[HanCinema's News] Park Jinyoung Talks About "Christmas Carol"

December 7th saw the release of "Christmas Carol" with actor Park Jinyoung in the leading role. There, he plays two twins, one a live and the other dead, with the former setting out to take vengeance for the latter. At a recent press conference, Park Jinyoung expressed nervousness about being on the big screen in such a way. "Christmas Carol" is not his first film. However, "A Stray Goat" was an independent release, while "Yaksha: Ruthless Operations" aired via Netflix on small screens.

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Park Jinyoung claimed that nervousness over this aspect abated over the nine months during which "Christmas Carol" was filmed, and that by the time it was over, he was even having humorous, laughing moments with his co-stars. "Christmas Carol" is based on the novel of the same title written by Joo Won-gyoo. The original novel is famous for its biting social commentary on the treatment of the disabled and less advantaged in South Korean culture.

Initially, Park Jinyoung actually thought the script was less harsh in this aspect, as there were fewer scenes of violence. This was enough to make Park Jinyoung consider not taking on the role at all. However, he compensated by having his character speak and act in terms of constant unfiltered rage. Park Jinyoung grew to appreciate the role as a perfect chance for him to act against type, as so many of his roles have featured him acting like a generally nice guy.

But even Park Jinyoung's character, as initially presented, are nice people. He turns to rage as he is brought to a truly despicable situation, with the dark mood being a logical reaction to these poor circumstances. Despite Park Jinyoung having two roles, the filming schedule required that all of the dead, disabled twin's scene be shot first. So from Park Jinyoung's perspective, there was no switching back and forth. He did one role, and then the other.

Despite this, Park Jinyoung considered both of his characters as coming from a similar place emotionally, coping with abandonment, though one still maintains the fantasy of his parents coming home for Christmas. Park Jinyoung described their coping methods as being the true difference between them. "Christmas Carol" had 6,085 admissions in its first day of availability at the South Korean box office.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Christmas Carol" is directed by Kim Seong-soo, and features Park Jinyoung, Kim Young-min, Kim Dong-hwi-I, Song Geon-hee, Heo Dong-won. Release date in Korea: 2022/12/07.