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Why Oldboy Choi Min-sik prefers the dark side – on revenge, craft, Notes from the Last Row

 06/07/2026 3 Views
Why Oldboy Choi Min-sik prefers the dark side – on revenge, craft, Notes from the Last Row



After more than 35 years in the industry, Choi Min-sik has solidified his status as a living legend of Korean cinema. In his latest project Netflix psychological thriller, Notes from the Last Row, the veteran actor delivers a haunting performance as professor Heo Mun-oh, a failed novelist who becomes dangerously consumed by the voyeuristic genius of Lee Kang (Choi Hyun-wook), an enigmatic student sitting in the back of his classroom.

“When I first got the script and read the original play, I instantly thought, ‘This is a drama that leaves room for thought,’” Choi says, adding that the series has a classic feel, different from recent trends. “Much like my past film Failan (2001), I was drawn to this short but incredibly intense story.

“It felt like one of those small, lightweight paperbacks we used to carry around in our pockets back in school.”

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Choi, 64, has never been one to shy away from the darker, less glamorous sides of human nature. While mainstream media often favours flawless heroes, Choi finds solace in the broken.

“I find pathetic, pitiable characters much more compelling than cool, Superman-like figures,” he says. “Hero stories where people fly around and smash things serve their purpose. But I prefer stories that uncover the things we want to hide.

“I like narratives that lay human nature bare, laying them out like a piece of raw meat, saying, ‘This is what humans are actually like.’”

In the series, Mun-oh falls entirely under the spell of his brilliant student Kang, who manipulates the professor by weaponising his deepest vulnerabilities through a mesmerising narrative.




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