Song Kang-ho plays unfortunate volleyball coach in ‘One Win’

In the upcoming sports movie “One Win” Song Kang-ho depicts a down-and-out coach who, despite a life miserable with continued failures, is betting on a single win.

“One Win” was written and directed by Shin Yeon-sik, who Song worked with in the recent Disney+ drama “Uncle Samsik.” The movie revolves around Woo-jin, a volleyball coach who has never won before and players who have no idea how to win a game. As a team, however, they head toward their mutual goal of a single win, which they need for the owner of the sports club to keep the team going.

Song said he was particularly drawn to his character Woo-jin for several reasons.

“In everyone’s life, there is a personal goal or desire to make a small win. Such a win, in our movie, is to win the game at a volleyball competition, whereas for someone in their lives, it could be a recovery of one’s self-esteem. I was attracted to this (idea of) a simple but meaningful life-win, which Woo-jin tries to achieve in this movie,” Song told reporters during a press conference held in Seoul on Monday.

“(When) watching this movie, hopefully viewers will feel encouraged to also celebrate the small but meaningful wins in their lives,” he added.

Volleyball team owner Kang Jung-won (played by Park Jung-min) suggests that Woo-jin coaches his professional women’s volleyball team, Pink Storm. Kang even promises the team 2 billion won ($1.4 million) in cash if they win the championship.

Park, who plays the wealthy scion that bought Pink Storm at a relatively cheap price, said he knew about the script earlier than anyone. Park and director Shin had worked together in 2016 on “Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet,” for which Shin was a playwright and Park starred as an independence fighter Song Mong-kyu.

“Director Shin approached me with this scenario when we went to a film festival in Hong Kong together for ‘Dongju.’ Several years passed and he told me that Song had been cast. I had no doubt about appearing in the movie after hearing that,” Park told reporters.

Jang Yoon-ju (“I, the Executioner,” “Three Sisters”) plays Bang Su-ji, captain of Pink Storm, whose leadership comes more from years on the field than expertise or skill.

“I was very concerned about my acting career when director Shin first told me about the movie eight years ago. This character Su-ji, whose life has been about failures, finds a silver lining by meeting coach Kim,” Jang said.

“One Win” will hit local theaters in December.