Jang Seong-beom reveals 'will' prop from 'New Recruit 4'

Actor Jang Seong-beom surprised fans by posting a handwritten letter on social media (SNS) that resembled an actual suicide note. However, the letter was not a real suicide note, but a prop he personally wrote for a military training scene during drama filming. Jang shared the heavy emotions he felt while writing the letter as if it were a real situation.

On the 18th, Jang posted a photo on his SNS with the caption, "It's not a suicide note! You were surprised, right?" The photo showed a handwritten letter carefully penned in a notebook.

Looking at the photo alone, there was a high possibility of it being mistaken for a real suicide note. At the top of the letter, the word "-Will-" was written in bold, followed by the phrase, "To my beloved father and mother." In particular, the content filled with deep emotions toward his parents made the letter feel even more authentic.

However, the letter Jang revealed was not a real suicide note reflecting his current feelings. It was a prop written during the filming process of the Genie TV original drama 'New Recruit 4', in which he is currently appearing.

Jang explained, "While watching the drama, I suddenly remembered it, so I rummaged through my phone gallery and found the letter I used as a prop during the filming of 'New Recruit 4'." He continued to reminisce about the filming process, saying, "I remember that at the time, only the situation was given, and the actors each wrote the letters as they were."

The letter he revealed contained the text: "Fortunately, this is a training situation. However, since it is being conducted like a real operation, I have come to write this will." The setting was that of a letter a soldier might leave for his family during military training that assumes actual combat or crisis situations.

He continued to write to his parents, "I love you more than anything in the world, so much that my one life is not worth losing," making it a piece of writing imbued with sincere feelings for his family beyond a simple drama prop. It also drew attention because the actors did not simply transcribe lines fixed in the script, but wrote the letters in their own way based on the given situation.

Jang confessed, "Even though I knew it wasn't real, I remember being so immersed in writing the letter that I became completely absorbed." He explained that unlike acting in front of a camera, the process of imagining his own parents as the recipients and the situation of 'a letter left by someone facing death' required significant emotional immersion.

He also asked, "Have any of you ever experienced writing such a will during your service?" adding, "My heart was so heavy; it was a truly precious experience during filming." This shows that for the actor, a scene themed around military training became an opportunity to reflect on the preciousness of family and life, going beyond a simple acting assignment.

Netizens who saw the photo reacted with surprise, thinking it was a real situation. While comments like "I was so shocked thinking it was a real suicide note" followed, some also reacted to the neat handwriting in the photo, saying, "The handwriting is beautiful." It appears that Jang's first sentence in the post, "It's not a suicide note," was intended to quickly clear up fans' misunderstandings.

'New Recruit 4' is a work that portrays the daily lives, hierarchy, and conflicts of soldiers against the backdrop of the closed organizational society of the military through relatively realistic depictions of life and comedy. In particular, it has shown differentiation from existing military dramas by capturing the tension and absurdity occurring in the military space through the minor speech, actions, and human relationships of soldiers rather than exaggerated heroic tales.

Jang is one of the actors who supports the tone of such a work. Having debuted in the 2013 film 'Hwayi: A Monster Boy', he has since made his name in various genres through dramas such as 'Stranger', 'Train', and 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo'. Rather than being a lead actor in a specific genre, he has expanded his acting range by widely portraying supporting and peripheral characters that enhance the realism of the works.

Particularly in the 'sinbyeong' series, detailed life acting by actors is important as they must simultaneously express the specificity of the military organization and the lives of individual soldiers. Jang is also adding realism to the work by playing the role of Private Kim Dong-woo, realistically embodying the image of an ordinary soldier living in the military space.

The handwritten letter revealed this time is also an example that shows a facet of such an acting method. Even if it is a document written for a dramatic setting, the moment an actor thinks of their own parents and imagines the extreme situation of death, it becomes more than just a prop. Indeed, Jang himself remembered the immersion and emotions from that time long after filming ended.

Due to the weight of the word "will," the SNS post inevitably caused tension among fans, but it has been confirmed that the letter was a prop born from the drama filming process. Instead, it is drawing attention as an example of how an actor experiences deep emotional immersion while elevating a fictional situation to something close to real emotion.

The single letter Jang revealed was not a message announcing death, but a piece written by an actor imagining a terminal situation to portray love for his living family. The fact that a small prop from a military training scene in the drama remained in the actor's memory highlights the realistic military life depiction that 'New Recruit 4' pursues.