Recently, Kang Dong Won's name has been noticed again when he starred in the historical drama "Uprising". The story revolves around the journey from childhood to adulthood of Jong Ryeo (Park Jung Min) and Cheon Young (Kang Dong Won).
Before its official release on October 11, "Uprising" made history as the first film to be screened at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
Speaking about this, Kang Dong Won felt "grateful" that it had been 14 years since the last time one of his films was honored at the event.
“This time, I feel more grateful than before. When I was young, I didn't really like attending crowded events. But now, I feel really honored.
When I was younger, I was a bit of a “slightly unstable” person and was in the process of discovering who I really was. I was more cautious, even in what I said in public, worrying about saying the wrong thing. But now, I understand myself better and know that I am not the type to say nonsense in public."
According to the Korean actor, after more than 2 decades of appearing in the audience as an actor, he now feels comfortable on set.
"Acting hasn't gotten easier, but the filming process has become more comfortable for me. This doesn't mean I've become a better actor. I just feel more natural now."
Still, the actor finds that there's a disconnect between his perception of himself and how audiences actually perceive his work. "I always think, 'I've done this much,' but the reality is it's never enough. I need to focus on closing that gap."
Speaking more about the newly aired project (currently ranked No. 3 on Netflix's non-English language film chart for 2 consecutive weeks, attracting more than 15 million views worldwide), Kang Dong Won said he was impressed by the film's script, which is more than 100 pages long.
For him, this is "unconventional" and can be a "double-edged sword" because the film focuses too much on each character's story, but he personally enjoys these vivid descriptions.
In the film, in addition to his acting, Kang Dong Won was praised for his graceful sword fighting skills, which the media praised as similar to traditional Korean sword dance.
In fact, this is not the first time Kang Dong Won has performed sword fighting scenes on screen. Previously, he made his mark with similar scenes in films such as "Duelist" (2005), "Kundo: Age of the Rampant" (2014)... thanks to his focus on training.
For example, with "Duelist," he spent nine hours a day for eight months mastering the action scenes. In addition, he applied a training regimen with 1,000 sit-ups as a basic exercise.
