In Jang Jae-hyun’s new occult thriller “Exhuma,” actor Choi Min-sik makes a point of balancing between ensemble synergy and individual flair.
“I tried to ensure that my character neither stood out nor seemed lacking among the four (main ones),” the veteran actor said during an interview with a group of local reporters in Seoul on Thursday.
For one of the best South Korean actors of his generation, it may seem rather like a hard sell, considering his nuanced and captivating performances of complex characters over the past three decades, ranging from a national hero to a con artist to a hideous serial killer.
“My character is an ordinary, unremarkable ajussi,” he said, using the Korean word for a middle-aged man. “But one with a clear work ethic,” the actor emphasized.
The movie follows the mysterious, chilling task of two shamans (Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun), a feng shui expert (Choi) and a mortician (Yoo Hae-jin) who team up to get to the bottom of a series of paranormal events plaguing a wealthy U.S.-bas
ed family, by exhuming its ancestor’s grave in a remote Korean village.
Choi’s character, Sang-deok, while going after money, is a professional who sets clear boundaries in his profession and tries to stick to them.
“Sang-deok has deep respect for the land, even though he does what he does to make a living … He keeps his principles until the last minute,” the actor said of his character.
“The world of feng shui is so profound and massive, and I can’t even begin to understand it with a few months of studying,” he said. “What I did was to constantly remind myself of the fact that feng shui practitioners observe mountains, water, land and trees all the time, and that I need to portray their different and deep eyes on nature.”
Born in 1962 in Seoul, the actor said he grew up watching Korean shamanic ceremonies, including “gut” all the time at his own home and in the neighborhood.
“It was like watching a concert. I especially liked the fact that we had a lot of food that we didn’t normally eat,” he said, ad
ding “gut,” or a shamanistic ritual to prevent misfortune and drive away evil spirits, is a way to heal emotional hurt.
“The tradition passed down for thousands of years,” he said, comparing those rituals to a grandmother’s prayer for the health and wellbeing of her offspring.
In line with that, he also said he doesn’t agree with some people dismissing traditional practices associated with feng shui as being superstitious and unscientific.
Deep inside the occult movie, the actor said, lies a sense of affection toward nature and the human soul. “I like the director’s message,” he said, whose previous works, such as “The Priests” (2015) and “Svaha: The Sixth Finger” (2019), gripped him.
“I think he became more flexible in delivering his message while keeping the core of the genre intact.”
“Oldboy” star Choi has spent more than 35 years acting in television series and feature films, including the country’s all-time box office record breaker “Roaring Currents.”
“Exhuma” marks Choi’s first appearance in an o
ccult movie.
“I don’t want to sound too grandiose, but acting has become my life,” he said. “At this age, no one would hire me, nor do I even have guts to start my own business,” he said, laughing.
“I just want to give myself a pat on the shoulder and say ‘I am proud of you’ for having focused on acting for my entire life.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency
