Zo In-sung on Oscar Race: "It Would Be a Lie to Say There's No Pressure"

"There's a saying: 'You lose the way you felt when you started. You just remember it,'" Zo In-sung said. "'Possible Love' made me remember how I felt when I started, so it made me even happier."

Zo, now in his 29th year since his debut, said the film brought him back to his roots. It was his first time working with director Lee Chang-dong. It also reunited him with actress Jeon Do-yeon for the first time in 23 years. He said he felt nervous on set for the first time in a long while.

"Possible Love" follows a laid-off working couple and a married pair of documentary filmmakers who set out to record their lives. As the two couples meet, each is forced to face the other's hidden desires. Zo plays Sang-woo, a businessman and the husband of documentary director Ye-ji (played by Cho Yeo-jeong).

It was the third film Zo appeared in this year. He was also in director Ryoo Seung-wan's "Humint" and director Na Hong-jin's "Hope."

"It was a busy year thanks to some great directors," he said. "I liked getting to have so many different experiences."

The back-to-back shoots took a physical toll. Before joining "Possible Love," Zo had been filming overseas.

"When the offer for 'Possible Love' came in, I already felt like I'd reached the end," he said. "But then I thought, 'When you reach the end, you have to go one more time.'"

"I thought it might actually be better to come to a Lee Chang-dong film with no strength left in my body," he added. "That way, I could step into that world and live as the character without holding on to myself."

Zo said the casting offer left him both happy and worried. He went in hoping to learn as much as he could from Lee on set. To play Sang-woo, a man born into wealth, he studied English and took up the clarinet.

"My hands turned into squid from practicing the clarinet," he said with a laugh.

"It gave me something new to study," he said. "After I got the offer, the first thing I did was get my head right about what attitude I'd bring to it. Ha ha."

Working with Jeon again was its own special experience. The two last worked together on the drama "Shoot for the Stars" (Byeoreul Ssoda), 23 years ago. Jeon had said in an earlier interview that she was grateful Zo had grown up so well.

"Acting with Do-yeon noona reminded me of myself in my early 20s," Zo said, using the Korean term a man uses for an older woman he is close to. He recalled being surprised back then by how naturally she acted, as if she were just having a real conversation. Seeing that her skill had not changed after so many years brought those memories back.

"I've gotten a lot more skilled than when I was young," he said. "You could say I've improved technically, too. But on this set, I was nervous for the first time in a really long time. I think it's because I was in front of Do-yeon noona and director Lee Chang-dong."

The film also taught Zo how to hold back. Lee asked his actors to feel their characters' emotions rather than try to act them out. Zo used that approach to try a more restrained performance.

"Actors are used to expressing things, but I saw with my own eyes that you don't have to," he said. "The film made me sure of it. If I had tried to show more, I think Sang-woo would have come off cheesier and more like a stock character. I'm curious to see how this experience changes the way I act in my next project."

"Possible Love" won the Silver Lion (Grand Jury Prize) at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. It also won the Ebert Director Award at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Right after its Netflix release on Nov. 6, it hit No. 1 on Netflix's Top 10 movies chart in South Korea. The film was also picked as South Korea's submission for best international feature film at the 99th Academy Awards, putting it in the Oscar race.

When asked how he feels heading into awards season, Zo kept it simple. "I don't put any special meaning on it for myself," he said. "I'm just grateful."

"It would be a lie to say there's no pressure," he added. "I think it's an honor for all of us and new history for Korean film."

"'Parasite' already achieved something huge," he said. "But there's still a solid wall in world cinema. I think Korean films, not just ours but the ones still to come, have to keep knocking on that door for Korean film's standing to rise. More than expecting an award, I want to go knock on that door one more time as a Korean film."