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Hong Kyung shares his experience learning new languages for the Netflix movie Good News.
On the morning of October 14, Netflix held a press conference for its upcoming K-movie Good News. Present at the event were director Byun Sung Hyun and actors Ryu Seung Beom, Hong Kyung, and Sul Kyung Gu.
Set in 1970, Good News depicts the suspicious operation carried out by a group of people who aim to land a hijacked plane by any means necessary.
In the K-drama, Hong Kyung plays Seo Go Myeong, an elite Air Force lieutenant called upon for the covert mission.
Hong Kyung said, "Needless to say, I was captivated by the script. The main thing is that when I first received and came across the role of Seo Go Myeong, he felt like a really passionate guy. The way he moves forward, strives to achieve something, and his ambition — it shows the impulsiveness of youth, and I was deeply drawn to that."
He described the character, saying, "He is a person with great ambition and drive. It is shown a little in the movie as well, and briefly, his family background or personal circumstances come up, which may or may not serve as his motivation, but he is a guy with the desire to move forward and achieve something."
Hong Kyung speaks three languages in the film. He stated, "During the prep period, I tried hard to learn many basic terms and elements that air traffic controllers need to know. I may be familiar with English, but it was my first time dealing with Japanese, so I took my time and learned slowly. I tried to start by memorizing hiragana and katakana. It was the same when I worked on a project involving sign language before — just delivering lines is difficult — but I didn’t want to miss a good opportunity to explore different chances, and the production company gave me enough time, so I was able to make the effort."
Director Byun praised working with Hong Kyung, saying, "It was extremely tiring. He really had a lot of questions. I had to prepare answers to those questions. So even though it was a script I wrote myself, I had to study more. I jokingly say it was tiring, but I also learned a lot. Not only with the questions, but when he shared his own thoughts, if I agreed, the scene design would sometimes change. I laid the foundation, but I think it’s fair to say we made the project together."
He added, "I wanted Hong Kyung to resemble not the youth of the 1970s, but the youth of today's generation. I wanted to capture things like the feeling of helplessness, [that comes when you don't achieve things] no matter how hard you try." He added, "Also, sometimes I thought of the final scene shown at the movie's ending as representing the youth of today’s generation, as Hong Kyung and I see it, and I worked with that in mind."
Good News is premiering on October 17, only on Netflix.
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