Key takeaways
- Kim Jae Won plays Han Jin Woo, a gentle and warmhearted applicant in the upcoming film Final Interview, which follows six candidates in a global IT company's final interview round.
- After spending a month preparing with his fellow applicants, Han Jin Woo genuinely hopes all six will succeed, but mysterious envelopes containing exposés about each candidate trigger a psychological battle.
- Han Jin Woo recognizes the envelopes as a trap but finds his trust in colleagues wavering as revelations surface about the people he thought he knew.
- Director Kim Jung Hoon praised Kim Jae Won for conveying the character's sincerity through warm appearance, soothing voice, and subtle vocal variation.
“Final Interview” introduces Han Jin Woo, a job applicant whose composed exterior masks deeper uncertainties. Played by Kim Jae Won, the character becomes central to the film’s examination of ambition, trust, and the survival instinct that emerges under competitive pressure.
The Film’s Premise
The film follows six candidates advancing to the final round of interviews at a global IT company. The intensely competitive job market has narrowed the field to these six, each of whom has invested substantial effort to reach this stage. What begins as a standard final interview transforms into something far more unsettling when mysterious envelopes containing exposés about each applicant appear at the interview venue. The six begin to suspect one another, caught in a tense psychological battle where alliances crumble and motivations become impossible to verify.
Han Jin Woo Before the Envelopes
A Genuine Temperament
Han Jin Woo is characterized as gentle and warmhearted, someone who forms impressions of others based on substance rather than surface details. This approach to people shapes his interactions with the other five applicants throughout the recruitment process and becomes the foundation for the emotional conflict to follow.
A Month of Preparation
The six candidates spent an entire month preparing together for the final team discussion round. During this shared time, Han Jin Woo developed a genuine investment in the group’s collective success, hoping that all six would advance rather than viewing them purely as competitors to be eliminated.
Attentiveness as Character
His consideration for those around him extends beyond casual politeness into active engagement. Han Jin Woo remembers not only the other applicants’ names but their individual preferences as well, reflecting a person who actually listens and observes rather than moving through interactions on autopilot.
The Envelopes and Suspicion
The appearance of the mysterious envelopes shatters the trust Han Jin Woo has built with his fellow candidates. He recognizes the situation immediately for what it is, remarking, “This is obviously a trap.” Recognition alone, however, offers no protection. As details about the other applicants surface through the envelope contents, Han Jin Woo’s confidence in people he believed he understood begins to collapse. The qualities that once made him sympathetic, his sincerity and genuine interest in others, now pose risks as he grapples with the possibility that these very traits have left him exposed to manipulation.
Kim Jae Won’s Interpretation
The actor described his attraction to the role in terms of paradox. He was “drawn to Han Jin Woo’s sincerity and the mystery hidden beneath it,” recognizing that the character contains both surface authenticity and deeper concealment. In bringing this duality to the screen, Kim Jae Won explained that he “paid close attention to even the smallest details, from his appearance to maintaining the character’s desire to remain neutral.” This precision-focused approach suggests a performance built on deliberate choices, with every visual element and vocal inflection positioned to support the character’s emotional state and place within the group.
Director Kim Jung Hoon’s Perspective
Director Kim Jung Hoon outlined the specific casting requirement: the character needed to be “someone the audience would naturally like and want to trust until the very end.” Kim Jae Won conveyed the sincerity this role demanded through his “warm appearance, soothing voice, and ability to subtly vary even a single line of dialogue,” with each element contributing to a unified portrayal of a person whose essential decency makes him both sympathetic and vulnerable to the film’s psychological mechanisms.
Source: Soompi
Frequently Asked Questions
Who does Kim Jae Won play in Final Interview?
Kim Jae Won plays Han Jin Woo, a gentle and warmhearted applicant in the final round of interviews at a global IT company. He is attentive to those around him, remembering their names and individual preferences.
What changes when the mysterious envelopes appear?
Han Jin Woo, who spent a month preparing with the other applicants and genuinely hoped all six would succeed, becomes confused and wary. As details about the applicants surface from the envelope contents, his trust in colleagues he thought he knew begins to waver.
What did Director Kim Jung Hoon say about Kim Jae Won's performance?
Director Kim Jung Hoon praised Kim Jae Won for being able to convey sincerity convincingly through his warm appearance, soothing voice, and ability to subtly vary even a single line of dialogue, making audiences naturally want to trust the character.
