Gang Dong-won plays Cheon-young in “Uprising.” (Netflix)

A scruffy man with windblown hair is dragged down to kneel on the ground. Despite his untidy looks, his glaring eyes are fixed on the enemy as he swings his sword, a movement akin to dancing. The man is Gang Dong-won, portraying a seemingly unlikely character for the actor: Cheon-young, a main character in Netflix’s “Uprising.”

Ranking third in some 190 countries on Netflix’s non-English Global Top 10 movie chart soon after its Oct. 11 release, the period action flick follows the story of Cheon-young, a personal servant and member of the slave class, and his young master Jong-ryeo (Park Jung-min).

Set in the mid-Joseon era (1392-1910), this historical movie depicts the longstanding relationship between the two, and the slave rebellion that saw them fighting on opposite sides during the Japanese invasion of Korea in the late 16th century.

While Gang has returned to a historical drama for the first time in 10 years, “Uprising” has given him several acting firsts: his first-ever streaming platform starring role, as well as his first time playing a lower-class slave.

“It’s also my first time wearing a fake beard while acting,” Gang told reporters during the interview conducted in Seoul on Oct. 23.

Many reacted to Gang’s depiction of the servant Cheon-young as something fresh because the roles he has taken until now were characters in the upper classes.

“I regard myself as a better fit for a role like Cheon-young. Personally, I wasn’t born rich, but was raised in a family in between a master- and a servant class. So I feel much more comfortable acting as a slave,” he added, jokingly.

Gang Dong-won (AA)

Surprisingly, it was auteur Park Chan-wook’s pick to cast Gang as the righteous Cheon-young, who has the best swordsmanship skills and with that, wants to change the social rank in the world he lives in. Park participated in this project as the producer.

“After receiving the scenario, I had a Zoom call with director Park, who told me that director Kim Sang-man has a flair for movies and is regarded as a genius,” Gang recalled.

Kim and Park have worked together since Kim joined Park’s “Joint Security Area” (2000) as art director. Even after Kim debuted as a film director with “Girl Scout” (2008), he continued designing Park’s movie posters from “Lady Vengeance” (2005) and “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK” (2006) to “Parasite” (2019).

In “Uprising,” Kim’s artistic sense is spotted throughout the movie, which represents the contrasting situations and feelings of the two main protagonists with colors like blue and red.

“I was also astounded by director Kim’s natural talent for using visuals. His artistic concepts and prop usage surprised me,” said Gang.

Combined with director Kim’s extraordinary guts and sense, as well as Gang’s extravagant swordsmanship, “Uprising” shows some unprecedented sides of the 43-year-old actor.

The movie opens with Cheon-young being dragged to the ground. Despite being a slave, he sharply raises his eyes and yells in defiance.

A particularly frightening scene is one where Cheon-young confronts his young master by voluntarily putting a sword into his mouth, bleeding and letting out a curse saying, “I’m going to get revenge on your family.”

“In that scene, I particularly thought about getting control over the opponent. I poured all my heart into making sure that the audience could immerse themselves. It was the feeling of a grudge that I focused on. I also discussed the makeup, hair and clothes of Cheon-young a lot with the director to show the sides of Cheon-young,” said Gang.

Park Jung-min plays Jong-ryeo in “Uprising.” (Netflix)

Park Jung-min, who plays Cheon-young’s young master Jong-ryeo, also shows a new side through “Uprising.” The movie marks his first-ever period flick.

“There is power in makeup and clothes when it comes to a period flick. I really enjoyed shooting this in those outfits,” said Park during an interview in Seoul on Oct. 1.

“I tried to focus on trying out new outfits and new makeup and hairdos to show a different side of me, because the audience may discover new Park Jung-min from such a role,” he added.

Because of the special relationship between the two main characters, intertwined by fate, some audiences saw a bromance between Cheon-young and Jong-ryeo.

“It’s good that the audience talks about something beyond what they see on the screen. It’s of course something good when an actor hears something different as seen by the audience,” said Park, adding that even the scenes involving swordsmanship needed emotional acting.

“Swordsmanship is simply beyond the action movies that’s seen in the movie. Each move contains the feelings and emotions of Jong-ryeo, who has low self-esteem and feels both love and hatred toward Cheon-young who is always better than him in swordsmanship,” Park added.

Park Jung-min (Sam Company)