Cardshark

Encouraged by Heo Yeong-mahn, Original Cartoonist-

When asked to have a round, Cho Seung-woo refused, saying “No, I am clean now.” Yet he unveiled his tips after tinkering with a few “flower cards,” Korean playing cards.

“Vets mark their own area. They fold cards they want to have in order to know which ones are the desired ones.” While showing finger magic, he drops cards by mistake. “That’s because here is not blanket,” said Cho jokingly.

“It was really tough. Since I have never played Go Stop game, let alone gambled, I did not understand what “heukssari” was. Also, my hands were small so not perfect for normal flower cards. For the three months during the shot, I learned from real gambling veteran, but I still felt uncomfortable about bringing flower cards in my pocket.”

Cho was the first one who came forward to choose the movie. He is the big fan of Choi Dong-hoon, director of “The Big Swindle,” and he said he would be in the film when he heard Choi was planning to make cartoon Tazza of Heo Yeong-mahn into a film.

“At first, people said ‘casting Cho is not right decision,’ and I was very nervous. Yet when Heo said ‘if you would just mimic the character in the cartoon, don’t even try to make the movie,’ I was encouraged to try. Instead of the original work, I grabbed the scenario and thought about a person who is freewheeling and full of guts, and cares about only himself.”

Feel Unveiling a Secret Girlfriend-

“Movie Tazza is not about gambling but about people,” said Cho. Goni, who happened to engage in Seota (a type of flower cards game) gambling rounds, he loses all he had including his sister’s money she received when she got divorced. Goni flees his home. While dreaming about becoming the best gambler, he meets legendary gambler Pyeong (Baek Yoon-sik) and learn the secrets. He thinks he will quit gambling when he makes five times his sister’s money. However, he can not escape from femme fatale attraction of Madame Jung (Kim Hye-soo), gamble organizer, and strengthens the ties with Goh Gwang-ryeol (Yoo Hae-jin).

Charismatic Cho played charismatic role, which is like a fish in the water. When asked if he was a bad guy in high school, he said no without hesitation. Only being in mid-20s, he seems like an old man who knows my inner thoughts.

“I was precocious and I behaved like an adult because I wanted to be 30. I am the only male in my family so I thought myself as head of the family and wanted to earn money. But my friend once said to me that every man’s mental age is 14,” he said to laughter.

Organizing flower cards at the end of the interview, Cho said “I am both nervous and pleased to see the release of the movie coming near.” He explained he felt like showing his secret girlfriend to the public. Yet soon he stated bluntly “nothing to worry about and nothing to regret.” His eyes seem overlapped with Goni’s eyes.

bsism@donga.com