Life is Easier If You're Handsome-Chapter 222
When adapting an animated film into live-action, changes were inevitable.
And more often than not, those changes significantly altered the original story.
Take Beauty and the Beast, for example.
In the animated version, Belle was simply a pure-hearted girl.
But in the live-action adaptation, she became bold, independent, and even had an inventor’s mindset.
It wasn’t uncommon for a protagonist’s characterization to shift.
A few tweaks to the plot were natural as well.
With that in mind—
Producer Verilad and Director McGroy decided to add new elements to Tarzan.
One of those additions was the light aircraft scene.
In the original Tarzan 2, Jane’s old colleague arrived in a small plane, creating conflict.
But bringing in a whole new character was too much.
Instead, they decided to keep only the chase scene on the aircraft wing—the most thrilling part.
Of course, the plan was to do it all with CGI.
Until a certain Korean actor casually made a suggestion.
"Wouldn’t it look better if we just did it for real instead of using CGI?"
“...What?”
“I mean... some of these scenes would look much better if we did them practically.”
“Donghu, what are you saying?”
“The light aircraft scene. And the part where I hang off the cliff—I could do both, no problem.”
“Hahahaha!”
The producer and director burst into laughter the moment they heard Kim Donghu.
They were already used to his spicy sense of humor.
But they hadn’t expected this.
“I feel like I’m developing a new stereotype about Koreans.”
“Right? As if they enjoy spicy jokes as much as their food—”
Just as McGroy was about to respond, Verilad caught something in Kim Donghu’s eyes.
That wasn’t a joke.
There was a wild gleam in his normally clear eyes.
“...Are you serious? For real?”
“Yes. Why would I joke about this?”
“A-Ah, no, I just thought I misheard you for a moment.”
“In that case, let me say it clearly.”
“...Yes?”
“For the Tarzan plane scene—can’t I actually climb onto the wing of a moving aircraft?”
“OH MY GOD, DONGHU KIM!!! CALM DOWN!!!”
Did he really just seriously suggest that?
Just because it would look better on film?
What the hell is this...?
A headache struck Verilad out of nowhere.
Admittedly, Donghu wasn’t wrong.
The visuals would be far more impressive.
It would help with marketing, too—CGI could never fully capture the realism of an actual plane chase.
It would even save money on effects.
There were plenty of advantages.
So why weren’t they doing it that way?
“Because it’s too dangerous! No matter how many safety measures we put in place, we can’t control every variable!”
A person only had one life.
No matter how skilled he was with ropes, no matter how superhuman his physical abilities were—
One wrong move, and he could actually die.
Sure, they could prepare parachutes and safety harnesses.
But nothing in this world was ever 100% safe.
Especially not during an action shoot.
The safety team was bound to reject this outright.
As Verilad carefully pointed out all these risks, Kim Donghu simply nodded, his eyes still clear.
“If you approve it, I’ll do it right away.”
“...Without a stunt double?”
“Yes. Oh, and also, let’s discuss the cliff scene.”
“....”
With that, Kim Donghu bowed and left to prepare for the shoot.
Verilad and McGroy, now alone, felt an overwhelming sense of dread settle in.
“...If he means the cliff scene, he’s talking about that, right?”
“Yes. The part where he actually climbs a real cliff... while carrying Jane on his back.”
They had assumed this scene would be impossible.
A few days ago, during filming—
“...Evelyn probably weighs around 60kg at most.”
“Right... but Donghu...”
Kim Donghu had climbed a rope while carrying a 70kg load—right in front of them.
Is he even human?
How was that physically possible?
No—
Should it even be possible?
By the time they had those thoughts, Donghu was already at the top of the rope.
If the actor himself is saying he can do it... shouldn’t we at least consider it?
If this actually works—if we can really pull this off—
What they were seeing was so unbelievable that—
Even though they knew they shouldn’t allow it—
The producer and director were slowly, inevitably...
Getting convinced.
***
Just as I was heading to get my makeup done, ready to convey my thoughts—
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
My phone chimed with incoming messages.
-[Due to your proactive approach, Tarzan's rating has been adjusted.]
-[You now have more opportunities to showcase your abilities!]
-[Congratulations.]
It had been a while since I last received one of these Sims-style system messages.
I immediately checked Tarzan’s new rating.
<Tarzan, A+>
“A+?”
When I first saw it, Tarzan’s rating was simply A.
And now, with this recent update, a + had been added.
“So that means my suggestions were accepted, and we’re actually filming with them in mind.”
That likely meant most of the action scenes would be shot without CGI.
“But what exactly does an A rating in an international film mean?”
The market was different.
The standards for an A rating in Korea and an A rating in Hollywood likely had discrepancies.
I had no real way of predicting how well the film would perform.
“Guess I’ll just have to wait and see.”
With that thought in mind, I quietly got my makeup done and headed straight for the set.
“...Holy shit, this is insane.”
The set was a 60% recreation of the Amazon jungle.
But saying "60%" didn’t do justice to its mind-blowing scale.
The remaining 40% would be CGI, which meant that in the final cut,
the visuals would be on a whole different level.
“So this is the Hollywood scale.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Towering ancient trees, dense jungle, massive thickets—
I had no idea how they had even transported half of this.
As I stood there, taking it all in—
"Looking forward to working with you! I'm Kochek."
"You're a hundred times cooler in person than in the magazines! I'm Carla."
The stunt actors greeted me.
Even though I was doing my own stunts,
the gorilla characters still required motion actors,
which meant the stunt team was taking on those roles.
Some of the movements were simply too intense for anyone
who didn’t already train their body rigorously.
"Likewise, let’s work well together. I’ll be learning a lot from you."
"No, no, please don’t say that!"
"Huh?"
"You’re the champ, man. We should be learning from you!"
"We’ve seen it all, you know? True Hero, that one-take fight scene. That’s how we know how insane you are."
Whoa. Didn’t expect to get hyped up like this.
For a moment, I wasn’t sure how to respond to the barrage of praise.
After a quick thought—
"Want to take a group picture after filming?"
"Hell yeah!"
Consider it fan service.
As our conversation wrapped up, Director McGroy grabbed his megaphone.
"Alright, people! We’re rolling! Everyone, stand by!"
The moment the director gave the order, I prepared my smile.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.
"Cue!"
A playful grin spread across my face.
The smile of a young Tarzan—
one who had yet to understand the cruelty of mankind.
***
"...Is this really Korea’s top actor?"
Kochek, the stunt actor playing the gorilla, was momentarily taken aback by Kim Donghu’s expression.
It was fortunate that his role only required physical acting.
Had he been in an actual acting role, he would’ve ruined the scene with an immediate NG.
A face so pure and innocent that it was almost disarming.
In that moment, Tarzan spoke.
"If I do this well enough, you’ll acknowledge me as a gorilla too, right?"
Tarzan wanted to be accepted as one of them.
His appearance was different.
So he tried, at the very least, to act like a gorilla—to truly belong.
But—
"...No. You are not like us."
Kochek, playing the gorilla leader, refused to acknowledge him.
He knew the truth of Tarzan’s origins.
He knew how dangerous that difference could be.
"Why? Why not?! I’m the strongest! I’m the best hunter!"
That cold rejection was a devastating wound for Tarzan.
“Perfect.”
McGroy, watching the scene unfold, couldn’t stop smiling.
"He’s practically acting alone."
Because he had to act against gorillas,
this scene required immense imagination and focus.
Even the dialogue was essentially a monologue.
The stunt actors weren’t mic’d—
which meant Donghu had to listen for subtle cues and time his responses accordingly.
It was almost a performance of precision and instinct.
And he truly became Tarzan.
"Why? Why won’t you accept me?! WHY?!"
Frustrated by his continued rejection,
Tarzan leaped onto a nearby tree and disappeared into the jungle.
"Cut! That was perfect!"
McGroy decided there was no need for a retake.
Instead, he immediately signaled to move on to the next scene.
"This is so damn efficient."
It had been a long time since a shoot flowed this smoothly.
And even longer since he’d worked with a lead actor who arrived on set early.
"At this rate, we’ll wrap filming in no time."
He was about to fully relax when—
"Oh, right. There is one problem."
A certain scene came to mind.
Since this was a family-friendly movie,
there were no explicit or suggestive scenes whatsoever.
Except for one moment that stood out.
"The first meeting between Jane and Tarzan."
In that scene, it wasn’t just hand contact.
They had to press their faces against each other’s chests to listen to each other’s heartbeats.
"We definitely said we’d revisit this scene during casting."
So why hadn’t anyone brought it up again?
Did Evelyn just agree to it without a body double?
"If she needs one, she better say something soon."
Shaking off the thought, McGroy refocused on the shoot.
***
At that same moment—
"...We’re actually filming this? Just like this?"
"Yup. Also, about the cliff scene—Donghu’s just doing it himself, but you can use a double if you want."
"He’s really going to climb it? With me on his back?"
"Why? Don’t °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° like the idea?"
"Ah, ah, ah, no! I don’t mind! It’s just... then..."
"Then?"
"I need to buy some shapewear first."
Evelyn’s mind was racing.
If she was thinking about this rationally—
"There is no better chance than this."
This was an opportunity.
A golden chance to make Kim Donghu fall completely for her.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
