Girls' Generation's YoonA And Jo Jung Suk Praise Each Other And Describe Teamwork For New Film

Jun 27, 2019

Girls’ Generation member YoonA and actor Jo Jung Suk shared their thoughts on their teamwork.

On June 27, the leads and director Lee Sang Geun attended a press conference for the film “E.X.I.T.”

“E.X.I.T” is about an unemployed man named Yong Nam (played by Jo Jung Suk) and college club junior Eui Joo (played by YoonA) who try to escape a city poisoned by unknown toxic gas.

After naming Jo Jung Suk as her “best partner” on a previous TV appearance, YoonA said, “I still think that. It wasn’t just to promote the film, and I really got a lot of help on set. Before shooting the film, I heard a lot of good things about him. [When I met him,] he was just like what I had heard about him. While filming, I felt that his ideas for expressions were amazing. I was shocked.”

Jo Jung Suk replied, “It’s an honor. I felt really grateful when I watched [her say that] on TV. You’ll know this when you watch the movie, but there were many difficult scenes. There were many moments when I cheered her up when she was physically exhausted, so I think that’s why she spoke [positively] about me.”

The comical chemistry between the two actors is a point to watch in “E.X.I.T.” Jo Jung Suk said, “When I said that YoonA became my partner, my close colleague Gong Hyo Jin told me that I have great luck with actresses. I knew this, but I became more curious and wanted to meet her even more when Gong Hyo Jin said this. When I met her, she was really great. I think that good teamwork while acting is the result of getting along well together, and I got along well with YoonA because we have a similar sense of humor and good conversations outside of work. I think our teamwork was portrayed well in the film.”

“He was the partner who I filmed the most scenes with and received the most help from,” explained YoonA. “He gave me consultation rather than advice. There are many parts where Yong Nam and Eui Joo figure things out together, and his surprising ideas made me realize a lot of things. Also, there were many action scenes and he adjusted them to my physical endurance. It was to the point where I wondered how I could act without him.”

In the film, Jo Jung Suk plays the role of a man who was the ace of his mountaineering club in college, failed to get a job after graduating, and is now unemployed. The actor said, “As someone who’s unemployed, Yong Nam isn’t much help at home, but he looked courageous and awesome trying to protect his family members’ lives. It reminded me a lot of the time when I retook the college entrance exam for the second and third time. At the time, I had the mindset ‘I can do it’ rather than asking myself ‘Why do I keep failing?’ I prepared for my character [by thinking about my past].”

YoonA portrayed Eui Joo who was an active member of the mountaineering club in college and used her physical endurance to become in charge of banquet hall events. She explained, “My appearance in real life and my character are about 80 percent similar. I hear from people around me that I’m easy-going and honest. In that sense, I think that I share similarities with Eui Joo’s ‘girl crush’ traits.”