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.
This story is from the July 12 - 19, 2024 (Double Issue) edition of Newsweek Europe.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 12 - 19, 2024 (Double Issue) edition of Newsweek Europe.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout'
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
Amber Ruffin
A LATE-NIGHT COMEDY SHOW ON CNN? YES, and it's a game show, too.
