Ten years ago, if you told me that there was an actor with a face full of flesh, weighing more than a hundred kilograms, and born a bad face, whether he would be popular in South Korea, I would tell you very firmly, absolutely not. But I have the same question now, if you ask me again, I should say that it is not good, and it should be better to let him wear pink clothes and sell cosmetics while selling cute. If you are a friend who is not very familiar with the Korean showbiz, don't rush to complain, I let me tell you an inspirational story of real people and real events, but also because of his continuous efforts to get out of the sky of Korean actor Ma Dong-seok.
Born in South Korea in 1971, Ma Dong-seok (Ma Dong-seok), who was a mischievous child from an early age, took pleasure in teasing his classmates when he was in school, so he earned the nickname "Magic Classmate". Refers to demonic. He felt that this nickname from childhood to adulthood was very representative of his personal characteristics, so when he debuted, he took the stage name lee Dong-seok with the same Korean pronunciation. Chinese translated as Ma Dongxi. At the age of 19, because his family was poor, his family immigrated to the United States to join relatives. While working, he studied sports management at Columbus State University, and when he first arrived in the United States, he felt that his English was very bad.
He is also very thin, so he is often bullied by tall foreigners, and even beats him up for reasons, which has a feeling of realistic revenge. In order to no longer make people look down on himself, Ma Dongxi began to work crazy, increasing his weight to 120 kilograms, and it was the lowest body fat rate, only 8% of the strong body, and after becoming strong, he also expanded the scope of his part-time job. From the beginning of the dish washer, restaurant waiter, chef assistant to the nightclub, as a security driver, bartender, occasionally he will participate in the Jianli and wrist strength competitions, and sometimes get a good ranking. The student studied physical education courses and also obtained a sports coaching license. After graduation, he became a professional personal trainer and also directed the heavyweight kings of USE, Mark Coleman and Kevince Randleman. Although Ma Dongxi has gone out of a sports road.
But he played an orchestra in high school and performed dramas in church when he was a student, but he still can't forget his sense of accomplishment in going on stage and performing in front of everyone. At that time, his younger brother was studying in a department related to film production, so he asked him to help perform some student works. These works were one day being planned, "Sky Army" director Min Junji saw, felt that the role of Korean soldiers in the movie was very suitable for him, so invited him to return to South Korea to act, so ma Dong-seok, who is 31 years old but has never studied acting, gave up everything and returned to South Korea, challenging the dream of becoming an actor.
In 2002, he finished filming "Sky Army", and for various reasons, it was delayed until three years later, which made him hit a wall everywhere like a newcomer without any works. Coupled with the fact that he has been in the United States for more than a decade, the situation of no friends and no connections in the Korean showbiz circle has also made his situation more difficult. When auditioning, he was always disliked for being too strong, not pleasing in appearance, and being ridiculed in the industry. So how did the guy from the Countryside come to audition again, but Ma Dongxi, who has always been bitter in the United States, did not give up, but was hired by the production company to adjust the star's body because of his professional physical coaching qualifications. Kong Liu and Zheng Yusheng have all received his training, making him a well-known star coach in the industry, opening up his network in the show business circle, and also getting some opportunities to perform.
Among them, in a drinking party, director Liu Zhelong invited him to play a role in future works, and he did not take it as a thing after listening to the scene, and he did not expect that after that, he really did not need to audition. Just because of the director's hand-picked relationship, I received a new play from MBC TV. The supporting role worker in "HIT Serious Crimes Team", who plays the criminal police officer Nam Sung-sik, is a character with strong physique and a small mind in the serious crime team. He often wore a Mickey Mouse T-shirt that contrasted greatly with his fierce appearance in the play, which made a deep impression, and was even given the nickname "Mickey Chengzhi" by the audience.
Because of the hit of "HIT Serious Crimes Unit", Ma Dongxi has added many job opportunities, but because of the limitations of appearance, he is usually looking for some villains such as underworld loan sharks. For him, who lacks acting experience, this arrangement is actually just right, because of his natural bad face, he does not need too much acting skills. As long as he appears to play hard and bully the protagonist, it looks very convincing, and when it comes to this, I found that I just said that he lacks performance experience is very incorrect, because he is a "magic classmate" who has been bullying his classmates everywhere like a fat tiger since he was a child, and he can be ravaged with impunity. After a big-name like Ha Jeong-woo and Quan Xiangyou are beaten up, they still have money and collars, which is a fantastic job.
Although they were all rogues, robbers and other roles, Ma Dongxi, who had become a professional household of evil people at that time, further integrated similar roles. For example, in one-on-one, he transformed into the leader of an underground organization and used lynching to force a cadre of people to confess their guilt. Even if it is a modern complex, he has no problem, anyway, it is to take a sledgehammer, for him it is simply unrestrained, whether you are an actor or a Chungmuro troika, anyway, when you meet my "magic classmate", you are ready to pee your pants! One of the most surprising things to me was that when he was over forty years old, he could still play a bad boy in the "Report on the Demise of Mankind".
In fact, it is not simple for the villain to play well. In 2012, Ma Dong-seok finally met a script that could be played, playing a usury household in the community in "Neighbors". The difference from the previous role is that this time we can see that he is not just a simple bad guy, as long as you don't get him, he will not be able to provoke you, and even more willing to help than the average person. The seemingly kind neighbors in the community appear indifferent when they encounter things, and the underworld that everyone avoids cannot hide the good side of his heart under the appearance of evil. Such a character setting is both ironic and thought-provoking. His delicate acting skills in the play made him win the Green Dragon Award for the first time. He was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor at the Kaori Film Awards and won the Baeksang Arts Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In addition to the underworld, Ma Dongxi often plays a psychological role. Although it seems to be a completely opposite profession compared to the underworld, I don't know if it is my personal stereotype. I always feel that the criminal police in Korean film and television works actually look like a relatively poor gangster, and I think of such a role. For Ma Dongxi, it is also a mastery, but the object of bullying is a little different. Since his debut, Ma Dongxi's high production is also well-known in the industry, and there will be more than three works every year, and even ten works have been released in 2013 alone. In addition to the underworld and criminal police, he will also challenge different types of performances. Although most of them are minor roles with few roles, it is also he who can see different faces during this period.
In the sports biography movie "Perfect Matchup", he played a 10,000-year-old bench player who was passionate about baseball, but never had the opportunity to play, not only did his teammates look down on him, even his family did not dare to tell people that he also played professional baseball, but in the century duel between the two ace pitchers, his one-shot, equalizing the score, hit the most touching bridge section of the film, and it seemed to let people see the guy who resolutely returned from the American countryside to act.
In 2013, he finally became the protagonist, but the performance was "Plaything". The controversial film, modeled after the Jang Zi-yeon incident that shocked South Korea, depicts an upright journalist who investigates the actress's death and finally unveils the tip of the dark and unknown iceberg in South Korean showbiz. In order to conform to the setting of the reporter in the play, he lost weight to ninety kilograms, which was the thinnest since he was transferred to muscular killing in the United States, and he had to seal his iron fist and be beaten like an ordinary person. After watching this film, I just want to ask the actor who beat up the demon classmate, are you okay now?
In 2016, he played Kim Hye-so's friend and agent in "Farewell to Singleness", as a designer, his clothes are always full of color, fancy colors, and his personality is also very delicate, and he can always accompany the heroine to take care of her at the moment of crisis, so that people can see Ma Dongxi's cute and warm side. If you think he's scary to play the gangster, then you're wrong, the perverted version of Ma Dong Seok will let you know what fear is? Although the movie ninja he starred in was only 76 minutes on the set, he had very few lines in it, almost acting by expression and eyes. But when his eyes, which usually look sleepy, once full of murderous intent, indiscriminately choose the victim, it is really more terrible than anything.
In The Trap, another film that won Asia's best at the Portuguese Fantasy Film Festival, he plays the owner of a farm restaurant, but only offers hospital meals in the name of attracting young couples. But in fact, these are all traps under his careful design. In this film, his fierceness has been raised to a notch, the force value is high enough, but even the intelligence is not low, even when the police come to the door. Coupled with the plot adapted from real events and the setting of being on an isolated island, it is creepy to watch.
Released in 2016, "Busan Trip" was released, and the extremely realistic zombie performance and the in-depth portrayal of human nature struggles gave people a glimpse of the strength of Korean films in recent years. In it, Ma Dong-seok plays a wrestler who takes his pregnant wife on a train to Busan.
Unexpectedly, at the moment of departure, an infected person rushed into the train and quickly mutated, and plunged the whole train into a bloody storm. Although the protagonist of the film is Kong Liu, one of the four major public properties in South Korea, we believe that for many viewers, this uncle who is full of courage, justice, combat effectiveness, and spoiling his wife is the most impressive focus. In the face of the zombie army, the invincible tough guy image gives people a full sense of security, for the beloved wife to comfort the head, the princess hugs, using himself as a meat shield to fight for the time to escape, earning enough tears from the audience, but also let him circle a large number of fans, "Busan Trip" This explosive movie created many Korean film records, becoming the only Korean film blockbuster to break through the tens of millions of moviegoers in 2016. In addition to the amazing box office results, major film review websites have also given high recognition.
Ma Dong-seok, who has exploded in popularity, has been promoted to a Korean first-line actor, but I don't know if it is my delusion, in many works, he is the main feature, but it will always be accompanied by a young fresh meat with a good appearance. For example, Xu Renguo in "38th Division Mobile Team", Choi Min-ho in "Two Men", and Kim Young-kwang in "Wonderful Ghost" are all examples of this type. However, in some works dominated by male audiences, fresh meat is not important, because we enter the scene to see the magic classmates beat others. Of course, if you can match a positive sister like Song Zhixiao, or a loli like Kinseilum, it is also possible, the point is to see him crush a group of miscellaneous fish, we are high. And the filmmakers also understand the needs of the audience. So in recent years, the genre he has starred in has emerged in an endless stream, even in TV series where he was only one of the five protagonists before. "Bad Guys" also caught up with this wave of craze. Filming began filming featuring him.
Among them, 2017's "Crime City" has played this form of violence to the fullest. Plot description, three underworld came, the town managed by the task force Ma Dongxi was originally only to collect debts, and then it was going to learn the original local, three gangs occupied the entire town, chopped hands and feet and dug out the eyes without a word, it was really 94879, of course, no matter how crazy, and finally to support our "magic classmates" casserole-like iron fist. Although it is just an ordinary policeman, the story of catching the underworld "Crime City" is very much in line with Ma Dongxi's style of simple and rough and fist-to-flesh, full of entertainment, becoming the highest-grossing movie of the year, and even surpassing the super blockbuster "Gunkanji" by Huang Zhengmin, Su Zhixie, and Song Joong-ki. Let people see its box office strength. Even as the starring green leaf character, he is like a box office mascot.
For example, "Walking with God 2", which is a collection of topic works of Ha Jeong-woo, Ju Ji-hoon, Lee Jung-jae, Cha Tae-hyun and other luxury cass. The first and second episodes are super performances that exceed the number of moviegoers. And "Baekdusan: Peninsula Hajj" co-starring with daemon actor Ha Jeong-woo and Lee Bingxian also has a level of more than 8.2 million viewers. It would be naïve to think that Ma Dong-seok's momentum had reached its peak at this time. But before that, we'll take a look at what takes him to the next level, starting with the depiction of Uncle Champion, which is set against the backdrop of a wrist competition. To put it bluntly, this is a film that pays tribute to the transcendence of the classic work of "Sylvester Stroon", and also mixes some elements of Uncle Ma's return to Korea from the United States and places it into the smorgasbord of Korean culture.
And 2019's "The Legend of the Wicked" is the ultimate of his role as a gangster since the film, which is a no-evil underworld. But if someone makes trouble in his territory, he will definitely stand up and maintain order in his own way, there is a kind of homage to the Taste of The Japanese Hero Film of the 70s, he does not play treasure or pretend to be cute in the play, as long as he can get justice, even if he wants to go to jail. It perfectly shows the way a big brother and man should look.
"The Legend of the Wicked" was a huge hit after its release, and he was invited again to participate in the Cannes Film Festival. What is even more surprising is that "Sylvester Stroon", who is already an action movie legend, was very interested after watching the film and bought the remake rights of the film. The intention to produce and perform the Hollywood version of "The Legend of the Wicked" with Ma Dong-seok is really exciting.
Because Ma Dongxi has spent more than a decade in the United States, he not only has English ability, but also the action movie seniority and high popularity after returning to South Korea, which has helped him start another opportunity for his acting career, that is, to become a part of Hollywood.