Chapter 4

On June 7, 1999, in Gyeongsangbuk-do, the new work of the up-and-coming female director Lee Jeong-hyang, "Grandmother's House," (Chinese title: "Love, Home") officially began filming without any press releases or hype. The scenes featuring 11-year-old Kim Jong-myeong had already started on a train several miles away.

After reading the script, Kim Jong-myeong had dispelled any thoughts that the movie would be a flop. He was now seriously filming the first scene.

The first scene was simple: a lively child on the train behaving like a typical city brat, playing with toys, whistling, and casually asking his mother sitting next to him: "Is Grandma deaf? Can she talk? Will she bother me? Is she mean? How old is she?"

The child's mother looked worried and responded to his questions reluctantly and intermittently.

Kim Jong-myeong performed very well. For a child actor, good acting didn't require much; just being normal and obedient was enough. In fact, Kim Jong-myeong didn't have much acting experience. So, when the assistant director asked him to smile and play with his toys on the train, he did just that. When asked to play with his toys in the car, he did the same. When asked to turn around and look at the chatting aunties with a serious face, he could do it smoothly. The scenes on the train and in the car were quickly and smoothly completed.

That afternoon, Kim Jong-myeong arrived at the filming location and met the other lead actor, 74-year-old Kim Ae-ran. The elderly woman, who had a severely hunched back, lived in a mountain village in Gyeongsangbuk-do (the filming location). She had never left the village, and had raised one son and two daughters with over 100 walnut trees in her yard.

Everyone thought the filming would be a long and arduous process. However, in the following month, something surprising happened. Neither Lee Jeong-hyang, Kim Jong-myeong, nor the crew members expected the filming to go so smoothly. In fact, on the fourth day of July, after just 25 days of filming, the movie was officially completed.

The reason for this was the默契 (harmony) between Kim Jong-myeong and Kim Ae-ran, who played the mute grandmother. Neither of them had any prior acting experience, but from the 20th day of filming, there were almost no NGs. In just five days, they completed the emotional scenes that were originally expected to take 20 days or more.

Of course, this was also related to the unique nature of the film. There were only seven characters with more than a minute of screen time, and the core characters were the grandmother and grandson. Most of the other scenes involved villagers passing by in ox carts or wagons. In fact, 70% of the movie's dialogue was focused on Sang-woo, 20% on the other two child actors. Once the two main actors found their rhythm, the filming progressed rapidly.

From the moment he first read the script, Kim Jong-myeong was captivated by the characters. All the scenes felt so real and familiar. When he was in his grandfather's house in Seoul, lying in bed, he would sometimes vaguely recall the image of his grandmother from his past life, a typical elderly woman from northern Anhui and western Shandong, with her hair styled in a bun that had been popular since the Republic of China era, wearing a long, buttoned-up blouse. Her face, full of wrinkles, always smiled, and she was always either taking care of her grandchildren or working tirelessly. Her hands, calloused from years of hard work, could withstand needles, but the warmth of her palms could lull one to sleep.

In winter, she would tuck him in, making him sweat in the cold; in spring, she would pick wild vegetables and cook them with eggs for him; in summer, she would fan him to sleep in the heat; in autumn, she would make pickles with countless items, ensuring his table was never lacking in flavor.

When he arrived in the small mountain village and met Grandma Kim Ae-ran, the image in his memory almost overlapped with the person in front of him. Although she was hunched and her body looked different from the memory, and the traditional Korean clothing was different from Chinese clothing, the hairstyle was also different.

But some things were exactly the same. The aged, wrinkled face, the warm palms, the thick calluses, the constant smile, and the diligence, resilience, and white hair.

What truly made Kim Jong-myeong completely fall in love with the role was a small detail: in the movie, the elderly woman needed to wear a dirty old dress. Each time, she would hold the dress and mutter, "Wearing such a dirty dress will make people think my son is unfilial and bring shame to him." This line made Kim Jong-myeong's nose tingle.

The filming location was originally a lonely village with only eight households, mostly widows and elderly people. The village suddenly came to life with the influx of young people. According to the local village chief, this was the most "lively" time since the Japanese occupation. The villagers were extremely hospitable, offering fruits and food to the crew, creating a joyful atmosphere throughout the village.

However, the first 20 days of filming were not smooth, and the problem lay with Kim Jong-myeong. The early scenes mainly depicted the estrangement and conflict between the two characters. Kim Jong-myeong, not being a professional actor, found it difficult to understand the overall structure of the drama. A professional actor would have understood that the more tension built up early on, the more powerful the emotional release later. However, Kim Jong-myeong found it hard to portray the unpleasant and regretful situations. Fortunately, his rationality told him that expressing the negative aspects was to awaken the positive.

During these 20 days, the crew members had the toughest time. Although the villagers were extremely hospitable, the conditions in the countryside were very poor. The biggest challenge for the crew was the lack of proper roads. They had to carry heavy equipment on their shoulders, trekking through winding and bumpy rural paths from morning to night. Another major issue was the small insects that roamed freely in the mountain valley, which were more active due to the influx of "new blood" in the summer.

However, the other lead actor, Kim Ae-ran, made the crew feel much more at ease. Compared to the struggling Kim Jong-myeong, Kim Ae-ran, with her "unique acting" and "superb memory," consistently amazed the crew. During breaks, she would meticulously return everything to its place, and even when she was already made up and waiting for the lights to be set, she would suddenly say, "These shoes are wrong..." or "Where's the cane?" or "The basket on the wall wasn't there before..." Her photographic memory made the official script supervisor break out in a cold sweat, fearing for his job. Moreover, she was particularly kind to the 11-year-old Kim Jong-myeong and the other two 15-year-old child actors, carefully making pumpkin rice for them. Sometimes, when Kim Jong-myeong fell asleep in the afternoon, she would fan him with a palm fan, just like a real grandmother. She also pretended not to see his pranks on the crew, which greatly pleased Kim Jong-myeong. Initially, he wasn't interested in pranks, but after putting a cute four-legged lizard in a female makeup artist's box out of boredom, he gradually began to use pranks as a way to vent his frustrations with the filming.

Although Kim Jong-myeong's acting career started with some difficulties, Director Lee Jeong-hyang's guidance was excellent. Under her almost hand-holding instruction, Kim Jong-myeong managed to complete the first half of the film:

After the arduous journey by train, car, and mountain road, the mother brought 8-year-old Sang-woo to his grandmother's house. As a single mother, she temporarily left Sang-woo there during the summer to find a job more easily.

Sang-woo's grandmother was mute and illiterate, and Sang-woo, who had grown up in a world of cola, video games, and roller skates, found it hard to adapt to the rural life where there were no game consoles or batteries to buy. He began to show his dissatisfaction, stealing his grandmother's silver hairpin to sell for batteries and playing roller skates on the floor while his grandmother sewed socks. His dislike for his grandmother and the countryside grew day by day, reaching a climax and turning point.

On the 13th day, Kim Jong-myeong and Grandma Kim Ae-ran filmed the pivotal chicken scene.

One day, Sang-woo, who wanted to eat fried chicken, successfully expressed his wish to his grandmother through various gestures. The grandmother, understanding only "chicken," made a stewed chicken instead. Sang-woo was furious and overturned the bowl. The only response from the grandmother was to repeatedly apologize with gestures, feeling guilty for not being able to buy batteries for the game console or satisfy Sang-woo's desire for fried chicken.

Feeling neglected and sad, the mute grandmother lay on the mat to sleep, and Sang-woo, unexpectedly and naturally, covered her with a blanket.

After the chicken scene, the scenes depicting Sang-woo's change in attitude continued. This process was long, from the 13th day to the 20th day, involving several changes in location and multiple climactic scenes. Through this, the character of Sang-woo underwent a significant transformation. During this time, Kim Jong-myeong's performance became outstanding.

When the scene of Sang-woo meeting his grandmother at the village entrance began, the tone of the film became brighter, and the atmosphere became more lively and harmonious. The scenes between Sang-woo and his grandmother became more sincere and affectionate. In the following five days, Kim Jong-myeong and Grandma Kim Ae-ran completed two scenes per day without any NGs, leaving the crew and director amazed.

Whether it was the scenes of the grandmother cutting Sang-woo's hair into a bowl cut or Sang-woo teaching his grandmother to write a letter, or even the scene where Sang-woo was chased by a cow, which had two NGs, the following scene of the grandmother searching for Sang-woo was completed in one take. This scene required Kim Jong-myeong to perform one of the most challenging parts for a child actor—crying. In short, whenever the two were in a scene together, everything went smoothly.

In this way, the final scenes arrived, with the mother coming from Seoul to pick up Sang-woo. At a dilapidated bus stop, the scenes with Sang-woo, his mother, and his grandmother were completed in one go. As the car started, Sang-woo, who had previously ignored his grandmother, suddenly stood up, ran to the back window, and waved frantically at his grandmother. The film was thus completed.

After the filming, Kim Jong-myeong found Grandma Kim Ae-ran and asked for the phone number of her son, the only phone in the village. Having lived two lives, he understood what was best for the elderly. The grandmother had her own children and grandchildren, and watching from a distance was the best way to show his care.

After saying goodbye to the grandmother, Kim Jong-myeong officially finished filming the movie and, along with the other two child actors, Min Kyung-hoon and Lim Eun-kyung, got on the crew's car to return to Seoul.

Min Kyung-hoon and Lim Eun-kyung were both trainees. Interacting with them gave Kim Jong-myeong some understanding of the trainee system, though not entirely clear. One was preparing to debut in a band, and the other was a model. Min Kyung-hoon came from a well-off family and had started playing music on the streets. After his voice changed, he discovered he was good at singing and writing songs. He and his bandmates decided to debut formally and signed with a company two months ago through family connections. He was now practicing for the band, learning composition, and occasionally participating in projects outside the major TV networks, like this movie. Lim Eun-kyung was discovered by a modeling agency while walking on the street and joined the agency. At 15, she was chosen as the spokesperson for TTL Telecom and became a company favorite, leading to her being cast in this role.

Both were 15 years old, one in high school and the other in junior high. When the 11-year-old Kim Jong-myeong asked them questions, they mostly gave vague answers. However, through their interactions, Kim Jong-myeong learned a valuable lesson: whether in the trainee system or the entertainment industry, it's all about people. Where there are people, there is a江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the social world of the entertainment industry), and where there are levels, there is competition. Good people bring healthy competition, while bad people bring unhealthy competition. In short, it all depends on the people, and one must adapt accordingly.