Lee Joon Gi Reveals Casting Story Behind "The King And The Clown" And His Goal As An Actor

Oct 20, 2018

On the latest episode of “Ask Us Anything,” Lee Joon Gi talked about the difficult audition process for the film “The King and the Clown,” as well as his goal for the future.

Lee Joon Gi appeared as a guest on the October 20 broadcast of JTBC’s “Ask Us Anything,” where he shared the story behind his breakout role in “The King and the Clown.”

When asked how he had landed the role, he replied, “I was cast in ‘The King and the Clown’ by going through an audition.”

After surprising everyone with the fact that 3,000 actors had competed for the role, he added, “[The film] was an adaptation of the famous play ‘Yi’ [literal title]. They made a shocking decision to cast a rookie as the lead. There were three rounds to the audition, which went on for a month.”

Lee Joon Gi went on to explain that the character of Gong Gil was especially important to the film, recalling, “They said that the film could be ruined by [casting the wrong actor as] Gong Gil. There were 3,000 people who came [to the audition], and everyone who was good at acting, pretty, or handsome was there. I was 24 years old at the time.”

He continued, “I needed something to stand out. So at the end of the audition, I showed them a move, and that really stood out to the director and senior actors. I did a handstand, then split my legs. I filmed exactly what I did during my audition for a scene in the movie.”

Lee Joon Gi also revealed one of his goals as an actor. “I want to be the first [Korean actor] to receive an Academy Award,” he said.

He continued, “Didn’t BTS recently top the Billboard charts? Things that seemed impossible in the past are now being realized. I think that if I work hard, it may be possible one day.”

The actor went on to talk about appearing in “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” alongside Milla Jovovich. He commented, “I filmed [in Hollywood] for about a month, and I experienced an advanced filming environment.”