Lee Je-hoon Returns with ‘Big Deal,’ Reflects on IMF Era and On-Set Challenges
Jun 02, 2025
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Lee Jae-hoon, who played Choi In-beom, a global investment company employee who pursues only achievements in the human film 'Big Deal' (produced by The Lamp). He met with Sports Chosun in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 2nd and expressed his affection and passion for the work from the moment he appeared in 'Soju War'.
'Soju War' is a story about the 1997 IMF financial crisis, in which a soju company is a life-time financial director, and an employee of a global investment company who pursues only profits confronts the fate of the Korean people's soju. The motif of the real story of the Jinro Group, whose group was disbanded due to financial difficulties during the financial crisis, is that the soju, which has appeared in Korean popular culture such as movies, dramas, and online contents, is at the center of the story and unfolds based on dramatic events.
In particular, 'Soju War' drew attention as the next film of Lee Je-hoon, who is active as an all-around entertainer, as well as a short film director as well as a crazy presence in movies and dramas. In the play, Lee Je-hoon expressed a person who transformed into Choi In-beom, who has clear desires and goals, and has lived by prioritizing only performance under the motto 'Work is Work, Life is Life', but changes little by little as he meets Pyo Jong-rok (Yoo Hae-jin), a financial director who shows sincerity about the company every moment like his work.
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As it is a work dealing with alcohol, the amount of alcohol was not missed. Lee Je-hoon "On the contrary, when filming the work, I didn't enjoy company dinners. There was also a part where I took care of myself because I was concentrating on my work. However, in the process of promoting it, the top soju in the movie was produced and introduced, and there were more opportunities to drink it. I use such an opportunity to break my heart. I recently appeared on Chef Ahn Sung-jae's channel, and I think I drank surprisingly on the spot. I had to move to the next schedule while drinking, but that was a little hard. "I usually drink a can of beer and half a bottle of soju. When I entered university in the past, I remember curiously opening a bottle of soju and drinking it in front of countless people. I flirted with it, but my memory disappeared in less than an hour. My head ached like a crack the next day. The next day, I was afraid of what I didn't remember, and after that, I made my determination not to be dignified with alcohol."
Regarding the process of digesting English lines full of difficult economic terms, it was also regrettable that freedom disappeared on its own and there were restrictions on ad-libs. I tried to make the given lines as perfect as possible, but it was more difficult because it was not a daily line but a difficult economic term. It was an unforgettable line that even came out in my dreams."
In fact, Lee Je-hoon is well-known as an actor with great interest in the economic industry in line with a movie about financial crimes. Lee Je-hoon "In the process of continuing to live as an actor, I always try to live with great interest in how the world works. The beings that make up the world are humans and are always interested in a series of processes in which many humans form relationships and live. So I try to look into the news and newspapers and what are people interested in these days?' I'm thinking about it. I always think about how to live, and in that sense, I think I sympathized a lot with 'Soju War' and Choi In-beom. I think I was more interested and empathetic because I am running management now. I was glad that it was a movie that was very consistent with my current concerns and values. And when I met the JTBC drama 'The Art of Negotiation', which recently ended, I felt more sympathetic.
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The problem was that Choi Yoon-jin, who did not give in to this, applied for an injunction against The Lamp to suspend the effect of the termination of the supervisory contract to the court, intensifying the noise. On the 27th of last month, the court acknowledged The Lamp's vocation and decided to dismiss all of director Choi Yoon-jung's injunction applications, and the director's name was finally removed from the Soju War. Although the lawsuit on the original bill remains, director Choi Yoon-jung marked his name on the unfamiliar credit 'On-Site Directing' and released the original version specified in the order of Park Hyun-woo and Park Hyun-woo and Choi Yoon-jin in the script.
In response to the controversy over director Choi Yoon-jin, Lee Je-hoon said, `It's not just actors who make efforts while working. The position of the director, the position of the writer who writes, and all the staff work together in creating the work. While working together, they often get off in the middle because their opinions cannot be narrowed down, or because they have different directions moving forward. In that regard, I think there is a more direct part this time. There is also a sad aspect (as the director stepped down), but as a result, many staff worked hard to make this work, and the goal was to complete it so that the movie could be fully shown to the audience without noise. So I gave myself a lot of opinions for more complete works."
He said "Wonak's breathing in making this work was more comfortable because the staff with the previous work overlapped a lot. I was very happy in the process of completion. However, I don't want this to happen again. Aren't there times when actors are replaced in the middle of their work and get off? I am watching these issues not only in my work but also in the industry as a whole, and whenever I hear such news, I should do better I thought about it. In creating a work, not only one person's opinion but also many people's opinions must be collected and moved in the desired direction. In the future, I will continue to support the choice for positive effects in making such works, and I will also have to work harder I felt it."
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"Since these two works continue as a series, there is also a sense of stability in playing the character again. However, there is also pressure to evolve further in the previous installment. Still, I'm so grateful that I can give the salary of the employees of the agency because I have work. It's a bit excessive, but I'm already worried because I don't have a schedule for next year yet. If you don't work hard now, there is a risk as a company. There seems to be a dilemma. Considering the company's situation, I have a compulsion not to restIt is not common to make a series again in 10 years about the process of introducing 'Signal 2' after 10 years. As everyone was active and gathered again, I was grateful that we really loved acting and came all the way here healthy. Meeting over time gave me a lot of confidence and support. I also felt that I have grown a lot more than then. I have a lot of time to relax. With more experience and experience, I met with seniors, and of course, it's a fierce scene, but I'm smiling and having fun filming. I'm trying to remember this moment of seniors in every episode" he said.
The difficulty of image transformation, one of the difficulties of simultaneous filming, was not a problem for Lee Je-hoon. Lee Je-hoon "I think 'Signal' and 'Exemplary Taxi' both had similar hairstyles, so I was able to film the scene." Both works are a story that continues in the previous part, and I was glad that my appearance 10 years ago was not much different from today. The directors were relieved that they did not have to do 'Dizing'. The directors were satisfied because the production cost was saved from that effect"I shuddered.
Yu Hae-jin, Lee Je-hoon, Son Hyun-ju, and Choi Young-joon appeared in the movie. It was released on the 30th of last month.
soulhn1220@sportschosun.com
