[HanCinema's News] Choi Gwi-hwa Talks About "The Roundup"

By William Schwartz on 2022/05/16 at 22:11 PST

On May 16th actor Choi Gwi-hwa had an interview regarding his role in the upcoming film "The Roundup" which is the sequel to "The Outlaws" from 2017. Choi Gwi-hwa will be reprising his role from the first movie as Chief Jeon, the leader of a anticrime police unit that finds itself facing a formidable opponent. Despite being restricted to adults only, "The Outlaws" earned nearly seven million box office admissions five years ago.

"The Roundup" is hoping to ride that reputation against an industry-wide COVID-19 induced slump for South Korean films. Choi Gwi-hwa noted that COVID-19 has made for a rough time shooting "The Roundup" with travel restrictions on location shooting forcing reshoots after awkward delays. Choi Gwi-hwa noted that on a scene-by-scene basis his character inexplicably gains and loses weight for these reasons.

This was on top of performance issues- namely how Choi Gwi-hwa had trouble remembering his character's exact motivations having not played him for two years. Choi Gwi-hwa says all it really took was seeing some clips of the first movie for the proper sentiment to come rushing back to him. The exact rhythm of the character was difficult for Choi Gwi-hwa to grasp as the humor of Chief Jeon is that he pulls unexpected comic relief from dire situations despite not being an especially amusing character.

Chemistry is also an important part of the now apparent franchise, with "The Roundup: No Way Out" now set to begin filming next month. According to Choi Gwi-hwa, he remembers "The Outlaws" as a movie that gave him friends, and he described the filming environment in general as being familial. For all these reasons, Choi Gwi-hwa expressed strong gratitude that early reactions to "The Roundup" have been so positive. "The Roundup" opens in South Korean theaters on May 18th.

Written by William Schwartz

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"The Roundup" is directed by Lee Sang-yong, and features Ma Dong-seok, Son Sukku, Choi Gwi-hwa, Park Ji-hwan, Heo Dong-won, Ha Jun. Release date in Korea: 2022/05/18.