Hyun Bin, Yoo Ji-tae make tense team in ‘Swindlers’

A press screening of the upcoming crime thriller “The Swindlers,” starring Hyun Bin and Yoo Ji-tae, took place Friday in Seoul.

Yoo stars as ambitious and ruthless prosecutor Park Hee-soo, who teams up with a gang of scammers to catch another renowned scam artist. It is yet another character chasing justice at any price that Yoo has taken. He currently stars as a hotheaded policeman-turned-insurance investigator willing to go to any lengths to find justice in the drama series “Mad Dog.”

“I hope to take on diverse characters and widen my acting spectrum,” Yoo told reporters at a press conference Friday in Seoul. “I’m not going to discriminate between good and evil roles. I’ll take on any role that challenges me.” Actor Hyun stars as scam artist Hwang Ji-sung, who hatches a grand plan to nab his father’s killer, the scammer that Yoo’s character is intent on catching. The two characters enter into a precarious partnership.

“I felt like my role was to balance things out and the other characters would carry out their roles,” said Hyun, who returns to the big screen after his 2016 action flick “Confidential Assignment.”

“The Swindlers” is the directorial debut of Jang Chang-won, who previously worked on the production team of films such as “The Happy Life” (2007).

“I wanted to write a movie where we punish the ‘bad guys.’ But the target of that punishment is someone different, which makes our film different from other crime films,” said Jang.

Jang described the film as having a “thrilling punch after much lying, backstabbing and sustained uncertainty.”

Singer-turned-actress Nana, who previously starred in the Korean remake of the US drama series “The Good Wife,” makes her big screen debut with the role of Chun-ja, a scam artist.

“I was very nervous. I tried hard to fit in with the rest of the cast, who are so much more experienced,” said Nana.

The film also stars Bae Sung-woo, Park Sung-woong and Ahn Se-ha. It is distributed by Showbox and hits theaters on Nov. 22.

By Rumy Doo (doo@heraldcorp.com)