"Action? The director praised me for having talent. If given the opportunity, I want to continue doing action."
Actor Lee Jeong-ha (27) has taken on the role of the protagonist in an action school drama. Following aerial action, he has once again solidified his position as a next-generation action star with ground-based action.
On the afternoon of the 11th, a round interview with Lee Jeong-ha, the lead actor of 'ONE: High School Heroes' (hereafter 'ONE'), took place at the Post Tower in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
'ONE' is a high school action drama where the top student, Kim Ui-gyeom (played by Lee Jeong-ha), who suffers from his father's oppression, and Yoon-ki (played by Kim Do-wan), who wants to utilize his innate fighting talent, form a masked group called 'High School Heroes' to unleash their suppressed anger and overturn the hierarchy of school violence.
Lee Jeong-ha plays the role of Kim Ui-gyeom, a top student with innate fighting talent. Once a model student with a gentle personality, Kim Ui-gyeom unleashes violence by taking down the school bullies one by one.
Having showcased aerial action in the Disney+ drama 'Moving', Lee Jeong-ha finally challenged ground action through 'ONE'. When asked about the differences between the two works, Lee Jeong-ha explained, "When I did action in the air, I couldn't make big movements due to the constraints of wires. In 'ONE', I was able to make bigger movements on the ground, which increased the impact."
Lee Jeong-ha, who encountered various martial arts in 'ONE', said, "I had to learn quickly in a short period. I learned boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai, and I tried to make my movements look cool since they had to be precise," adding, "It felt like I lived with all the actors at the action school as if it were home."
After gaining weight up to 98kg for 'Moving', Lee Jeong-ha had to lose weight for the subsequent filming of 'ONE'. He shared, "I had about a month after 'Moving' ended, and I worked hard to lose weight quickly. I started filming 'ONE' at 85kg and gradually lost more," explaining, "I extended my fasting periods and reduced my food intake by half. Maybe because my basal metabolic rate is high, I lost weight quickly. I endured without eating."
While filming consecutive action projects, Lee Jeong-ha received a lot of praise from directors and senior actors, saying, "Since they kept complimenting me, there were times I wondered, 'Do I really have talent?'" He expressed, "If given the opportunity, I want to continue doing action. I get nervous when action scenes come up, but once it's done, I feel like it turned out great, and I feel proud. I feel a sense of achievement," revealing his affection for his action performances.
Regarding the final episode set to be released on the 13th, Lee Jeong-ha hinted, "Since Ui-gyeom is a character who learns to fight and develops, the action in the latter half will be no joke. You'll see a more grown and cooler Ui-gyeom," expressing his hope that "it will gain more word of mouth and be loved by many."
[Kim Mi-ji, Star Today Reporter]
