Actor Lee Jong-won, who appears as Gi-tae in director Lee Sang-min’s film ‘Salmokji’. Photo ㈜Showbox
Director Lee Sang-min of the film ‘Salmokji’ said of actor Lee Jong-won, who plays Gi-tae in the film, “I wanted to create a breather, a part that would make people feel reassured when Gi-tae appears.” It may be something of a spoiler, but at least in the scenes featuring Lee Jong-won, viewers can be briefly freed from the dread that terror might strike.
In his first bid at a feature-length commercial film with his name prominently on the big screen, Lee Jong-won shows many sides. He presents a range of images, from the urgency of someone trapped in a terrifying situation, to lingering fondness and a hint of regret toward his ex-girlfriend Su-in (Kim Hye-yoon), and even the astonishment that comes when he learns the secret of Salmokji. It is much like the ‘chameleon’ side Lee Jong-won is showing now.
“Although it is my first film, I was deeply moved to hear the news that it ranks first among Korean films in advance ticket sales. I read the script, shot the film, and watched it twice on the big screen, and it is still so scary that it is fun. If someone who knows the script and took part in the shoot finds it that frightening, it will naturally feel fresh to audiences as well.”
Actor Lee Jong-won, who appears as Gi-tae in director Lee Sang-min’s film ‘Salmokji’. Photo ㈜Showbox
Gi-tae, who has a connection to Su-in, a PD at a company that films road-view for a map application, was, as Lee Jong-won puts it, a former lover with a backstory. However, given the plot, where fear advances without a break, lingering over that backstory risked slowing things down, so much of it was cut. In any case, everything is conveyed through nuance, and Lee Jong-won moves as if standing in for the audience, driven by a desire to protect and save someone he cherishes.
“I used to be somewhat timid, but I found the script instinctively entertaining. The day I read it, I felt that certainty right away. Even reading it on the page, the scenes came to mind and drew themselves in my head, and I thought it would be far more chilling when turned into performance and screen. I was afraid, but my desire was stronger. And working on a horror film also made the feeling of fear recede in some ways.”
For Gi-tae, who keeps repeating “Su-in-ah” throughout the film, the most important thing in his acting was naturalness. On set, the question Lee Jong-won asked director Lee Sang-min most often was also, “Does it feel natural?” Though it is a horror genre, he wanted to show romance within it and to show humanity. He also wanted to present everyday-life acting that makes viewers think about what it would be like if real people entered that space.
A scene featuring actor Lee Jong-won, who appears as Gi-tae in director Lee Sang-min’s film ‘Salmokji’. Photo ㈜Showbox
“It was especially scarier because the film was made in the ScreenX format (a screening format where three fronts in front of the audience become screens). There are many scenes, but several water scenes where I feel fear remain vividly in my memory. In moments of dramatic intensification, there are parts where I come into my own. My parents dislike scary things, so I am debating whether to invite them (laughs), but I do have the desire to show them my good side as a son.”
He debuted as a model in 2017 and began acting in 2018 with the web drama ‘Go, Back Diary’. After attracting attention as Kim Geon on tvN ‘Hospital Playlist 2’ in 2021, he made a mark with the public in 2022 as Hwang Tae-yong on MBC ‘The Golden Spoon’. Having mainly established himself as a male lead in romance projects such as ‘Flowers That Bloom at Night’ and ‘Drunken Romance’, his vision is much broader.
A scene featuring actor Lee Jong-won, who appears as Gi-tae in director Lee Sang-min’s film ‘Salmokji’. Photo ㈜Showbox
“I have often talked about senior actor Park Jung-min. Personally, I think he is a master of everyday-life acting. Whenever I watch his films, he always delivers an extremely ordinary performance that lands on the skin. I would like to become that kind of presence. I am confident in my romantic gaze, but I want to act in many more kinds of roles. Even if I only appear for five seconds, if the character is interesting, I want to dip my toes in. Whether I feel intrigued matters more than the size of the role.”
In that sense, his recent steps are meaningful. Making his film-acting debut with ‘Salmokji’, he went on stage this past February as an MC alongside Shin Ye-eun and Myung Jae-hyun at a pop-culture awards ceremony. In tvN variety show ‘Kill It: Style Creator War’, which airs next month, he appears as a mentor. In one sweep, he has begun activities across multiple fields, from film to MC work to variety shows.
Actor Lee Jong-won, who appears as Gi-tae in director Lee Sang-min’s film ‘Salmokji’. Photo ㈜Showbox
“I have taken on many new challenges. If I feel that it is now or never, I just go for it. I tend to say I will do it if it looks fun, and then worry afterward. But unless you move straight ahead, you cannot take on challenges. I wanted to MC a music awards show, and in the fashion variety survival as well, I wanted to show that I am sincerely studying clothing. I think this will be a year where I show you more of myself, one step at a time.”
In supplemental content for ‘Salmokji’, you can see Lee Jong-won getting badly startled even by small scares. But what he has, what he wants, and what he dreams of are, by their nature, different. He heals fear with fear and heals pressure with pressure, and in doing so takes another step forward. It seems 2026 will be the first year when we see a broader Lee Jong-won beyond only actor Lee Jong-won.
