Interview: Byron Mann's Hollywood-to-Seoul stint

Korea Herald

2 days ago

How casting call he thought was a mistake led to Hollywood actor's most unexpected role yet
"I thought they had made a mistake -- they know I don't speak Korean, they know I'm not Korean, so why would I ever be in a Korean movie?" Byron Mann recalls his initial reaction when his manager called about the offer in 2023. The Hong Kong-born, 58-year-old Hollywood veteran thought someone had their wires crossed.
He wasn't wrong to be confused. While Mann had seen a couple of Korean movies before, most memorably "Parasite," the country itself was still pretty much a mystery to him. So much so that he packed coffee beans for the three-month shoot in Korea, unaware that Starbucks populate every block here. "I did not know if there were this many coffee shops in Seoul," he laughs.
You've probably seen Mann flex his fighting spirit opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in "Street Fighter" as the franchise's iconic Ryu. You've watched him deliver martial arts mayhem with glam-rock warlord visuals in "The Man with the Iron Fists." Most recently, he's been wreaking havoc as a fire-raising triad boss in Netflix's "Wu Assassins."
In "Big Deal" (titled "Soju Wars" in Korean), Mann plays Gordon, a ruthless Hong Kong-based investment banker who swoops into Korea at the height of the 1997 financial meltdown. He's all F-bombs and hostile takeovers, orchestrating the dismantling of a beloved soju company with ice-cold precision.
"There's no question that the Korean film industry is big and thriving," Mann says. "But honestly, I did not realize the stature of my co-stars at the time. Maybe that worked to my advantage because I just approached them as actors."
It's a hard character to like in a largely mediocre, equally unlikable film, but Mann leans into the challenge of being the bad guy. Playing a despicable corporate raider across cultures might seem a daunting task, but Mann says he truly enjoyed the ride.
"The only thing that I care about is what does my character want to do in this film," he says. "From an acting point of view, villains are actually richer to play, more interesting, because there are no boundaries."
Despite being a newcomer to Korean cinema, Mann's approach to cross-cultural projects runs deep. Having worked on Chinese and Thai productions before, he knows too well that translated scripts often lose their punch. That's why he went the extra mile to fine-tune his English dialogue on set.
"In other productions, the second language dialogue is kind of like an afterthought," he says. "But when that movie or TV show travels internationally, you have people who actually speak that language watching it, and they lose interest because it doesn't click."
That insight directly translates into the advice Mann offers to the growing number of actors eyeing Hollywood crossovers: master your English first. "I think any foreign actor who wants to establish themselves in Hollywood -- speaking the language is very important, so that the local audiences can connect."
Though the actual acting felt the same across cultures, Mann was struck by Korea's meticulous approach to pre-production and marketing. The exhaustive shot-by-shot planning and extra care given to artist branding impressed him in particular as going "even beyond Hollywood standards."
Working alongside his co-stars Yoo Hae-jin and Lee Je-hoon proved equally eye-opening. "Even though I didn't have a lot of scenes with Yoo, we actually spent a lot of time talking in English," Mann recalls. "His English is impeccable."
Of Lee Je-hoon, who delivered 30-40 percent of his dialogue in English, Mann speaks with respect: "He would do more takes than usual to make sure that the scene was right. The fact that he did it so well is a testament to his professionalism and work ethic."
Looking back, Mann reflects on the sheer unpredictability of his artistic journey. "I've been doing this job for a while, and you never know what is going to be presented to you. I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that being part of a Korean movie was the last thing I ever imagined myself doing."
Asked why audiences should watch "Big Deal," Mann pauses thoughtfully before his face lights up: "If I'm correct, I think there's never been a Korean movie about soju before -- which is ironic and surprising. If I were Korean, I'd really want to see this film."