I chose this episode because to me it marks a definite change in Jung II-woo’s acting of Iljimae’s. He finally knows his character well enough and looks more relaxed, to the point one can forget he’s acting. It is almost parallel to the discovery of his love for Wol-hee. Thinking she is dead, he goes into the very dark space of violence and destruction. When he discovers she is still alive, he realizes how much he loves her…and Wol-hee counts how much he loves her too!
This…is my favorite scene in Iljimae. It is the scene where he wakes up slowly…and realizes her…Wol-hee. You can see the confusion, the pain, the happiness, the surprise, the tired and sick Iljimae. When he cries, it is so deep and emotional…never one bit overdone! It is simply perfect!!! Bravo Jung II-woo! This part moves me…maybe because as Iljimae realizes his love for Wol-hee, Jung II-woo realized Iljimae!…And then there is the music! Bravo!!!
Video Cr. MBC
Photo Cr. MBC
The part in the next photo is so funny. When both Bae Seon-dal and Cha Dol-yi are holding Iljimae’s hand, admiring him. Bae Seon-dal is like…”You are more beautiful up close”…like weird! And Cha Dol playing with his sword… so adorable!
I love when I can read a great article about something or someone I like. Something that gives me more information, and comes from a reliable source. This is a great article from asiae.co.kr, and displayed in Dramabeans. They interviewed Jung II-woo and the questions were really good! And it’s in English!
Here is a bit of it. Cr. asiae.co.kr via Dramabean’s Java beans
“I understand that Return of Iljimae is heading toward its ending. How are things progressing?
We’re filming Episode 23. There are a lot of location shoots — we’ve been to Gwangyang, and I think we’re going once more to Wan-do. Gangwondo, Jeollado, Kyungsangdo… We’ve been all over the country. Because I can’t get cell phone reception when we’re shooting deep in the mountains, there are many times I’ve just turned it off entirely, and when we get to mountain paths that won’t permit cars, I just grab some equipment and climb the mountain to go shoot. [Laughs]
Filming began on Return of Iljimae last summer. How was your first encounter with director Hwang In-roi?
He asked a lot of personal questions, like how I spend my time these days, or how my family is.
Until that point, you had been preparing for director Lee Yoon-jung’s drama Triple.
Although I hadn’t signed a contract, I had been preparing for about four months. I was cast as a short-track speed skater, so I had been training seven hours a day.
It must have been intensive training. Did you record fast times? [Laughs]
Women national athletes record one lap around the rink in about 8 seconds. I skated about a 10-second lap.
Considering that, it must seem such a waste for all the training you put into Triple when you took on Return of Iljimae instead.
Not necessarily. I think of it as something that may come in handy some day. It was a good experience.”
Here are the photos. Enjoy! Photo Cr. asiae.co.kr.
WITAT
I want to share this with you:
Something very special happen to me yesterday. I won…an award! It is “The Founder’s Award” from my school. I have seen this award go to people who are retiring, leaving or parents who have collaborated greatly with the school and are leaving. I was not expecting it at all because I am not leaving! In fact…I was in the bathroom when the principal started announcing it! I will never forget that moment when I walked back to my seat…and I finally focused on what she was saying…and realized that she was talking about me!!!
So yes…I walked up to the stage…heard many things said about me…and people stood up and clapped for me. It was so surreal and nerve wracking! When I was going back to my seat my students held out their hands for me to high five them and then the graduating class came to hug me…I was a complete mess by the end of that! I think I felt a bit of what Jung II-woo feels …all that loving energy coming at you… I will say it’s very satisfying to have one’s efforts acknowledged, but it is so overwhelming! And today looking back, I feel a greater responsibility to be a better teacher and colleague. I also feel so thankful and blessed…!!!
Jung II-woo did a magnificent job showcasing all the qualities of this very human superhero. At the beginning some of the effects of him fighting with the use of cables were almost comical, but as the series progressed, they got better and better. One of the best fight scenes occurs in Episode 11 entitled “Moonlight Fight.” It is not only artistic but it has a great message: like in Yoda’s words: size matters not!. In this fight Iljimae faces someone who is bigger, but using his agility and intelligence he tires him out until he beats him. So great!
Also what makes Iljimae great is that we start to see that Iljimae is not necessarily a “goodie two shoes. Sometimes he does things out of spite, and one thing he wears all the time is that feeling of frustration, of sadness and anger for not being able to save the love of his life Dal-yi.
Another great scene in this episode is “the dance at the clothesline.” It shows Iljimae and Wol-hee talking about their marriage. Wol-hee has decided to accept Iljimae’s proposal and because he gives her a rather cold “thanks,” she starts to ask for more. Some words that express his love for her? A kiss? This results in a sort of dance between the two…about how each one feels on the topic of their marriage. She is sure… he… not so much… It’s a perfect scene!!! Scroll way down to see these…(past the warrior stuff)
Video and Photo Cr. MBC
Dance at the Clothesline:
This face…at the end of this scene…nails it! Bravo director!!!
And this belong to the end of the episode when the monk is asking Iljimae who is in his heart…Dal-yi or Wol-hee…
These are from him fighting in general throughout the drama:
Nothing says more of a man that can wear a scarf. Scarfs are one of those accessories that can make you and your outfit look fantastic or a complete disaster. Jung II-woo makes all scarfs look so good! Any type, any way he wears them! Photo Cr. On photos Enjoy!!!
WITAT
Seriously, did you take a class Jung II-woo? His hair loose and free, a scarf thrown in…and Wham!!! Home run look! If I did that I would look horrible! My colleagues would ask… Are you OK? You look a bit disheveled. If my mom saw me, she would say something along the lines of “Did you for get to stop at the comb and brush intersection this morning?! Seriously!…
Update June 19th. Found a few more photos. Photo Cr. DCIlwoo
Update June 24 (From DCIlwoo)
WITAT
Good to see that he has some pimples in these! Don’t ask me why! Maybe it’s because he looks more natural somehow… pimples or not, there is something that shows in all his photos, it is goodness, kindness…
This is the title of another great article found here. It in Jung II-woo talks about how he feels most comfortable carrying his script around. It also says that when the director says cut, most actors reach for the mirror, but Jung II-woo reaches for his script. His is always among (if not) the most tattered script on set.
“Jung explains that even when he’s not on set, he feels uneasy whenever he is without his script in hand and carries it around with him, not just for memorization purposes but because he’s constantly trying to figure out how to act a certain scene: “It isn’t for one particular reason, but reading the script allows me to focus on the work, and eases my mind.”
Cr. Javabeans, from Dramabeans via My Daily…
Here is Jung II-woo and his script. He works so hard! I read in another article…that he actually auditioned 50 times before getting his first role in The world of Silence. That is how hard he works…and believes in what he does! So inspiring!
Enjoy!
In another article, I read about how nervous Jung II-woo was before acting with Park Geun-hyung. He is a great Korean actor with an extensive body of work that spans into 5 decades! You can see how many movies and dramas he has done here. It’s amazing! It was way too many to count! Imagine!!!
Jung II-woo had heard that he was short tempered and had very little patience for mistakes, so he started rehearsing for the parts with him like two months ahead! In the end he was really kind to Jung II-woo and rehearsed with him and told him it was OK if he NG. Jung II-woo was very relieved! (I’m sure he heard about how nervous and how hard Jung II-woo was working.)
WITAT
SO inspired! Love you more the more I read about you!
During The Return of Iljimae, Iljimae amazingly enough meets someone who looks exactly like Dal-yi. Yet…somehow one wonders does he really love Wol-hee or is it the memory of Dal-yi. Whatever that answer might be, one thing I know for sure is that the parts of episode 8 and their love scenes were really beautiful to watch! Photo Cr. MBC.
Now before we get to that ultimate delight, we must savor something first…It is Jung II-woo as a woman! I know that he is pretty enough for it…but somehow, I can always see the man…he has a very masculine energy.
Had to include these…love this house! It’s Kim Ja-jeom’s home (the bad guy/corrupt government official). Love that circle window!!! I hope to see something like that someday in person…I love circles!!!
And here finally, Iljimae and Wol-hee…
The morning after…
And a few nights later…
A few posed photos:
This is the only video I found on YouTube of Iljimae and Wol-hee. Not even an official OST…really?! This was made by a fan, set to the music of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” It’s really good with lots of scenes…except that I wish it would use music from the soundtrack of The Return of Iljimae. Somehow I can’t get The Bodyguard out of my mind…
WITAT
I enjoyed the beauty of the love scenes in this episode…they are so gentle and tender. I love how the color white is the color of their pajamas… seems to bring even more purifying to the sleeping process.
Yet my inquisitive mind has a few questions…
하나) How can she trust a complete stranger into her house. Even if he’s handsome!!!
둘) How can she have lived by herself in those times like that? Wouldn’t her uncle or some other man in her family (or the government) have taken her house? She seems a pretty modern woman for her times!
셋) Iljimae really makes her work, suffer for his love… but isn’t this true for the entire drama? I feel sad for Wol-hee. I really despise Iljimae sometimes! How could he treat her that badly! That’s why I think he loves her but only to a certain point… I mean if you really love someone would you leave them for years? At the end he has no excuse for that really… that’s abusive! No woman or man should wait that long for anyone’s love!
