According to Korea Herald, Hyun Bin is a rare case in the Korean film industry, where the popularity of a TV star - which is heavily focused on appearance and is often shaped by romantic dramas such as "Landing in My Heart" or "Secret Garden" - rarely has a solid film position.
While many male leads who come from TV series are afraid to take risks with box office risks or actively avoid roles that can break the image of beloved fans, Hyun Bin has built a film career in parallel with award-winning projects such as "The Fatal Encounter" and "Harbin".
That approach continues to be shown through his latest transformation. At the age of 43, Hyun Bin has moved away from the image of the upright, warm captain Lee Jung Hyeok in "Landing You", to transform into the character considered the villain Baek Ki Tae in Disney+'s "Made in Korea".
Baek Ki Tae is the head of a department of KCIA in Busan, living a precarious two-faced life, pursuing power and money at all costs. During the day, he is a government official holding great power; at night, he participates in drug smuggling.
This gamble clearly has brought sweet fruit. Since its release, "Made in Korea" has been at the top of Disney+'s domestic film series rankings for 23 consecutive days, and has also become the most viewed Korean-origin work of this platform throughout the Asia-Pacific region last year.
Season two has now entered production and is expected to be released in the second half of this year.
In the film, Baek Ki Tae is placed in the central character position, being pursued by the hot-tempered prosecutor Jang Geon Young (Jung Woo Sung), obsessed with justice.
Hankook Ilbo newspaper assessed that, in the end, what makes the audience linger is not the prosecutor, but Baek Ki Tae and Hyun Bin's performance. In that aspect, the film feels like it was "tailor-made" for Hyun Bin, and in many ways, it was also created by him.
With "Made in Korea", for the first time Hyun Bin plays a morally ambiguous character, even considered a villain. But the actor said that he did not approach the character with the thought that Baek Ki Tae is simply a bad guy.
I see in him an attraction that goes beyond a pure villain. Of course, he does wrong, but there are parts that make people understand, even empathize, and also make you uncomfortable. It is these contradictions that make Ki Tae attractive and give the audience space to see him not just as a villain," the actor shared.
To depict the overwhelming power of KCIA in that period, Hyun Bin gained 14kg for the role. On set, no detail in his appearance is random, from hairstyle to the pleats on his pants all reflect the very person Baek Ki Tae.
“Ki Tae works so efficiently and ruthlessly, acts and calculates quickly, and is always fully responsible for the results. I imagine him as sharp as a knife, so he chooses a neat hairstyle with glue and a neat headband and tailored suits - a type of person who looks like you can stab him without seeing a drop of blood,” Hyun Bin analyzed about the character.
Hyun Bin emphasized: "I am deeply attracted to Baek Ki Tae's ambition - his unwavering, almost reckless determination to pursue wealth and power. I feel this is a character through whom I have the opportunity to express a very different aspect of myself".
The film marks the second collaboration between Hyun Bin and director Woo Min Ho, after "Harbin". The actor commented that director Woo is a filmmaker who "has a keen ability to explore unprecedented aspects of actors, considers every choice uncompromisingly, and no scene is underestimated".
