[Limelight] "I kept going despite the pain" A pure heart depicted through real boxing

Netflix 'Sanyanggaedeul' Kim Geon-woo Role... Dedicated to Boxing
Director Kim Joo-hwan's Persistence Excluding Fast Cut Editing
National Rookie Championship Sequence Directed Like a Real Match
Long-Term Left-Handed Body Blow, Pointing to a Pure Heart

In Netflix's Hounds, Kim Geon-woo (played by Woo Do-hwan) is a boxer. With solid fundamentals and quick movements, he wins the national rookie championship. His specialty is the left-hand body blow. From the quarterfinals to the finals, he targets the liver and achieves consecutive KO victories. Most films and dramas about boxing usually set straight punches or uppercuts aimed at the face as the protagonist's main weapon. The only exception is Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) facing Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in Rocky II (1980).

The reason is clear. Relatively large movements convey a strong impact on screen. The period for actors to learn boxing can also be shortened. If the director stitches together mostly short cuts, even this can be skipped. Woo Do-hwan never glanced at shortcuts. He devoted several months to boxing until his fear of punches disappeared.

First, it is due to director Kim Joo-hwan's stubbornness in excluding fast cut editing. Hounds features many action scenes shot in long takes. Kim Geon-woo’s struggles are vividly captured with handheld cameras, leaving almost no need for stunt doubles. In such filming, the choreography of action is a secondary issue. Even veteran action actors like Ma Dong-seok find a challenging problem: the punching action that stops abruptly. Since stuntmen cannot be actually hit, punches must stop just before the target area. This sudden control puts considerable strain on the shoulders. Woo Do-hwan said, "Repeating the motion of extending the fist and then stopping caused severe shoulder pain."

"There are many scenes where I face multiple opponents. Because of that, I threw punches continuously. Since I couldn’t fully extend my punches every time, my shoulders inevitably suffered. The camera focus was on the person receiving the hit, which made it worse. Still, I feel proud that no accidents occurred."

Second is the national rookie championship sequence placed in episode 1. If it wasn’t directed like a real match, the authenticity of the following action scenes would have been impossible. Woo Do-hwan transformed his appearance to look like a real athlete. He said, "It’s a role that wins the rookie championship. Not only the defined muscles but also a body that can throw punches quickly had to be built."

"I created a new diet plan and followed it diligently. I didn’t eat unhealthy food even before. The problem was my constitution. I lose weight easily if I don’t eat enough. So I made sure to eat four meals a day regularly. As soon as I woke up, I stuffed roasted sweet potatoes and chicken breast into my mouth."

The realism inside the boxing ring was achieved with the help of active professional boxers who played the opposing roles. Seeing Woo Do-hwan hesitate, they pleaded, "Please hit me for real."

"They were all people who had boxed for a long time but worried about injuring the actor. So I begged them to hit me. Even a slightly weak hit looks fake, so I said it was okay to do it like a real fight. I only asked them to lower the punch strength a little (laughs). Thanks to their careful adjustment, realistic scenes were completed."

Boxing is also a keyword that points to Kim Geon-woo’s purity. This is evident from his habit of frequently using the left-hand body blow. Woo Do-hwan explained, "It’s breath-stopping when hit, but it doesn’t leave scars or cause injury. You can recover with a little rest. He doesn’t want to box to hurt someone."

As Kim Geon-woo becomes more of a 'Hound,' he gradually steps outside the boundaries of boxing. He returns a headbutt to Kang In-beom (Tae Won-seok) and presses down Kim Myung-gil’s (Park Sung-woong) right foot with his left foot. However, he does not lose his pure heart. He immediately regains his smile at the consolation from his close friend Hong Woo-jin (Lee Sang-yi). "Geon-woo, did you forget the heart of a boxer? Just go back to how you were." "Yeah, let’s go back."