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The upcoming film "The Match," depicting historic Go matches between an iconic player and his pupil, is more dramatic than any fictional story, lead actor Lee Byung-hun said Friday.

"I was completely drawn to the story and amazed that such a dramatic event actually took place," he said at a press event in Seoul promoting the film. "Even if you are not a Go enthusiast, you can absolutely enjoy it."

The film follows the story of South Korea's legendary Go player Cho Hun-hyun, the country's first international titleholder. Revered as a national hero in the 1990s, when Go was considered one of Korea's top mind sports, he discovered a gifted young boy, Lee Chang-ho, and took him under his wing.

But as Lee's skills grew, he began to surpass his mentor. Then to the public's shock, Cho eventually lost to his own pupil.

Lee, one of Korea's top and most versatile actors, said portraying Cho's emotional journey in such a quiet and contemplative game was a big challenge. On top of that, he had to pay attention to hand movements and technical details while playing Go, despite being a novice at the game.

"It felt like homework to convey his psychology while keeping an emotionless and static demeanor," he said, adding he watched documentaries about him and actually met him in person to better understand him.

Director and screenwriter Kim Hyung-joo said he had Lee in mind even before he began writing the script.

"I firmly believed this should be done by Lee to convey Cho's emotional roller coaster within the confined setting of the game," he said.

The movie, which completed filming in mid-2021, was originally scheduled to premiere on Netflix in 2023. But it was put on hold amid a drug scandal involving actor Yoo Ah-in, who plays Lee Chang-ho.

While Yoo, who received a two-year suspended sentence for illegal drug use, has been completely excluded from the movie's promotional activities, his scenes in the film remain unchanged.

"For the sake of narrative flow, it wasn't an option to edit the finished movie," the director said. "The film had already been hurt even before its release, and I didn't want to cause any further damage."

The film's theatrical release has now been confirmed for March 26.

By Woo Jae-yeon