Lee Jung Ha shares his experience filming high school action series 'One: High School Heroes'

Lee Jung Ha sits for an interview for One: High School Heroes.

One: High School Heroes follows the story of top student Eui Gyeom (Lee Jung Ha), who suffers under his father's oppression, and Yoon Gi (Kim Do Wan), who seeks to exploit Eui Gyeom's talent for fighting. The two form a masked group called "High School Heroes" and unleash their pent-up rage, overturning the school's power hierarchy.

Lee Jung Ha started filming One: High School Heroes just a month after wrapping up Moving. "Since the action is different from Moving, I was curious to see how it would turn out. It was a new challenge with a different feel, so it was particularly meaningful," said the actor. 

"Did you feel any pressure since the drama is based on a popular webtoon?" Lee answered, "I actually consider myself lucky. Creating a character is really difficult, but since there's such a great source material — a webtoon into which the author poured their heart and soul — it was pleasant and enjoyable to bring to life the feelings I got when reading the original work."

However, considering that his previous work Moving was a huge hit, which even earned him an accolade at the 60th Baeksang Arts Awards, it's also true that there was some pressure. Lee Jung Ha said, "Since I had many conversations with my seniors on set, the burden eased a lot, and as I've gained more experience, I've been able to act more comfortably."

Talking about his weight management, Lee said, "I had about a month, and I tried my best to lose weight as quickly as I could during that time. I was almost 98 to 99kg during Moving, but started One at around 85kg, and kept losing weight little by little. By the time the drama ended, I think I lost about 5kg more compared to when I started. Now, I'm around 72 kg." "After Moving, I had some time, so I tried to lose weight quickly. But since filming itself was physically demanding, I ended up losing weight during the shoot, so I think my face looks a bit different now." 

He went on to reveal his weight loss method: "I don't do intermittent fasting. But if you extend your fasting period and cut food intake by half, your weight will come off quickly. I just endured without eating."

"Were you anxious since similar school-themed dramas like Weak Hero and Study Group were being released?" Lee responded, "I watched both of those shows, and since they did well, I feel thankful that our drama also received attention because of them."

This is the third time Lee has taken on a student role after Run On and Moving. "I did have a lot of concerns about taking on student roles continuously, but the elder guys around me told me to take on as many student roles as I can while I still can." He added laughing, "Especially, Cha Tae Hyun hyung, who wore a school uniform like me in Moving, said, 'You look good in a school uniform. Be grateful that you can still wear it.' I feel the same way." 

Lee Jung Ha also spoke about the challenges he faced: "Eui Gyeom had to perform various action and martial arts moves, so I had to learn martial arts in a short period of time, which was difficult. I focused on showing the movements precisely."

Describing the atmosphere on set, he said that all the actors basically lived at the action school like it was their home. "When I do action scenes, I think, 'It looks cool.' But when I see the moniter, I still see a lot of things I could have done better. To avoid repeating mistakes, I practiced a lot and kept detailed records."

Referring to his action scenes in Moving, Lee Jung Ha said, "That time, it was air action, but this time it was action on the ground, which was easier. Air action has a lot of movement restrictions, so that was difficult." 

Although he trained in various disciplines for the action scenes, Lee Jung Ha said that jiu-jitsu was the most challenging. "You have to be careful with all of them, but with jiu-jitsu, if you're not careful, your arm could break or something like that." He added, "The director told me that I had a talent for action acting, and I was happy to hear that — but later I found out he said that to all the other actors. Still, hearing those compliments, I think I gradually improved."

Since he acted wearing a school uniform, it naturally made him reflect on his own school days. "I actually studied quite a bit back in school, so my grades weren't bad. There is a scene where I had to a solve problem, and I really tried solving it. Of course, I got it wrong, so I memorized the solution and acted it out."

He continued, "I wasn't very good at Korean, English, or Math, but I was good at memorization. I ranked first in Korean history at school. I'd love to shoot historical dramas a hundred times over. Please make sure to include this."

Lee also revealed that he's keeping his military enlistment in mind. "As soon as I'm called, I'll go coolly." "A lot of seniors have told me that actors often change quite a bit after serving in the military. I want to train hard and return as a cool man."

His co-star Yuk Jun Seo is a former UDT (Korean Navy Special Warfare Flotilla) member. "I've heard a lot of stories from him, and I have to say, I was tempted. While I haven't made up my mind about which unit I'd like to apply for, if possible, I'd like to go somewhere where there's a lot of activity."

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