Ju Ji-hoon learned a language and put on a few pounds for 'Ransomed'

It's a matter of course that actors learn new skills and adjust their appearance as needed for new roles, but actor Ju Ji-hoon says it was especially difficult to prepare for his new role in the buddy cop film “Ransomed," which hit local theaters...

Ju Ji-hoon stars as Pan-soo, a Korean taxi driver who has lived in Lebanon for years and helps Ha Jung-woo's character Min-joon deliver a ransom to save a kidnapped diplomat [SHOWBOX]

It's a matter of course that actors learn new skills and adjust their appearance as needed for new roles, but actor Ju Ji-hoon says it was especially difficult to prepare for his new role in the buddy cop film “Ransomed," which hit local theaters on Wednesday. Ju said he had to acquire two new skills — speaking Arabic and car racing — and bulk up his physique at the same time.

“Learning these things was very challenging for me, especially the Arabic language,” Ju said during an interview with local reporters in Jung District, central Seoul, on Tuesday. “I found that the Arab language does not seem like a sequence of words, but a sequence of unreadable letters, at least to me. It was very hard.”

It was necessary that Ju master those skills and look masculine enough to play Pan-soo, who has lived for a long time in the Middle East and North Africa. He is also a taxi driver who has immersed himself in the local culture and ends up helping diplomat Min-joon, Ha Jung-woo’s character, deliver a ransom to rescue another diplomat from being kidnapped.

Actor Ju Ji-hoon [SHOWBOX]

“For the car chasing scenes, I can say that I put everything I had into those scenes and am very proud of the results,” Ju said. “With the exception of just a few scenes that we couldn’t do due to safety reasons, we filmed everything ourselves. I welcome the comparisons we have been getting between the ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Fast & Furious’ films on the car chasing part.”

For buddy cop films, the chemistry between the two leads is essential, and Ju attributed his and Ha’s chemistry to the fact that the two are actually good friends in real life. The pair has acted together in the hit film ”Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” (2017) and its sequel “Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days” (2018).

“Ha is someone I trust a lot, and we have traveled privately together before filming,” Ju said. “I can freely express myself and talk about deep concerns with him, and I feel lucky to have worked with a colleague like that in ‘Ransomed.’”

Main poster for ″Ransomed″ [SHOWBOX]

Although there have been comparisons drawn between this film and other Korean films such as “The Point Men” (2022) and “Escape from Mogadishu” (2021), both of which have similar plotlines of rescuing someone in an exotic setting, “Ransomed” is different from these films in terms of genre, according to Ju.

“'Ransomed’ has comedic elements and is different from ‘The Point Men’ or ‘Escape from Mogadishu,’” Ju said. “I think some people have the misconception that ‘Ransomed’ would be heavy and serious, but it's not. I hope I can help clarify this.”

A scene from ″Ransomed″ featuring Ju Ji-hoon [SHOWBOX]

Regarding the possibility of “Ransomed” ranking first out of the four summer blockbusters soon opening or having opened recently — the others being “Smugglers,” “The Moon” and “Concrete Utopia” — Ju said that though the box office results of a film are not within his control, he does feel a lot of pressure regarding the film’s success.

“I know that the Korean film industry is doing poorly these days, so it would be great if any film of the four could help revive that,” Ju said. “Of course, it would be great if ‘Ransomed’ is the one that hits it big. But I think also that this is a time for competition to be put behind us and for all of us to root for whoever does well.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]