SEOUL– Veteran Korean actor Choi Min-sik said Wednesday he has missed acting in drama series to get deeper into one character in long form, as he is set to return to the small screen after 25 years with “Big Bet.”
Set for streaming on Disney+ on Dec. 21, the first season of “Big Bet” is a highly anticipated eight-episode Korean drama series featuring top-tier actors Choi and Son Seok-goo. It is planned as a two-season show with a total of 16 episodes.
It tells an epic tale of Cha Moo-sik (played by Choi), who rose to the top and became the legendary king of the casino in the Philippines but confronts unfortunate events. After getting tangled in a murder case, he is now faced with the ultimate bet with his life on the line to get back in the game.
Choi said the protagonist will show twists and turns in an ordinary man’s life in a good ensemble with co-star Son.
“Cha Moo-sik is just an ordinary man who obsessively pursues his desires and unconsciously falls into the world of casino,” Choi said during a press conference. “While filming the series, I learned that one’s life can unfold in a dramatic way depending on whom you meet, where you go and what kinds of events you experience.”
The 59-year-old actor, who has appeared in dozens of movies, including “Oldboy” (2003), “New World” (2013) and “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (2014), said he missed the long-form storytelling best presented in a drama series.
“Although movies present compact stories due to the big pressure of not going over two hours, the series gave me enough room to act what I wanted,” he said.
Director Kang Yoon-sung said the filming team adopted “de-aging technology,” a 3D visual effect technique used to make an actor look younger, to better portray the main character’s middle years, while two younger actors played his early years.
“The team conducted several pilot tests and extracted data to create the scenes (of his younger years), which is one of the big achievements of this series,” Kang said.
Source: Yonhap News Agency