Trivia / Oldboy (2003)

• Actor-Shared Background: In the English dub, Stephanie Sheh is Asian, just like Soo-ah.
• Dyeing for Your Art:
  • Choi Min-sik spent six weeks of intense training to get into shape for the film, losing a total of twenty pounds and doing most of his own stunt work. He later regained the lost weight to shoot the opening scene of the film.
  • Yoo Ji-tae learned yoga for his role.
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: Quite a few different editions of the film have been released, including various limited editions.
• Spoiled by the Merchandise: This poster spoils the fate of Woo-jin at the end of the movie.
• Throw It In!:
  • Choi almost entirely improvised his drunken opening monologue, including his playing with the angel wings. The wings in question were found by Park Chan-wook and Choi at a nearby store during filming and purchased on a whim, Choi incorporating it into the scene. The script originally called for him to moonwalk, but Choi didn't know how. The entire improvised rant ran almost a half-hour, and was cut down significantly in editing.
  • Oh Dae-su banging his head after stopping Mido from reading the diary was improvised.
• Underage Casting: The actor who plays Lee Woo-jin, Yoo Ji-tae, is 14 years younger than the actor playing Oh Dae-su, even though their characters are supposed to be the same age. This is intentional, to convey that Woo-jin is unable to let go of the past and has been living a pampered life, in comparison to Dae-su, who was locked away for 15 years and has aged visibly.
• What Could Have Been:
  • A Japanese-language adaptation that would've adhered closer to the plot of the manga was planned but cancelled.
  • Suk-kyu Han was recommended by Choi Min-sik for the role of Lee Woo-Jin, but turned it down due to being uncomfortable with the level of violence in the film. He later stated that he regretted the decision.

---