SQUID GAME STAR LEE JUNG-JAE FOUND HIMself tongue-tied-and tongue-tired-in the lead role for the new Disney+ series Star Wars: The Acolyte.
Speaking to Newsweek in June from Seoul, the capital of his native South Korea, the veteran actor spoke about the challenges of acting in English for the first time as Jedi Master Sol in his first Hollywood project, which even left him unable to eat at one point.
"Practicing the English lines all day all the time, my tongue kept touching the inner part of my teeth and became worn down, and I couldn't eat.
"Obviously, the way the tongue moves when speaking English is very different from the way it moves when speaking Korean, so my tongue kept rubbing up against my teeth," the Screen Actors Guild and Emmy awards winner and Golden Globe nominee recalled.
Acting in English was not an easy task but that was to be expected, the Squid Game actor said, "with so much to note, from the pronunciation and accent to getting used to the spaces between words when reading the lines, all of which was challenging.
"I had two dialogue coaches who were very rigorous with their teaching and played a huge role in helping me perfect my lines," he added.
Though established for decades as a movie star in South Korea, Lee shot to international fame following his breakout Squid Game role as Seong Gi-hun. He will be reprising the part in the highly anticipated second season-which he is currently shooting later this year.
His stardom in the Netflix hit show put him on the radar of The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland, who cast him as Sol.
The series, set at the end of the High Republic era before the events in the main Star Wars movies, unravels “an investigation into a shocking crime spree" that pits Sol against "a dangerous warrior from his past," who is played by The Hunger Games star Amandla Stenberg, according to the show's Disney+ synopsis.
この記事は Newsweek US の July 12 - 19, 2024 (Double Issue) 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Newsweek US の July 12 - 19, 2024 (Double Issue) 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Jenny Slate
JENNY SLATE IS READY TO BE HERSELF
Mikey Madison
MIKEY MADISON HAS BEEN DREAMING OF A film like Anora since she started acting as a teenager on Better Things.
AMERICA'S BEST AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTERS 2025
AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTERS CONTINUE to play a crucial role in modern health care.
THIS is a MOMENT for ARAB AMERICANS'
With the escalating ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR weighing heavily on Muslim voters in key battleground states, will foreign policy be KAMALA HARRIS' election downfall?
Fresh Takes on Modern Problems
Newsweek Horizons events series kicks off with panels on Alin medicine and climate science
An Ounce of Prevention
As cancer hospitals focus on initiatives to enable healthier populations and eradicate the disease, they must navigate roadblocks along the way
All the Right Moves
PR experts tell Newsweek the winning strategies that keep Dancing With the Stars as popular as ever after 19 years
Front Line of History
A fascinating series of snapshots showing a medic's experience of the Korean War have been uncovered by his grandson
CLEAR AND PRESIDENTIAL DANGER
IN A CAMPAIGN THAT'S BEEN FULL OF SHOCKS, COULD AN OCTOBER SURPRISE PROVIDE A FINAL TWIST IN THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE?
'We're Not Beasts, We're Just People'
Trans MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin on coping with societal and family of being the 'bigger person' expectations