Choi Woo-shik on 'Number One': Reuniting with Director Kim Tae-yong & 'Parasite' Jang Hye-jin

At a Jan. 29 press screening for the film "Number One" at CGV Yongsan in Seoul, Choi Woo-shik opened up about teaming with director Kim Tae-yong for the first time since 2014’s "Set Me Free" and reuniting with his "Parasite" co-star Jang Hye-jin seven years later.

Asked about building his character, Choi admitted there was “pressure” because many fans still cherish "Set Me Free". “I leaned on the director a lot,” he said, noting that tackling the Busan dialect for the first time meant extra coaching from Kim, who’s from Busan, and a dialect coach. “Our film deals with weighty themes, but we also have plenty of quick back-and-forth moments, so we found our rhythm on set.”


Reflecting on the long gap since their first collaboration, Choi said, “When we made 'Set Me Free', I was in my early 20s and he was 27. We didn’t have much experience, but maybe that’s why there was a spark. This time, we’ve both lived and worked a lot more, and that brought a different kind of energy. We had so much fun on set. I didn’t even need to check the monitor―he already knew what was working. It was a happy shoot.”

Choi also spoke about teaming up again with Jang Hye-jin, who played his mother in "Parasite". “In 'Parasite', it was all about the ensemble, so we didn’t have many one-on-one emotional exchanges,” he said. “This time, we really connect one-on-one and there’s a lot of give-and-take, which was a joy. We started from an already close relationship, so nothing felt awkward. It all came together smoothly.”


"Number One" follows Hamin (Choi Woo-shik), who begins seeing a mysterious number that drops every time he eats his mother Eunsil’s (Jang Hye-jin) cooking―and learns that when it hits zero, she will die. He scrambles to protect her before time runs out.

The film opens Feb. 11.

(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)