'The People Upstairs' Kim Dong-wook on Ha Jung-woo's Directing: "Everything Felt New," and He Would Do It Again

Actor Kim Dong-wook opened up about the trust and affection he has for Ha Jung-woo in his latest turn behind the camera.

In a Dec. 1 interview in Seoul’s Samcheong-dong celebrating the release of "The People Upstairs", Kim said, "As a director, everything about Ha Jung-woo felt new and unfamiliar. As an actor, I've worked with him on 'Take Off' (2009) and 'Along with the Gods' (2017), so I know him well in that lane. But seeing him as a filmmaker was a first. Watching how he approached things as a director was fascinating moment to moment. As an actor, I felt our synergy clicked. If he asked again, I'd say yes in a heartbeat."

Kim and Ha first teamed on "Take Off" and later reunited for the "Along with the Gods" series. Across their three films together, they’ve drawn more than 35 million moviegoers in Korea. Reuniting now as director and actor, they deliver another sharp ensemble in "The People Upstairs".

Kim says the secret sauce this time was the table reads. "We did more than triple the usual number of read-throughs. There were moments I wondered, do we really need to go this far? After one session, the next day the lines would be revised, so we'd do it again. I probably said, 'Again?' a lot," he joked. "Sometimes all four of us read together; when schedules didn’t line up, we brought in stand-ins."

"It helped a lot," he added. "By reading and rereading, the discomfort of having to fire off so many lines faded away. I think the director wanted us to shed the burden of the heavy dialogue through plenty of table reads so we could play freely on set."

"Like any actor, I have a special fondness for this project," Kim continued. "I’d long wanted to meet Jung-woo as a director, and this movie was closest to the kind of film I wanted to make. Working with Kong Hyo-jin and Lee Hanee was a joy, and as we shot I grew confident we were making something genuinely fun. Success is never guaranteed, but I had a great time watching it."

"The People Upstairs" follows two couples ― the upstairs neighbors (Ha Jung-woo and Lee Hanee) and the downstairs pair (Kong Hyo-jin and Kim Dong-wook) ― whose tense dinner, sparked by nights of sex-fueled noise from above, spirals into an unpredictable night. It’s Ha’s fourth feature as a director, adapted from the Spanish film "The People Upstairs" for Korean audiences. Kim plays Hyun-su, a filmmaker fed up with the ruckus from upstairs, delivering one of his most grounded turns yet.

The film opens in theaters Dec. 3.

(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)