‘About Family,’ a multi-layered soul-warming family comedy

“About Family,” the upcoming feature film by Yang Woo-seok, who directed the 2017 action thriller “Steel Rain,” is a heartwarming story of a family and a community -- a tale that its star Kim Yoon-seok on Tuesday compared to “dumpling soup.”

The veteran actor Kim, who played a traumatized vacation rental owner in the recent Netflix series “The Frog,” stars as Ham Moo-ok, the owner of a popular dumpling restaurant. Moo-ok, who has made a fortune as the restaurant's third-generation operator, sees his life take a dramatic turn when his one and only child Moon-seok (played by Lee Seung-gi) refuses to follow his father’s path and becomes a monk. But an even more dramatic event awaits him -- two children appear, claiming his son Moon-seok is their dad.

“The scenario for this movie stood out from others because it had a different pace and even gave me the feeling I was reading a novel,” Kim told reporters during a press conference held at Lotte Cinema Konkuk University in Seoul on Tuesday.

Because he plays a veteran dumpling maker, the 57-year-old actor said he took private lessons on dumpling-making from real-life experts.

“I learned that (dumpling-making masters) are more like master craftsmen — they use both the right and left hands simultaneously,” he said.

While director Yang has made movies with more serious tones and weighty messages in “Steel Rain” and “The Attorney,” his new film “About Family” is a lighter, heartwarming story about a family.

“You will discover a lot of layers in our film, from entertainment to drama and so much more,” said Yang.

Singer and actor Lee Seung-gi, who leaves the family to live a cloistered life as a Buddhist monk, had his head shaved in the movie.

“For me, it was a bigger deal to be able to do the acting than having to shave my head. It didn’t take me too long to decide to be in this movie with director Yang and actor Kim,” Lee told reporters.

It’s Lee’s first film since “The Princess and the Matchmaker” in 2018.

Besides Kim and Lee, actors Kim Sung-ryung and Park Woo-young star as Moo-ok’s family members. Actor Kang Han-na plays Moon-seok’s ex-girlfriend.

“About Family” opens in theaters on Dec. 11.