Choi Min-sik becomes the newcomer with 37 years of work experience in Intern, playing Gi-ho opposite Han So-hee’s young fashion CEO, Seon-woo. 1 The Korean remake of the 2015 Hollywood film starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway is scheduled to open on September 16, 2026, according to September release coverage. 1 2
That reversal gives the film an inviting starting point: an experienced older worker enters the company of a woman whose business has risen rapidly within three years of launching. 1 For Choi, the role also offered a personal challenge—an opportunity to show another face by stepping into a different fictional world. 1
A different kind of demanding role
Choi told NewsCulture that he enjoys entering unfamiliar territory, although he doesn’t feel compelled to transform completely for every part. 1 In his BizEnter interview, he distinguished the physical demands of earlier work from the concentration this performance required: Intern spared him strenuous action, but maintaining its emotional thread presented another kind of difficulty. 3
His account makes emotional continuity a useful point of interest in this office story: the challenge he describes lies in sustaining the character’s feelings through the performance. 3
Gi-ho’s identity mattered just as much as that emotional precision. 3 BizEnter reports that Choi worked to create a recognizably Korean older man with a different character from De Niro’s Ben. 3
One small piece of personal history helps explain Gi-ho’s willingness to enter an unfamiliar working environment: the company occupies a building where he previously worked. 3 Choi compared that connection to returning to one’s hometown or childhood home, describing a curiosity about looking inside despite the unfamiliar circumstances. 3 The workplace therefore brings together two things for Gi-ho—a connection to his past and a changed environment to explore. 3
How Han So-hee describes their collaboration
Choi said his younger colleagues’ flexibility and boldness rubbed off on him, encouraging him to set aside seniority and enjoy working alongside them. 3 Han’s account of an emotionally demanding tavern scene supplies a concrete example of the care he brought to their collaboration. 4
She told Sisaweek that they could have filmed in an actual Japanese tavern, but Choi asked for a set so the two actors could concentrate without surrounding distractions. 4 During filming, he also reversed the order of his dialogue; Han said his help allowed her to focus on the scene. 4
Those details connect his emphasis on sustaining emotion with practical choices about the filming environment and the delivery of a line. 3 4 They offer a particularly appealing glimpse of the work behind the pairing: Choi describes learning from younger colleagues, while Han describes the support she received from him. 3 4
Choi’s appetite for new work extends to romance and comedy, and he links growing older with understanding people more broadly and feeling more confident about expressing that understanding. 1 He also told BizEnter that he still has much to show audiences and wants to avoid resting on past achievements. 5 Those are creative ambitions rather than confirmed casting news: NewsCulture reported that he had no next project lined up at the time of its interview. 1
Sources
- [NC인터뷰] '인턴' 최민식 "나 아직 쓸 만합니다"…대배우의 '나이듦'이란 – 뉴스컬처
- Han So-hee says Choi Min-sik even requested a private set for her in 〈Intern〉 interview
- [비즈 스타] '인턴' 최민식 "계급장 떼고 놀았다"(인터뷰①)
- [인터뷰] 불안을 지나, 조금 더 단단하게… 한소희의 ‘인턴’
- [비즈 스타] '인턴' 최민식 "난 아직도 젊다…여전히 보여줄 것 많아"(인터뷰②)
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