sang-gu grows to learn the value of family as he encounters the different complexities of people's lives that involve various social issues such as people dying alone, job insecurity and stalking crimes.
Adding that he never stops challenging himself, Lee said the role of Sang-gu was a chance to express himself differently both in terms of appearance and acting. "I've had a thirst for roles that transition from a negative to a positive character… and this role was aligning with the need I had in acting," he said.
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| A scene from "Move To Heaven" / Courtesy of Netflix |
When asked why he chose TV dramas that bring up social issues, he explained that he had grown to take more interest in current events happening around him.
"When I take a role, I tend to study and explore the life that character probably had. And because my experiences are limited to my own life, I try to pay close attention to my surroundings… like how people live these days, what they are interested in and are crazy about, or what devastates them. I try to take in those stories both directly and indirectly," he said, adding that it widened his scope of perspective.
"And this affected how I choose my projects. Now, rather than solely focusing on the character that I'll be playing, I have come to be more interested in the messages a film or series will deliver and how this will resonate with the viewers."
"Taxi Driver hit the right notes of my two passions of playing a multidimensional character and a story with a valuable lesson," he said.
In the series, Lee's character, Kim Do-ki, has a gloomy past where his mother was murdered by a serial killer, turning him into a loner. But when he carries out revenge plans for his clients, he takes on various roles ― from a nerdy teacher to a womanizing Chinese smuggler ― to go undercover and serve justice on the criminals, vigilante-style.
"This is the first time I got to play such a colorful character, which worried me at first," he said. "But I eventually had so much fun pushing myself to new limits in acting."
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| Lee plays ex-special forces soldier, Kim Do-ki, in the series "Taxi Driver." Courtesy of SBS |
The biggest reason he chose this series was the director, he said. The director, Park Joon-woo, had the experience of working on investigative journalism shows including "Unanswered Questions" before directing a TV series. So most of the cases were taken from actual crimes, such as phishing scams, forced labor, peeping Toms, and abuse in the workplace.
"Documentaries and journalism programs are necessary, but if the real-life events were reimagined with fiction, I think more people would be interested and watch them not just for fun, but also to be provoked to think about the real crimes again," he said.
The taxi company acts as a last resort for the crime victims. With distrust in the legal system, the vigilante group goes into action for justice, oftentimes with illegal acts such as hacking, theft, abduction, and assault.
The dark hero story of "fighting evil with evil deeds" was not only cathartic for the viewers, but also for the actor himself. "I think many people were pleased with the story about defeating an evil that preys on the weak, which was cathartic for me too," he said.
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| A scene from "Taxi Driver" / Courtesy of SBS |
But as some cases resembled actual events, Lee said he felt a sense of responsibility as if he was actually avenging the real-life victims.
"The approach for my character and the story had to be more serious than my previous work. It gave me a sense of duty as if I was actually helping them let go of their trauma and resentment," he said. "Vigilante revenge service shouldn't and can't happen in real life… but (the series) reminded people to voice their concerns and take interest in the crimes surrounding us so no one has to be a victim of injustice or violence."
The actor is also set for another challenge, not just as an actor, but also as a director and producer. He is producing and directing the local streaming service Watcha's original series, "Unframed," with the production company he co-founded called Hard Cut.
"I've always been keen about creating content," he said. "I want to try making not only feature films but also videos in general… the actors including myself have written the script of the series."
