Chapter 447: Villain (4)
Translator:
As Director Bill Roettner called for the "Beast" transformation to begin, Kang Woo-jin, dressed like a noble from head to toe, stepped out of the shooting zone. Instantly, a hundred crew mbers sprang into action. Woo-jin glanced around subtly.
‘Unbelievable. Even though I’ve seen it before, it’s still a spectacle.’
He was marveling at the grand castle set, constructed to embody the life of the Beast in *Beauty and the Beast*. The set was so elaborate that they even built fortress walls. It was only a small part of the vast 50,000-square-ter SPT Studio, but it was still impressive.
‘This set complex is like an entire country.’
The sheer scale was jaw-dropping, but what kept drawing Woo-jin’s admiration was the atmosphere ticulously crafted across the set. From the village to the castle, the whole SPT Studio looked like a fantasy world. Of course, Woo-jin was the only one here who had truly lived in such a world multiple tis.
Even so, seeing this massive world recreated so faithfully in real life was fascinating.
‘Naturally, the actual “subspace” wins in quality.’
There was a sense of pride too. After all, he was playing the role of the Beast in the live adaptation of a work from his mories. Outwardly, he maintained a calm façade, but inside, Woo-jin’s excitent was soaring. While walking, he looked up at the castle walls, noticing sothing.
There was a lot of green.
The tops of the castle walls, the rooftops, and various parts of the set were covered in green fabric, as if everything had been capped with a green tarp. Woo-jin murmured to himself as he looked at the green material.
‘That must be the green screen, right?’
The green screen, commonly used for special effects, was abundant here due to the heavy use of CGI in *Beauty and the Beast*. Though Woo-jin had seen green screens in other movies, he had never seen so many in one place. rging reality with CGI would likely make the final result even more realistic.
Just as Woo-jin turned his head after sizing it all up, he heard a familiar female voice beside him.
“A noble look suits you well.”
It was Miley Cara. Since it wasn’t yet her turn, she had her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and was wearing a casual white t-shirt. Woo-jin, mindful of the gazes around them, answered in character.
“It’s hot.”
“Odd, you don’t look like you’re sweating at all.”
“You’ll understand once you experience it yourself.”
“Ah, I’m third in line. By the way, I took a picture of you—hope you don’t mind?”
“Not really.”
Seeming careful about the staff’s eyes, Miley took a step closer, bringing a hint of a pleasant fragrance to Woo-jin’s senses. She whispered softly.
“I took it on impulse.”
“…”
Woo-jin remained silent, choosing to ignore her. Miley gave a light laugh and raised her voice.
“Shall we start your ‘Beast’ transformation?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think you’ve done a transformation this intense before. Brace yourself.”
Miley gave him a thumbs-up before moving away. Woo-jin watched her retreating back, slightly puzzled. Brace myself? Was makeup really sothing that required ntal preparation? The most intense makeup he’d done was for his recent role as the Joker, which took an hour each ti.
‘Maybe it’ll take a little longer since the Beast is on another level.’
‘I heard from the director that it would take a while—probably two hours since it’s more complicated than the Joker.’
Feeling relatively relaxed, Woo-jin headed towards a row of trailers set up near the entrance of the set.
The largest one was the makeup team’s headquarters. Woo-jin had already been there once for his “prince” look, but for so reason, he was taken aback this ti, though only internally.
‘Whoa—what is all that? Are they actually going to put those things on ?!’
Inside the makeup trailer, there were huge horns, thick brown fur, and an array of bizarre items, including strange-looking leather and various other props. Woo-jin froze montarily, suddenly wanting to back out with a casual, "Oh, I seem to have co to the wrong place, haha." But keeping his cool deanor, he had to stay strong.
‘It’s fine, I’m not going to die from this.’
A few foreign staff mbers, who radiated professionalism, spotted Woo-jin and warmly welcod him.
“Have a seat, Mr. Woo-jin.”
Woo-jin tried to appear unfazed as he sat down in the chair they guided him to. It felt like sitting in a torture chair he’d never experienced, and the head of the makeup team gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
“Just relax. The Beast transformation will take around three to four hours.”
“…Four hours?”
“Yes, it’s quite long, isn’t it? Thankfully, this isn’t a full transformation, so it’s about four hours. Not too bad, really. If it gets uncomfortable, just let us know.”
“There’s no need for that,” Woo-jin replied with a confident tone, though inside, he was screaming.
‘Four hours?? Are they insane?!’
It was possible—so Hollywood transformations took twice as long. But this being Woo-jin’s first experience, he couldn’t help feeling shocked. Just as the team started attaching various pieces to him, Woo-jin asked the staff for sothing.
“Could you hand a script?”
It was a tactic to distract himself.
Afterward, with the script—his lifeline—in hand, Woo-jin endured as the transformation began. The main makeup artist explained as she worked.
“There aren’t too many scenes requiring the full Beast transformation. There’s this poster shoot and a few key scenes in the main shoot, so...”
Woo-jin didn’t catch most of her briefing, as his face grew heavier with each new addition. But the staff’s explanations continued.
“During most of the main shoot, you’ll be in a specialized costu for special effects—oh, you’ve seen it, right? The fitted one.”
Woo-jin hadn’t seen it yet, but he answered vaguely.
“Yes, I’m aware.”
And so, four hours passed.
Woo-jin managed to endure, slipping off into the “subspace” unnoticed whenever he felt overwheld. The morning turned to early afternoon, nearing 2 p.m., and by then, Miley Cara and the others had completed their own shoots. However, no one had left the set.
The reason was simple enough.
Everyone was waiting to see the Beast.
Soon…
“The Beast is coming in!”
The Beast, accompanied by two staff mbers for support due to the heavy costu, entered the set filled with dozens of caras, hundreds of crew mbers, and Hollywood stars. Director Bill Roettner, who had been eagerly waiting, reacted imdiately.
“Ohhh! It’s fantastic!”
As he began clapping, most of the crew joined in. Woo-jin, who felt as if his entire body weighed a ton, resisted fiercely on the inside.
‘Stop! Don’t clap! Ugh, this is insanely heavy!!’
But he kept his expression steady. Partly because he was staying in character, but also because the makeup on his face was so firmly attached that his expressions were nearly frozen in place. His face was covered in rough, monstrous skin, thick brown fur ran from his forehead to the back of his neck, curved, pointed horns adorned his forehead, and his eyes, nose, and mouth had been transford into those of a beast, complete with sharp teeth.
Right now, Woo-jin was the epito of a monster.
But becoming the Beast was no easy task.
The surrounding crew marveled.
“It suits him well!”
“Right? But he seems surprisingly calm. Isn’t he feeling the weight?”
“Yeah, it must be incredibly heavy. But he looks so composed!”
Not at all. Woo-jin’s mind was in chaos as he endured an experience unlike anything he’d felt before.
‘This is… this is torture!’
It felt as if he had ten boulders strapped to his head.
Still, Woo-jin—or the Beast—stood in front of the cara, receiving praise from the crew and cast alike. Though he could see, it wasn’t clear. Next to the director stood a blonde woman—Miley Cara—who snapped a photo of him, or rather, the Beast, and stifled a laugh.
“Why is only the upper half the Beast?”
Indeed, only the upper half was in Beast makeup; his lower half was still Woo-jin’s. The director explained.
“The poster won’t show the lower half, so it’s unnecessary.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Miley, grinning, snapped a picture of Woo-jin, or the half-Beast, and murmured softly to herself.
“Title: Half-man, half-beast. Perfect.”
The next morning at Columbia Studios…
Executives and many other personnel gathered in a large eting room. Judging by the heavy atmosphere, they were discussing sothing significant. What else could it be? It was about *Piero: Birth of a Villain*, specifically Director Ahn Ga-bok’s Academy Award proposal.
“This is madness. It’s not about the money—going forward with this could derail *Piero: Birth of a Villain* entirely.”
“Exactly. The anticipation is already sky-high, and a failed Academy attempt could lead to cancellations in countries where the release is already confird. I’m against it.”
“Everyone knows that if we push through, there’s bound to be a gap sowhere. I’m also against it.”
Unsurprisingly, most voices were against the idea. It made sense to
avoid a risky attempt when things were progressing smoothly. Among the dozens of people present, one man was silently tapping his finger on the table in thought. The bald executive. Having been connected to Kang Woo-jin from the beginning, he seed the most pensive.
He was recalling his past interactions.
The eting with Director Ahn Ga-bok, Producer Nora Foster’s unexpected support for Ahn’s proposal, and his recent conversation with Kang Woo-jin.
After a quiet sigh, he made his decision.
‘We need to change the flow.’
In the midst of the noisy eting, he suddenly raised his hand.
“Aren’t we being overly cautious?”
The abrupt interjection from the bald executive drew everyone’s attention. So frowned, while others looked puzzled. Calmly crossing his legs, the executive continued.
“We keep bringing up reasons to avoid risk—the schedule, what if we fail, funding, theater cuts. If we’re that fearful, we should never have started the cinematic universe in the first place.”
“So, you’re in favor of the proposal?”
“It’s not about agreeing or disagreeing. I’m simply pointing out that we’re overly afraid of failure. We all committed to this cinematic universe. Weren’t we all prepared to take risks?”
“…”
“Failure can be anywhere, whether in Ahn’s proposal or in our original plans. There’s no safe path that’s free from failure. Isn’t that so?”
The atmosphere began to shift. The executive seized the mont.
“Of course, I understand the importance of our cinematic universe. But if we’re so timid despite building a massive universe, we’re bound to end up with a lackluster product. Moreover, *Piero: Birth of a Villain* is the beginning of it all. We’re taking steps back in fear before we’ve even started.”
“...But being the start is exactly why it needs to succeed.”
“I understand. So let ask everyone here.”
The executive paused, scanning the room before posing his question.
“Do you think Kang Woo-jin’s Joker is anything less than groundbreaking?”
“…”
“We’ve all seen his spine-chilling performance. It’s no re imitation; it’s real. Rember, Kang Woo-jin was the one who forced Chris Hartnett to step aside. I propose we trust what we’ve witnessed. Let’s give them what they want and just watch.”
The silence in the room grew as the atmosphere turned contemplative, with so beginning to reconsider. The executive dropped one last key point.
“Kang Woo-jin said the next year’s Academy Awards aren’t part of his plan.”
“Not part of his plan?”
“Yes, he’s been aiming for this year’s Academy Awards from the very beginning. From Cannes, or perhaps even earlier.”
The bald executive changed the position of his crossed legs.
“When the first villain of our vast universe shows such confidence, running away now would ruin any future collaborations with him. We’d be breaking his trust.”
He delivered his final, piercing statent.
“Are we really going to give up on Kang Woo-jin’s Joker?”
The eting room fell silent as a grave hush settled over everyone.
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