I Was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor

The Cannes Film Festival, ranked #1 among the world’s top 3 international film festivals. Also known as the Festival de Cannes, it is a festival attended by numerous high-profile filmmakers from around the world. Although it is slightly less prestigious than the global giant, the Academy Awards, the Cannes Film Festival is still a massive event from an actor’s perspective.

Its ripple effect and influence were likewise significant.

Thanks to this, even top Hollywood actors strive to win at the Cannes Film Festival. While Korea also shows a notable presence, it is mostly directors, and actors winning awards are rare and countable on one hand.

France, Cannes Film Festival.

To Kang Woojin, who had his phone pressed to his ear, these words seemed somewhat unreal.

‘Cannes, huh. Cannes? Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen it in person? I don’t feel particularly nervous.’

Of course, he had seen it a few times on TV or in articles, but that was all. The atmosphere would be roughly similar to the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Maybe a bit bigger. In any case, despite hearing Director Ahn Ga-bok’s comments over the phone, Woojin was not very nervous. It was just ‘Oh, so the Cannes Film Festival opens on September 30th?’ That was about it.

He could imagine it, but it was quite faint.

Even so, Woojin lowered his voice. He needed to show a serious tone to Director Ahn Ga-bok.

“Hmm. It’s not something to take lightly, but there’s no need to be too focused on it either. It’ll just make you anxious unnecessarily, there’s still time, so just keep it in mind.”

“Yes. I will just keep it in mind for now.”

“I don’t need to contact CEO Choi separately, right?”

“Of course, I will convey it.”

“Alright. Let’s meet when you return to Korea. Ah, right, this is just an old man’s unnecessary worry, but even while working on many projects, you mustn’t forget ‘Park Ha-seong’ from ‘Leech’.”

What does this old man take me for? Still, Woojin somewhat understood Director Ahn Ga-bok’s concern. How many projects was Woojin handling right now? Moreover, he was in a foreign country, Japan, not Korea.

‘Well, it’s more of a genuine concern than doubting me.’

Among Korean actors, only Kang Woojin could handle such a crazy schedule. Naturally, it would be the first time Director Ahn Ga-bok had seen this in his decades of experience.

As if to prove this, the old voice of Director Ahn Ga-bok came through the phone again.

“Hehe, as you get older, you just worry more and more.”

Kang Woojin thought he should give some lip service to this worried old man.

“I always keep ‘Park Ha-seong’ in mind.”

“…Hearing that from you makes me feel more reassured. Alright, let’s hang up now.”

“Yes, Director~nim.”

-Click.

Kang Woojin slowly lowered his phone. Currently, he was in the external parking lot of ‘A10 Studio’. Woojin had stopped walking to take the call, and since it seemed like team members including Han Ye-jung were waiting, Woojin gave a small nod.

“It’s done, let’s go.”

The Kang Woojin team started moving again. Meanwhile, Woojin, walking at the very back, searched for the Cannes Film Festival on his phone. Unsurprisingly, countless information and materials poured out.

An enormous amount from past to present.

In the articles, he could see the content Director Ahn Ga-bok had mentioned.

『[OverseasIS] Cannes Film Festival confirmed to open on September 30th, how many works including Director Ahn Ga-bok’s ‘Leech’ will be invited this year?』

Woojin, with a solemn face, muttered inwardly.

‘Well, it is impressive. Just looking at the atmosphere, it seems like they make a big deal even if you’re just invited to Cannes?’

He was referring to the Korean film industry. In reality, Korea’s presence in Cannes was quite faint. In terms of results, Japan was ahead. Woojin continued to browse about the Cannes Film Festival and soon he put his phone in his pocket.

‘Whatever- I’ll know when the time comes. Rather than that, I’m really looking forward to going to France. Damn, how many times am I going abroad just this year?’

Then he changed the subject of his thoughts.

-Swoosh.

As he got closer to the ‘A10 Studio’ building, Woojin pulled out the script tucked under his arm. What else could it be? It was the first episode script of the anime ‘Male Friend: Remake’. For reference, today’s script reading was only for the first episode.

‘Right now, this takes priority over Cannes.’

Rather than worrying about the distant future, his mindset was to deal with what was right in front of him. It made sense because, though Cannes was a first, for Kang Woojin, being a voice actor for an animation was also a first. Ever since he received the voice actor proposal from ‘Male Friend: Remake’, he had been studying and researching materials whenever he had a moment to think about it.

The conclusion was clear.

Acting as an actor and acting as a voice actor were clearly different.

Even Choi Sung-gun, who was flipping through materials related to voice acting, had said that while acting experience would certainly help, voice acting was a completely different field. But he also added that steady progress was the key.

Although it was the right answer, for Kang Woojin.

-Pook!

He had a cheat item called Void Space. Before entering ‘A10 Studio’, Woojin entered Void Space first. Then, he looked at the white rectangle of ‘Male Friend: Remake’.

-[10/Script (Title: Male Friend: Remake), SS-grade]

Since he had no real experience as a voice actor, he had to rely heavily on the readings (experiences) in Void Space. At least that was Kang Woojin’s judgment.

“Plus, the world of anime is super fun.”

Woojin’s fingers moved to savor the feeling of visiting another world.

[“……Preparation complete. This is a highly complete script or scenario. The implementation is 100%. Starting the reading.”]

Soon, a large gray veil enveloped him.

How much time had passed?

Having lived in the world of the anime ‘Male Friend: Remake’, Kang Woojin returned to reality once more.

‘Wow, that was really fun.’

He was satisfied. As expected, the world of animation was novel and full of enjoyment. The anime ‘Male Friend: Remake’ was based on the original ‘Male Friend’, but it was adapted with the unique flavor of Japanese anime. The overall background was entirely different, and many aspects of the characters and story had changed.

In other words, it was a completely different world from ‘Male Friend’.

Firstly, the setting was a high school. Naturally, the character names changed too. ‘Han In-ho’ from ‘Male Friend’ became ‘Toru Sengoku’ in ‘Male Friend: Remake’. He was a musical genius skilled in vocals and piano, but he had past traumas which were currently not revealed.

The character ‘Lee Bo-min’, played by Hwalin, changed to ‘Kyoko Enma’.

‘Kyoko Enma’ was Toru Sengoku’s childhood friend and was extremely popular at school due to her great style. However, she had a fierce personality. The anime ‘Male Friend: Remake’ began when the previously inconspicuous Woojin, or ‘Toru Sengoku’, suddenly transforms as he dons a costume for the school cultural festival.

When he transformed, his hidden handsomeness exploded.

As Kang Woojin entered the first-floor lobby of ‘A10 Studio’, recalling the world of ‘Male Friend: Remake’ and voice acting, he muttered to himself.

‘Anyway, everything is imprinted in my mind- it seems like voice acting won’t be that difficult either.’

There was no reason for it to be difficult.

Meanwhile, in the conference room of ‘A10 Studio’.

A conference room with many famous anime characters posted on the walls, where numerous desks had already been set up in a ㄷ-shape. Among the many meeting rooms in the huge ‘A10 Studio’ building, this was the largest.

This conference room had already been transformed into a script reading room.

The arranged desks, character name tags and bottled water on the desks, extra scripts, folding chairs around the ㄷ-shaped desks, and dozens of staff members busy with the final setup.

The voice actor introduction and script reading for ‘Male Friend: Remake’ was similar to the readings for other works. The only notable differences were the microphones on the desks and the large monitor at the front of the room. The reason for the monitor was simple. The key was to match their voices while watching the completed ‘Male Friend: Remake’ anime.

Whatever the case, seeing the ㄷ-shaped desk arrangement, it was obvious that at least a dozen voice actors would be present for today’s reading.

About 70% were famous, top-tier voice actors.

Among them was Asami Sayaka, with whom Kang Woojin had a close connection. From the seating arrangement, it seemed that lead actor Kang Woojin was to the left of the director’s seat, while Asami Sayaka was on the opposite side of Woojin.

In the midst of this.

“Did you know? Among voice actors, they’re not looking favorably at Kang Woojin’s casting.”

A few of the staff who were finishing the setup quietly whispered to each other. Of course, in Japanese.

“Ah- I’ve heard the rumors too. But if I were a pretty successful voice actor, I’d feel a bit uncomfortable too.”

“Eh, really??”

In fact, the current view of Kang Woojin in Japan’s voice acting industry wasn’t entirely positive. Naturally, there were those who felt good about it, but more than half expressed discomfort. This was because the voice acting market in Japan was as large as the acting industry.

In other words, there was nothing to lose.

Analyzing scripts for animations was as important as it was for movies and dramas. However, since faces and expressions do not appear, the focus was on speech and voice.

In addition, various techniques were important and needed to be mastered.

Clear pronunciation such as diction, matching the character, breathing in sync with the character, tone of voice according to the situation and event, emphasis, timing of the lines, speed control of the lines, nuances, rhythm, and many other techniques aside from the pauses for long lines.

Voice acting seemed similar to acting at first glance but was completely different.

In acting, the actor becomes the character itself, but in voice acting, it felt like becoming the vocal cords of an existing character. Therefore, it required more delicacy. It was a difficult field that could be considered quite meticulous.

Because of this, newbies and rookie voice actors frequently made mistakes from their first lines.

It’s difficult to grasp even the timing of dialogue entry from the start.

In short, becoming synchronized with the anime character was the problem. Of course, overcoming countless mistakes through trial and error was common for any voice actor.

It’s just a difference in years of experience.

“Honestly, from the perspective of voice actors, Kang Woojin seems like a bit of a- sudden intruder, doesn’t he?”

“Ah. But it might bring a fresh breeze.”

“That might be true, but it’s not like our country’s voice acting industry is struggling. It’s actually close to booming. So, it might feel a bit unfamiliar.”

“Still, I think he’ll be much better than rookie voice actors. At least his diction is guaranteed. And grasping emotional lines.”

Opinions were sharply divided.

Additionally, Kang Woojin was a Korean actor. Conversely, ‘Male Friend: Remake’ was a Japanese animation. So, he had to deliver Japanese at a native level and express the main character’s abilities and emotions in the story.

As if it wasn’t enough that it would be his first experience, there were too many obstacles.

Though actors and voice actors are similar, they are clearly different fields. And Kang Woojin, who didn’t know a thing about voice acting, got cast as the main character after becoming a huge hit in Japan? To Japanese voice actors, Woojin clearly seemed to be chosen for his popularity. The Japanese voice acting industry also had a tremendous number of aspiring voice actors, making success a needle in a haystack.

As a result, many voice actors were worried or jealous.

It wasn’t an unusual phenomenon.

After all, the same situation is common in the Korean entertainment industry, where blood ties, regional ties, school ties, and even bad ties connect people.

Therefore, Kang Woojin was very hot among Japanese voice actors.

Several male and female voice actors who had already arrived and taken their seats in this reading room felt the same.

“Oh, is Kang Woojin really coming today??”

“Of course. He’s the lead of the work, there’s no way he wouldn’t come.”

“Ahh- I’m so excited. I watched ‘Male Friend’ on Netflix to understand the work better after getting confirmed for this anime. I totally became a fan of Kang Woojin there.”

“Really? But I find it a bit odd.”

“Uh… Why?”

“I don’t know. It just feels like he was cast because of his popularity and buzz.”

“Ah.”

“Of course, I know he’s good at acting. He was the lead in Director Kyotaro’s work too. So, I’m sure he’s quite good at analyzing anime scripts. But voice acting is a completely different skill.”

The main topic of conversation among these five or so people, who were somewhat familiar with each other, was naturally Kang Woojin. Even when stepping out of the reading room, going to the restroom, and walking down the hallway, the voice actors whispered the same things. However, they kept the volume to a minimum.

“After Kang Woojin was cast, the buzz certainly shot up, but doesn’t it feel like our voice acting industry is being taken lightly?”

“Hm, I can definitely sense that vibe.”

“Senior voice actors don’t view it positively either.”

“Even professional voice actors find each project challenging, but casting an active actor – and a Korean actor at that – as the male lead? The Japanese pronunciation alone will be an issue.”

“Hmm. When I watched his interviews in Japan, his pronunciation seemed okay? For a Korean, his Japanese was quite good.”

“There’s a difference between speaking it well enough and mastering it. You need to deliver all the nuances of the character, and also have the skill to match the timing with the animation.”

Voice actors who hadn’t experienced Kang Woojin could only judge him by typical standards.

Or perhaps it was territoriality.

“Maybe because ‘A10 Studio’ has been missing the mark recently, it’s good to get attention, but I hope they’re not overreaching.”

“Anyway, today’s going to be a tough day… Kang Woojin is definitely an amateur, so he’s bound to make a lot of mistakes.”

“How about a bet?”

“What kind of bet?”

“On whether he’ll mess up from the very first line or not.”

At that moment, a cold male voice suddenly interrupted from behind the voice actors who were opening the glass door of the conference room and currently the reading room entrance.

“Sounds good.”

It was a low-toned Japanese.

“Let’s bet.”

The male voice actors, startled, quickly turned their heads. There stood a man with black hair and a firm face. The voice actors immediately recognized who he was.

“K-Kang… Woojin.”

As if confirming their thoughts, Kang Woojin, accompanied by his team, approached them while maintaining a poker face. Then he spoke again.

In a cynical tone without backing down.

“How about we bet on who messes up more – me, an amateur, or you two as professionals. What do you think?”

Of course, everyone inside the reading room heard it too.

*****

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