'Escape' Joo Ji-hoon "I got inflammation from the show... I traded my salivary glands for passionate acting"

On the 10th, an interview with lead actor Joo Ji-hoon from the movie 'Escape: Project Silence' (director Kim Tae-gon/hereafter 'Escape') was conducted at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

'Escape' is a film that depicts the story of people fighting desperately to survive from out-of-control military experiment dogs that are released on the airport bridge that is on the verge of collapse after a chain reaction accident occurs in thick fog. Joo Ji-hoon plays Jo Bak, a tow truck driver who is after a big chance at his life. Jo Bak is a character who goes to the airport bridge to catch Jeong-won (played by Lee Sun-kyun) with whom he had a minor altercation and ends up trapped at the scene of a chain reaction accident, serving as the drama's driving force.

In the interview that day, Joo Ji-hoon talked about the process of capturing the appearance of the character Jo Bak, including his long hair and rough appearance. He said, "It's an image from the past that is almost uncommon these days, but when I was young in the early to mid-1990s, there were a lot of older guys who delivered gas." He continued, "At the time, there were regulations on hair length, and you had to cut your hair when you enlisted in the military, so it was a time when (dissatisfaction with society) was expressed outwardly."

Joo Ji-hoon continued, "I didn't worry too much about the image," and explained, "I thought that since Jo Bak drives a torpedo truck and does hard work, he wouldn't wear new clothes every day, and that kind of lifestyle just popped into my head so I made the suggestion (to the director). I thought, 'Would a friend like that, who drives an old car, buy new clothes?' So we created the style through those conversations."

Joo Ji-hoon mentioned a scene in the drama where he escaped a crisis by breathing fire at a dramatic moment. He said that he breathed fire himself on the scene to make it realistic even though there was a firefighter. Regarding this, Joo Ji-hoon said, "It's not easy. It's really scary when there's fire right in front of you," and "I told him not to say it's dangerous because it's all possible with CG, but as an actor, I wanted to do it all the time," showing his passion for acting.

Joo Ji-hoon said, "This isn't a one-time thing, but multiple times," and explained the reason he was greedy, saying, "It's used to overcome (the crisis), and I wanted to give it a sense of realism. Also, this friend who's not a professional fortune teller, and who was even very selfish, helped me anyway, so I thought it couldn't have happened without that fire."

Joo Ji-hoon also emphasized, "I've been acting for 20 years now, but compared to the past, the set has really improved, and there was a safety net because an emergency team was always on standby." He then confessed, "I said I was confident, but I guess I was actually scared. When I ride a bike or horseback ride, I don't think I'm nervous, but when I actually get off, my legs shake. I unknowingly got scared and put too much strength into my body." He then said, "I blew fire and my chin hurt," and "When I went to the hospital the next day, they said I had inflammation. I guess I blew hard because I was scared without realizing it, so I wanted to blew far. I suffered for a week due to salivary reflux, but I took antibiotics and got better. I traded my salivary glands for a fire show."

I'm really looking forward to the movie