I Was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor

Translator: Dreamscribe

Certainty? At such a resolute answer, the bald executive from Columbia Studios furrowed his brow. The other executives also began to murmur more loudly. However, Director Ahn Ga-bok’s firm expression did not change much.

“……”

He simply stared at the bald executive with the look of a veteran. By the time even the stern-looking producer, Nora Foster, appeared surprised as she looked at him, the executive who had been rubbing his bald head asked in calm English,

“We’re aiming for this year’s ‘Academy Awards’. Director, your confidence is commendable, but isn’t it chronologically impossible?”

Other executives chimed in as well.

“I think the same. Considering the crank-up of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ will roughly be around September… this isn’t just pushing the limit, it’s going beyond it.”

“Exactly. It’s not just hard, it’s impossible.”

“Surely, the director knows this already?”

Nora kept her mouth shut, seemingly intending to observe for now. Instead, the bald executive crossed his legs and spoke again.

“If you’re just expressing your confidence, I understand. But if you’re seriously considering the upcoming ‘Academy Awards’, then please clarify your thoughts.”

Everyone in the meeting room turned their gaze to Director Ahn Ga-bok. He briefly looked into Nora’s eyes, then turned his head toward the bald man who had spoken.

“I know, that it’s impossible for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ to make it to this year’s ‘Academy Awards’ due to timing constraints. But it’s not like there’s no path at all.”

“There’s still a way?”

“Just one.”

The bald executive suddenly seemed to catch on to something and furrowed his brow again.

“Director, don’t tell me, you’re thinking of that.”

“You’re probably right.”

Director Ahn Ga-bok, after a small sigh, continued in a low voice.

“As everyone knows, ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ will crank up within September. Originally, it was scheduled for late September, but thanks to the actors’ efforts, it will be slightly earlier. And the upcoming ‘Academy Awards’ will be held in April next year.”

For reference, the globally most prestigious film awards ceremony, the Academy Awards/Oscars, usually follows a consistent annual schedule but sometimes changes. This year, films released between February and the following February are selected, with nominations, judging, and announcements completed from March to early April.

The process is also complex.

Nominees and candidate works are selected and judged by ‘Academy Awards’ members located all around the world. These members number in the thousands and serve as judges. Their fields vary from directors, actors, industry professionals, to key staff.

After that, the awards ceremony is held grandly between mid to late April.

The problem lies in the requirement to obtain the ticket to challenge for the ‘Academy Awards’. There are many conditions, but the most basic is that the work must be screened for more than one week at a movie theater in Los Angeles within the selection period. If this is not met, it can’t even be submitted. This was the very reason the executives deemed it impossible.

Of course, the veteran Director Ahn Ga-bok was well aware of this.

“To become a nominee, we need to release the film in an LA theater by February at the latest, which means the editing for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ must be completed by January. That’s not impossible, ‘Leech’ was under a much tighter schedule.”

Though Korea and Hollywood operate under different systems, if a director puts his life on the line, completing editing by January was possible. But as if that wasn’t the real problem, Nora interrupted.

“Director, completing editing by January and releasing in February, this alone isn’t easy, but even if it’s done, setting up a global release schedule in just about a month is also impossible.”

“……”

“As you know, ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ is scheduled to release not only in the United States but also in about 40 other countries including Korea and Japan. Just managing the promotion, marketing, and distribution tasks for those countries takes several months. This is a wall of reality that can’t be overcome by sheer will.”

She was right. If it were just a few countries, maybe, but releasing a film in as many as 40 countries comes with an overwhelming process. Even more so if it’s to be released around the same time. A preparation period of at least three months, possibly over half a year, is required. That’s why the Columbia executives and Nora had said it was impossible.

The wall of reality is always a towering one.

The executives nodded as if to say they understood exactly what he meant. But for some reason, Director Ahn Ga-bok’s calm expression remained largely unchanged. Then he opened his wrinkled lips.

“Instead of a global release after editing is completed in January, how about an advance release only in the United States? Centered around LA.”

“…Advance release in the U.S.?”

“Yes. If we minimize the promotional marketing and go for a two to three-week U.S. release before the end of February, we can meet the Academy Awards’ requirement of screening for at least one week in the United States.”

Starting with the United States. In effect, the idea was to release the film centered around LA and postpone the release in other countries, prioritizing the Academy Awards qualification first in a makeshift manner. This time, Director Ahn Ga-bok raised his voice with strength.

“Promotional marketing in the U.S. for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ is necessary, but thanks to Kang Woojin’s performance, the firepower is already strong. So shortening the time a bit won’t be a big issue.”

“Even if you push so hard—”

“If ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’, for which we’ve taken financial hits, gets good results at the Academy Awards? Then the advertising impact will be explosive, exceeding multiple times the current level.”

“……”

Nora, with a serious face, kept her mouth shut. His words had a point. In fact, ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ already had high recognition due to Woojin’s influence. Even if released as is, it would be quite a hit.

‘If, just if it actually gets any result at the Academy Awards… the impact would be beyond imagination.’

It was the Academy Awards, the dream of filmmakers around the world. And the male lead of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ was none other than Kang Woojin. If this plan rolled out well, it could give birth to a legendary work. Nora swallowed her saliva and summarized.

“So what the director is planning is… Crank-up in September, immediately move into editing, finish editing by January, then after proper promotional marketing, release within February but briefly for two to three weeks, meet the conditions, and then challenge the Academy Awards. Global release comes after that. Is that correct?”

“Exactly.”

Now that it was summarized, it sounded absurd. Nora’s voice had a hint of bewilderment.

“…As I said, it’s a hellish schedule. If even one thing goes wrong, it’s a failure.”

“I know. But as I said earlier, ‘Leech’ was under even tighter constraints and I’m confident. If we do fail, then we’ll just have to accept it calmly. We’ll just think we weren’t meant to be at this year’s Academy Awards.”

“Hmm.”

“And I’ll need the help of the entire staff. Of course, that means we’ll need to spend more money too.”

Several executives immediately furrowed their brows and jumped in. Even at a glance, there were huge risks involved in attempting this.

“Money? You’re saying we should pour more money in here?”

The biggest issue, for now, was the money.

On top of that.

“All of this only makes sense if everything goes well. If that plan fails, not only does the budget risk falling apart, but even with the attempt, there’s no guarantee it’ll be nominated. And even if it gets nominated, what if it crashes at the Academy Awards? How do we handle that?”

“Agreed. If we push recklessly, the whole movie release schedule could fall apart, and if we bomb at the Academy Awards and then go for the global release, what’s the point? With a shattered image, the box office performance could take serious damage.”

Various plausible problems were raised. That’s right, the proposal Director Ahn Ga-bok put forward was a scenario that assumed everything went perfectly. As executives of a major Hollywood studio, it was only natural for them to point out the realistic aspects. There was no reason to take a rugged dirt road when a paved road lay before them.

Director Ahn Ga-bok nodded, as if to say he understood it all.

“I simply made my assessment and put forth a proposal. Of course, the final decision is yours to make.”

Afterward.

Even after Director Ahn Ga-bok’s proposal, the discussion continued for over an hour before the meeting barely came to a close. Or rather, it was hard to say it truly ended. It was such a big matter, and Hollywood prioritized systems, and above all, additional money was involved. On top of that, the future of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ was on the line, so a decision couldn’t be made immediately.

‘Well, I didn’t expect it to be decided right away. But it’s better to push forward than to regret it later.’

After Director Ahn Ga-bok left, the executives reentered a serious round of discussion. It meant they were taking it quite earnestly. Columbia Studios had staked its life on the vast cinematic universe. Just the fact that such a reaction occurred was already a big success for Director Ahn Ga-bok.

“Now, we just have to wait and see.”

In truth, Director Ahn Ga-bok had thought it was more likely that Columbia Studios would reject his proposal. After all, they had already poured a massive amount of money into building the cinematic universe. Choosing a more difficult or risky path wouldn’t be easy. However, the instinct, the intuition of a seasoned veteran had pushed Director Ahn Ga-bok to act.

And.

‘Since we have Kang Woojin, a different outcome might emerge.’

The image of Woojin, who had always delivered unexpected twists, would surely be vivid in the minds of the executives as well. Whatever the case, the results wouldn’t come in just a day or two, and Director Ahn Ga-bok immediately returned to the set, where about a hundred foreign staff members were busily preparing for the shoot.

Everyone was preoccupied with setting up the shoot, and among them, two actors were seen discussing scene composition.

Kang Woojin and Chris Hartnett.

Recently, their two-shot scenes had increased significantly, so they were often seen together. Then, as Director Ahn Ga-bok casually greeted nearby staff.

-Swish.

He slowly approached the two actors. As he made his presence known, both Woojin and Chris greeted him, and Director Ahn Ga-bok quietly asked Woojin a question. It was in Korean, not English.

“Woojin-gun, do you think aiming for this Academy Awards is too much? Do you think the next one, the year after this, is better?”

It was a sudden question, but Kang Woojin’s poker face showed little change. Only internally did he feel a wave of confusion spreading.

‘What’s he saying all of a sudden? Academy Awards?’

Woojin calculated it purely. Honestly, isn’t it always better to take the hit first? That had been his life-long principle since he was a kid. If he did something wrong, he’d step up first and get it over with.

‘Since I’ve been bringing up the Academy Awards all along, whether we hit or miss, sooner is better.’

It could fail. But if that happens, then so be it. That was exactly his mindset. Woojin lowered his voice.

“Next year isn’t in my plans.”

And Director Ahn Ga-bok misunderstood completely on his own.

“I see. Well, for you, whether it’s this year or next year probably doesn’t matter. The timing is different, but in the end, you’re confident you’ll win the award, right?”

That’s not it. I just meant sooner is better. Woojin didn’t respond, sensing a subtle smell of misunderstanding.

“……”

Then Director Ahn Ga-bok chuckled.

“Could you deliver your thoughts to the people at ‘Columbia Studios’?”

As Chris tilted his head, not understanding the Korean, the calm-faced Kang Woojin gave a simple reply.

“No problem.”

A few days later, Wednesday the 17th. At SPT Studio in LA.

At the entrance of the over 50,000-pyeong set, buses, trucks, and many other vehicles were lined up. Additionally, hundreds of foreigners were running around. They were staff from ‘World Disney Pictures’ and the team of ‘Beast and the Beauty’.

And inside the set, among the many trees of a giant castle, around the largest and most magnificent tree.

‘Ugh- damn, this outfit is so uncomfortable.’

Kang Woojin could be seen dressed in an elegant outfit. A formal suit in a mix of white and gold, with his hair dyed light brown. The length had also grown slightly and was neatly swept back.

He looked exactly like a noble character out of a fantasy story.

Outwardly composed, but inwardly very uncomfortable. A hundred or so staff were watching Woojin, and several cameras were filming. Unnamed devices were densely packed around. Directing was being handled by Director Bill Rotner.

“Cut, Woojin. Can you change your posture a bit? More arrogant and dignified.”

“Yes, Director.”

They were currently filming the first poster shoot for ‘Beast and the Beauty’. The start was with Kang Woojin, who had the most work, and the other actors had also arrived and were waiting in their trailers.

Except for one person.

‘He’s doing well—dressed like that, he has a completely different atmosphere. It suits him well. Totally different from that ‘Clown’.’

Cara, not yet in costume, was watching from among the staff with a faint smile that didn’t show. At that moment, the director shouted to Kang Woojin.

“Okay! Now let’s get into the ‘Beast’ makeup!!”

The time had come for the first transformation into the Beast.

**

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