Don Lee says being a superhero in 'Eternals' is 'a dream come true'
Longtime consumers of South Korean media will immediately recognize Don Lee as any one of his many memorable characters in South Korean TV and film, but there was one character the man himself wanted to play.
“I have played many real-life hero characters in many Korean films before, but I really wanted to become a Marvel Super Hero. And that dream came true. I was so excited and so honored to play Gilgamesh and be a part of the ten Eternals. It's great,” he said.
The actor revealed this dream in a virtual press conference with Asian press, where he also talked about his character Gilgamesh being the older brother to Angelina Jolie's Thena and working with Academy Award-winning director Chloe Zhao.
During the conference, Don expressed his excitement at playing Gilgamesh, who he describes as a “well-rounded character.”
“Gilgamesh is one of the strongest and most powerful characters in the Eternals. His specialty is his super strength and super punch,” he said. “But also, he's a fun-loving, entertaining character, so hopefully people love him.”
Photo source: Disney Philippines
He also talked about the older brother dynamic that Gilgamesh shares with Thena, something that also translated off-screen between him and Angelina Jolie.
“Gilgamesh especially likes Thena. He loves her like a big brother or a father and daughter. He always tries to take care of her and is her protector,” he said.
This relationship was also evident outside of the film, as revealed by Don in an exclusive interview on Unang Hirit. He shared that Angelina was a “good and warmhearted person” and that the two of them had a “warm bond.”
The statement is backed up by Angelina herself, who in the same press conference said that she found herself immediate close with Don.
“It's interesting, and I don't know if this is the genius of how Chloé cast us, but it felt like we'd known each other before. I don't know what it was, but we were friends very quickly,” she shared. “The person I had to be closest to was Don. We naturally found each other immediately, and we were kind of inseparable.”
Just like Angelina, Don was all praise for Eternals director Chloe Zhao, who he said had “the perfect skills” for the movie.
"I always discussed a lot of things with Chloé. She's really great at giving life to the character. She makes all the characters alive and real. She helped me a lot and I had a really great time with her,” he shared.
Eternals will be released nationwide here in the Philippines on December 1. Select cinemas will host a limited release of the film from 6 p.m., November 29 to the whole day of November 30.