Actor and director Jung Woo \/ Courtesy of BH Entertainment<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
For actor Jung Woo, returning to the character of Jjanggu after 16 years was not just a career move, but a deeply personal journey. In his directorial debut, \u201cAudition 109,\u201d the actor explores the struggling years of an aspiring actor, a narrative that serves as a spiritual successor to his 2009 breakout film \u201cWish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jung said the project began with a few episodes he had written years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote the original draft for \u2018Wish,\u2019 and I often wondered what happened to Jjanggu after that story ended,\u201d Jung told The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept those notes in storage until the production finally got under way. We went through six or seven rounds of revisions to turn those memories into a screenplay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWish\u201d gained a massive cult following, particularly among male audiences who found deep resonance in its raw and nostalgic depiction of high school brotherhood and growing pains.<\/p>\n
Due to these high expectations, Jung initially turned down the offer to direct \u201cAudition 109.\u201d However, he eventually realized that he was already performing the duties of a director in his head, as the characters and their stories were so deeply rooted in his own experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized that I already knew the specific personalities of the characters, the locations and the exact atmosphere of each scene because I had written them,\u201d he explained. \u201cAs an actor, I also knew how to express each role. Since these are all parts of directing, I decided to take on the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film is a collaborative effort, particularly with his wife and actor Kim Yoo-mi, who is credited as a creator on the project. He said her support was the starting point for the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would act out the scenes I wrote, and she found them so entertaining,\u201d he recalled. \u201cShe is more than just a planner. Because she studied acting more systematically than I did, she wasn\u2019t afraid to point out when I was heading in the wrong direction on set.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jung also credited co-director Oh Seong-ho for being the backbone of the production.<\/p>\n
\u201cDirector Oh was responsible for more than 80 percent of this film. His presence alone gave me great strength,\u201d Jung said.<\/p>\n
He added that having a co-director allowed him to be more flexible as an actor.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if I didn\u2019t fully agree with a suggestion at first, I didn\u2019t let my ego take over. Since I was the lead actor, it was easy to just try it their way and see how it looked on screen. Often, I found they were right,\u201d Jung said.<\/p>\n
![\"Actor](\"https:\/\/newsimg.koreatimes.co.kr\/2026\/04\/20\/daa75404-d68c-4f7d-8629-2dc6b204903d.jpg?w=728\")
<\/picture>\nActor and director Jung Woo in a scene from “Audition 109” \/ Courtesy of BY4M Studio<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The transition from actor to director gave Jung a broader perspective on the film industry. He admitted that managing people, from the head staff to the youngest crew members, was the most difficult task.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt made me realize that I need to be better to directors and production staff in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cMy view has widened. I now feel a deep sense of empathy for every staff member involved in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the long wait for a sequel to \u201cWish,\u201d Jung clarified that \u201cAudition 109\u201d is not a conventional follow-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a story about what happened after \u2018Wish,\u2019 but it doesn\u2019t follow a typical franchise format like \u2018The Roundup,\u2019\u201d Jung explained. \u201cI think of it as Jjanggu and I growing up together over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
A particularly emotional moment for Jung was casting director Jang Hang-jun in a cameo role, because his very first real-life audition at age 19 was for one of Jang\u2019s films.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to choose between using his humorous public image or my personal sincere feelings for the casting, and I chose sincerity,\u201d Jung said. \u201cI had to beg many of my colleagues and seniors to appear in small roles because I didn\u2019t have much to offer. I\u2019m incredibly grateful he agreed to do it for no guarantee.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the film prepares for its release, Jung seems at peace about how it will perform at the box office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve spent more time thinking about the process than the commercial success. I am happy and grateful,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t make this film to give a lecture or a lesson. I just wanted to provide comfort and empathy to anyone who has gone through their own \u2018youth,\u2019 no matter how old they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAudition 109\u201d will be released in theaters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.koreatimes.co.kr \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Actor and director Jung Woo \/ Courtesy of BH Entertainment For actor Jung Woo, returning to the character of Jjanggu after 16 years was not just a career move, but a deeply personal journey. In his directorial debut, \u201cAudition 109,\u201d the actor explores the struggling years of an aspiring actor, a narrative that serves as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2380925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2380924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/INTERVIEW-Jung-Woo-revisits-personal-history-growth-in-Audition-109.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2380924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2380926,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380924\/revisions\/2380926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2380925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2380924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2380924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2380924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}