• 2010 •
Yoo Ah In for Vogue Girl, October 2010
soul rebel
He who said, “I think I have begun to move forward from the time when I had no choice but to spring away from the world” would respond to even the lightest of questions only after thinking for a long time, choosing his words as carefully as if he were writing. The man who said that happiness may not be his to have; I met Yoo Ah In.
Q. Compared to when we met two years ago, I feel like you have settled. Has your mind been able to find some peace?
YAI: Just because one’s mind is relaxed doesn’t mean that one is always a relaxed person. There are times I am uncomfortable. It depends on the environment, and I’m affected by the people who are in that environment. I’m comfortable today.
Q. When I told people I was going to interview you, the first thing they all said was, “When I was watching the drama ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ I had no idea that Moon Jaeshin was Yoo Ah In.” Do you think it’s because of the character? Your face has also become much more mature than before.
YAI: Because I tanned and grew out a beard. It could also be the natural process of aging. I don’t think I’ve changed at all, but it’s fun to see each person’s different reaction. I’m currently considering if, when the drama is over, I should cleanly shave my beard and show up and surprise everyone (laughter).
Q. After you were cast as Moon Jaeshin, there were many people who were dubious. They were asking whether you, who smiled like a young boy, could match well with rebel child Moon Jaeshin.
YAI: I have never tried to look like a kkotminam, but people think of me with that kind of image. Because I’m not a muscled, rough kind of man, and Moon Jaeshin has a very aggressive and tough image, I can understand why people would think that way.
(Q. And those kinds of opinions didn’t burden you?)
YAI: The people who thought of it as a problem were fans of the original novel. Because I’m an actor who acts according to the drama script and not the novel, I thought that any deviations from the original character were simply a result of my focus on following the script faithfully. And I had confidence that I could truly portray Moon Jaeshin well. But I think it’s quite funny.
(Q. What is?)
YAI: When my casting was first confirmed, people said that Song Joong Ki, Park Yoochun, and I all looked the same, and that we were just three kids as white as tofu, but after one official photo was revealed, they said, ‘Is he something special at Sungkyunkwan or what, why is he sticking out by himself.’ And now they say I look manly and mature. The reactions that change with time are quite funny. When actually Jaeshin isn’t a manly person, either….
Q. Then what do you think of as being manly?
YAI: I’ve thought a lot about what it means to be manly since I was little. Could one say that a manly person is someone who speaks honestly, and is able to accept other people’s opinions freely? I’m still not quite sure what it means to be ‘like a man.’ Although I’m positive that what people describe as ‘manly’–someone who’s rough, punches hard, has hard muscles, and has strength in his eyes–these outside characteristics are definitely not what it means to be like a man.
Q. Moon Jaeshin, who says what he feels and behaves how he wants, shares many similar points with you. What I mean is your disinterested attitude, or your oblique way of seeing things.
YAI: Moon Jaeshin is a person who, though insensitive and disinterested, sways back and forth. He doesn’t go around with his clothes undone to show off his good body; he’s a person for whom its annoying to even have to adjust his clothes. The Jaeshin I think of is more on the young and cute side than manly and cool. He’s the type who, if he is hurt by the world, he chooses to give up on the world and estranges himself from it, rather than overcoming and winning it. Isn’t that quite young? Of course, I’m acting with sympathy to his pain, and I, too, have gone through a time when I turned my back on the world, and because of that I can understand him more, but I don’t think of him as manly. He’s more cute.
Q. Still, you’re in a situation where you can’t avoid acting cool.
YAI: To be honest, I couldn’t properly watch the first episode. I was afraid I might have acted like I was cool. It would have made my fingers and toes curl (laughter). Even though I only appeared in one scene, I couldn’t properly watch it. Of course, I have to act cool, but I still want to appear as someone who’s cool in a clean and fresh way.
Q. No matter what kind of acting you do, you seem like Yoo Ah In. Even if you were to dress up as an 80-year-old man right now and acted, you wouldn’t seem like any other person at all.
YAI: If a sunbae hears this, he might scold me and say, “You must only be the character you are playing,” but I don’t think that way. Acting is a reflection of me and is a work of self-expression, so no matter what character I’m inside, it’s right that I, myself, am portrayed in a different form. That is the reason why the actor Yoo Ah In must exist; in other words, that is what gives me worth.
Q. Some actors in their 20s act out roles of characters in their 40s and say that that’s good acting.
YAI: For now, I want to continue playing roles that are my age and are at the same point of maturity as myself, and I want to play characters that can best show the moment of life I’m currently passing by. I’m 25 years old now, and when I look back at my early 20s, I was a very strange child. I was obsessed with being different from others, and I wanted to be special. Being an actor is a special job, but I wanted to be even more special. That heart is the same now as ever. When I hear that I’m good at acting compared to my age, or that I have depth, it means that I can show that I’m a different person than others my age, and I can surprise people, but I feel regret that I can’t show even more. Of course, I have been a part of good movies and have met good characters, but I do have the thought that it would be nice if just one person from the general public, or just the people who look at me, could see that part of me even more clearly. Moon Jaeshin is a character through whom I have been able to quench the thirst of wanting to show something I have very much wanted to show to the general public for a long time.
Q. It’s unexpected. I thought you would respond “I’m a person who acts, and this road won’t change,” without interest in popularity or the entertainment industry.
YAI: You’re right. I wasn’t interested. I used to think that I would just do what I wanted, and as long as I did what I wanted, the rubbish entertainment industry didn’t matter. If I used to think that being conscious of others was uncomfortable and a useless kind of work, now it’s something I can’t do anything about, so I have freely accepted it. I have become conscious [of others] somewhat more comfortably.
Q. What do you think of the power of influence an actor has on the general public?
YAI: I always think about the influence an actor has. Because I wasn’t a person who had a large amount of influential power until now, I worked hard to obtain it, and sometimes I also anticipated the day I would have that influence. But now I think realistically. I want to use the voice I have to properly exert a good influence (laughter). Funnily enough, I talked about this with my friends yesterday. I thought I was living only for myself, and was a person who only thought about himself, but these days, I think a great deal about wanting to become a good person. I want to tell the teenage girls who write come to my mini-hompy and write, ‘Oppa I like you’ that I am not the illusion they like. The images of celebrities who fans normally like aren’t at all grounded in reality, so I don’t think that that kind of illusion is only a good thing. I want to show the honest appearance of the human Um Hong Sik (his actual name) unedited and in full. Through my acting or even my writing, I would like it if the people could use me as a passageway through which to see the world as a very special place.
Q. On your mini-hompy you use the name Um Hong Sik and not Yoo Ah In….
YAI: The name Yoo Ah In seems like such an obvious lie that I don’t like it.
(Q. Then can’t you change it?)
YAI: I don’t dislike it enough, and I’m not uncomfortable enough, to actually change my name. Anyway, it’s what other people call me, I’m not going around saying, “What about Ah In-ee” (laughter). It doesn’t matter to me, what people call me.
Q. You have more writings than pictures on your mini-hompy.
YAI: The thought occurs to me that I have been able to communicate with people through my writing more than through my acting. It’s too funny, but I wanted to show the person Um Hong Sik, who writes on his mini-hompy, more than the actor Yoo Ah In. I don’t think of my writing as lightly as just a hobby, so sometimes I do feel the consciousness of writing as a job. I think, I have to bring this month to a close, it’s time to write something (laughter). I think that when you can’t help but write, you have to write.
Q. How much do you read?
YAI: I really don’t read very much. When I read one page, I want to write 10 pages, so it’s really hard. It’s a great habit, but when I read a book I end up imitating that literary style, so I’m not sure whether reading extensively is good for people who like to write.
Q. When you have a hard time, do you show it to the world, or do you hide it inside yourself?
YAI: When I have a hard time…. (thinks for a long time) Now, I express it a bit brightly. The baggage I have to carry with me throughout my life, or the hardships and troubles that are too much to bear in my every day life, I share them with people around me. There was a time when I was swept away by my “self,” my ego, but now that that time of endless negativity has passed, I have found a positive side. I used to think I was an extremely negative person. It’s not completely passed yet, so I can’t organize it for you in just one sentence, but I think that my endless negative thoughts actually created a passageway through which I could communicate with positive and beautiful people.
Q. Do you rebel?
YAI: These days I don’t (laughter). In the past, I wouldn’t show up to film and would cause everything to fall through; I would do everything I could. To be honest, I wasn’t exhausted enough to rebel like that, but when I was twenty-two, I hated being suppressed and restricted by reality. So I became more rebellious. If you think of it this way, I was already past all the moments of wanting to rebel, but I just wanted to show people that I still had the room to rebel anytime.
Q. No matter how old one becomes, it is certain that everyone will have to fight with themselves. Then what kind of person will Yoo Ah In be in his 30s?
YAI: I’ll probably be cool (laughter). I’m always striving to become a good person, a more impressive person, and I truly, endlessly–really, endlessly–make an effort to become a person I won’t be ashamed of, so I would like it if I could bear the fruit of that. I want to be an impressive person who can’t help but be acknowledged by everyone.
Q. You have finished your time of psychological transition, and you are playing characters you wanted in projects that are receiving attention. Are you happy these days?
YAI: I’m not sure.
(Q. But why?)
YAI: If I’m to say I’m happy, there are too many conditions that have to be fulfilled. Maybe because I’m not simple….
(Q. Perhaps because you’re a perfectionist?)
YAI: Hmm, do I seem that way (laughter)? I think that perhaps happiness may not be something for me to have. And that, to a very great extent.
10 Asia interview with Yoo Ah In
Note: tinysunbl posted 10 Asia’s English translation of this article yesterday, but I went ahead and did my own translation because I’m masochistic like that and also because 10 Asia left out certain questions and interesting expository paragraphs. But who’s going to sit there and compare the Korean original with the English translation… haha. Anyway. There’s my total overkill of a disclaimer. Settle into your chair because you may be here for a while. -jaeshinah
PART I:
Yoo Ah In | “Like Jaeshin broke out of his shell”
“Have I…ever said this? Thank you. For you, thank you.” It was the simplest confession in the world. This is how Moon Jaeshin (Yoo Ah In) sent off Kim Yoonhee (Park Min Young) on KBS’s <Sungkyunkwan Scandal>. Sungkyunkwan’s outsider, a defiant fighter against the absurdities of the world—-romanticist Jaeshin, who stood one step behind and watched over the one he loved, was the very symbol of the growing pains of youth. Jaeshin is a different world from the [other] roles of youth Yoo Ah In has played in the past, from his start in KBS’s <Banolim> as warmhearted ‘Ah In oppa’ to wandering boy Jongdae in the movie <Boys of Tomorrow>; from lonely warrior Heuksan in KBS’s <Strongest Chilwoo> to lively pâtissière apprentice Kibum in <Antique> and ‘typical modern boy’ Hyunkyu in KBS’s <Man Who Can’t Get Married>. Suddenly he is twenty-five years old, and despite his dark tan and facial hair, whenever he smiles his face seems to return to the fair-skinned young boy [we knew in the past]. <10 Asia> met with Yoo Ah In. The stage name ‘Ah In’ that he chose himself references the German word ‘ein’ (one), meaning that he is a unique being in this world. Following this eye-opening young man into the numerous worlds within him is not an easy task. But Yoo Ah In is unmistakably worth the effort.
Q. You were filming for <Sungkyunkwan Scandal> until the day of its last broadcast. How have you spent these last few days? It seemed like you have been busy with schedules that have been put off until now.
YAI: I’ve been drinking this whole time because I don’t have to work at night. (Laughter) But even if I drink until the early morning, I’ve gotten into the habit of waking up early for filming so I end up waking up early anyway. It pisses me off. (Laughter) To be honest, it doesn’t even take much; I get drunk from half a bottle [of soju] but in that state I keep drinking until I die [T/N: This isn't meant literally…it doesn't even mean that he drinks until he passes out. It basically means he drinks until the very limits of his tolerance]. But these days, I can’t even last the whole night; when it gets to about 2 or 3 in the morning I pass out and then come home. But why am I suddenly talking about drinking…
“I was curious about Jaeshin’s unique heart within Sungkyunwan; [he was the only one who was different]“
Q. Let’s talk about your work. (Laughter) You once said that you were absolutely determined to land the part of Guh-roh in <Sungkyunkwan Scandal>. What about him drew you to this character?
YAI: I think I was drawn to who Jaeshin was within <Sungkyunkwan Scandal>. At Sungkyunkwan, he keeps apart from other students, he climbs his ginko tree to be alone, and he’s the only one who wears different clothes from the others, but he doesn’t do [those things] because he wants to stick out. At the same time, he doesn’t want to cut cut himself off from the world or leave it behind; he’s only an outsider within Sungkyunkwan, and this was refreshing. I was curious about a child who obviously took a test to win admission into this space where he then [insists on] living differently [from others], and I also felt he was somewhat similar to me.
Q. But Sungkyunkwan is the kind of space you can call a ‘school.’
YAI: Yes, but Sungkyunkwan was not the kind of school that everyone in the country could attend, like the schools we went to [as students]; it was a place in Joseon society where only the most elite could learn. As far as I understand, it could only hold 500 students at a time, and as soon as you graduated you jumped straight into politics. If you think of it in today’s terms, it’s even more difficult than [getting into] Seoul National University–maybe similar to one of its elite programs, like the law school? [T/N: SNU admissions rate is less than 1%, and its law program is one of its most competitive majors]. To be an outsider in that place is different from the kind of kid we went to school with who sits on the windowsill and gazes at a mountain far away. (Laughter) Normally, it isn’t easy for students who are on that kind of elite track to be [an outsider]. They’re too smart and they want to be part of the mainstream and they’re clever enough to know where they are now and what they have to do in the future. Then, who is this Jaeshin, alone in being different in that kind of world? I wanted to know what was inside his mind.
Q. Then as you played the part of Jaeshin, what did you discover or feel [about him]?
YAI: Toward the second half [of the drama], I felt that his heart was too young, that he was really a little boy. (Laughter) That’s why it was difficult to control [the contradictions of] his personality, of not knowing how to express his emotions while at the same time speaking frankly and spitting out whatever is on his mind. I also wonder if I dug too deeply inward in the loveline with Yoonhee (Park Min Young) [T/N: that is, YAI wondered if his portrayal was too introverted or muted]. It’s true that the main female character is usually slow [to realize that another character loves her], but it’s also been such a long time since I [played a character with] a loveline. (Laughter) There was a scene in Episode 19 where [Jaeshin] takes Yoonhee to the jail where Sunjoon [is locked up] and tells her to go see him by herself, and I thought a lot about [how to shoot] that scene. Is this action [truly] a part of Jaeshin, or is it something [the drama] had to set up because [they had to find some way for] Jaeshin to withdraw from the loveline? I talked a great deal with the director about this.
Q. To be honest, I kept wondering what Jaeshin’s [true] feelings were for Yoonhee.
YAI: Yoonhee is someone whom Jaeshin liked from when they first met, before he began to have feelings for her as a member of the opposite sex. [Jaeshin] always turned his back to the world and wrote off the Sungkyunkwan kids as being all the same, and just as they were prejudiced against Jaeshin, so he was prejudiced against them; but after meeting Yoonhee, who’s spunky, and fun, and interesting, he begins to change. In the course of events, he begins to have feelings for her, and he finds out she’s a woman, and I think that’s why, later on, he wants to protect and cherish the light in her eyes [T/N: that is, her spunk and determination] and her beautiful heart, and his own heart grows bigger as a result. And in the original book and the drama, Yoonhee’s destiny is to be with Sunjoon, so to match that somewhat, I showed how [Jaeshin] wanted to protect Yoonhee as an older brother would.
“I’m both relieved and regretful that <Sungkyunkwan Scandal> is over.”
Q. <SKKS> is a drama that isn’t just about the romance–the development of each character is an important framework for the drama. An especially impressive moment for Jaeshin was when he said to his father, whom he had always resented after his older brother’s death, “I acted like I was hurting more than you. I was wrong. I was sure I loved hyung more. I was wrong about that, too.” It was a scene that moved me to tears.
YAI: The part of Jaeshin I felt was most childlike was his clumsiness at expressing himself and his confusion about what to do about his feelings. He’s too idealistic and trapped within himself, thinking, ‘Nobody hurts more than I do. Nobody has a harder time than I do. My pain is the worst here is,’ but ironically when people feel that kind of sadness or pain, they feel superior. [I know because] I went through that, as well. Of course, I don’t think that Jaeshin has matured that much. But when others climb ten steps, it’s hard for Jaeshin to even climb one, so that one step has great meaning. Jaeshin broke the walls he had built around himself, and he realized that he wasn’t the only one hurting; and the fact that he can even cry, and laugh, are, I think, for Jaeshin very big steps.
Q. Were there any emotions that were difficult to portray?
YAI: At the end of episode 7, the archery competition begins and Jaeshin arrives and says, “I came to fill the head count.” It was extremely difficult to [know how to] smile in this scene. What’s worse is that even when I’ve played sad or hurting characters, I smiled easily and tended to simply show their feelings, but this time I didn’t know how I should smile. I received the script 1 or 2 weeks before filming, and I looked at the mirror and smiled this way and that way, trying whatever I could think of, but I couldn’t figure it out. Of course, I know how to smile in a way that will make me look pretty. (Laughter) But I couldn’t just smile and leave it at that; I wanted to find within the script the emotional link that would lead to a smile. In the end, we shot the scene twice, but I’m still not sure whether I fully found [that emotional link].
Q. You seem to be the kind of person who can’t stand it if he can’t immerse himself completely in each moment [of the scene].
YAI: When you’re reading your lines or putting on certain facial expressions, there should be a reason for everything, but there are lots of times when you just do something for no reason. Knock off the script without thinking, smile without thinking, give a meaningful glance without thinking. (Laughter) Ah, that’s not unconscious; it’s very much consciously done. It’s technical [acting], and of course there are people who want that, and if I do that it’s easier for me, too. When I’m tired, there are some parts where I think, ‘What reason [do I need to find], I’m sure they’ll give me an OK anyway,’ and in that aspect, I’m both relieved and regretful that <SKKS> is over. I wasn’t able to embody the character of Jaeshin perfectly, and I think there are parts that were lacking.
Q. Now that I think of it, the movie <Boys of Tomorrow> ends when you’re asked, “Are you going to become a decent/excellent boy?” and you flash a grin. Even though it wasn’t a situation in which you could really smile. What do you think you were feeling when [you shot that scene]?
YAI: I’m not sure. The character of Jongdae in <Boys of Tomorrow> wasn’t a character whom I had to come to accept, or whose situation I had to work to understand. I was Jongdae, and Jongdae was me. We don’t remember what we say, what expressions we show, or how we reply [to others] and smile in our everyday lives. So I can’t say anything except that [in that moment], I was the one laughing. The words and expressions I spit out like that without thinking were really—-they were genuine emotions I could never have again [if I had to re-shoot that scene]. It’s not that it’s meaningless because it’s thoughtless; [on the contrary,] that’s the kind of [genuine] acting I ultimately want, but as an actor who is making things and gaining experience little by little, it makes me think that the genuineness I had at the time [is something I will] never have again.
“My prejudice against celebrities were broken through <SKKS>”
Q. But don’t you think that you want to continue to find that ‘genuineness’?
YAI: Of course. And I’ve always worked toward that end. But in a historical drama, it’s undeniable that you have to make something. You have to speak in ways that aren’t yours, and you have to wear clothes you would never normally wear, and every situation is already established. I especially hit many obstacles when shooting KBS’s <Strongest Chilwoo>. I thought, I’m a really incompetent kid who doesn’t fit in here; even when I’m showing myself, it’s not enough and there’s nothing I can do with it. Up until [<Strongest Chilwoo>] I had thought of ‘technical [acting]‘ in a negative way, but I realized that by fully embracing it I can actually show who I am in a more natural and genuine way.
Q. What did you experience or learn from <SKKS>?
YAI: In creating Jaeshin, the part I felt I was most lacking was in speaking/vocalization. Besides showing emotions through acting, speaking is an extremely basic foundation for an actor, but even when I wanted to speak differently, I would hit the limits of my throat and breathing, and I would have to vocalize within only [those limits]. It’s not just making sounds; it’s an area through which I could have expanded the breadth of my character, and I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to do that enough.
Q. I heard that you have been working on fixing your pronunciation and speaking for a long time. In your debut <Banolim>, Kang Seok Woo-ssi, who plays Okrim (Go Ara)’s father is unsatisfied with his daughter’s boyfriend ‘Ah In oppa’ and picks on him, saying, “Is that kid’s tongue short, or is it long?” That scene was a funny one.
YAI: At that time, I heard from many people that my tongue was short [T/N: that is, he had a lisp]. (Laughter) Actually, it’s not so much that I’ve improved until now as it is that when I started [reading lines] naturally, people stopped pointing it out as much. My pronunciation isn’t that good, even now. I mumble. But instead of unnaturally pronouncing each word perfectly, I lump my words together, which helps it sound natural. (Laughter)
Q. In this drama, the four main lead actors are all similar ages. What kind of experience was it to work on a project with actors your age?
YAI: I also had my own prejudices. [Like] normal people, [I also thought], ‘Celebrities are like this,’ so I can’t get very close to celebrities. (Laughter) [As a celebrity,] you can’t help but be a bit selfish, and you think that your feelings are the most important and that you should be receiving more attention [from people]—-I, too, know how this feels. But through Yoochun, my prejudices about idols and Hallyu stars were broken; through Minyoung, my prejudices against women actors my age; and through Song Joong Ki, my prejudices against actors who I thought were only cunning/calculating. Like Jaeshin, who broke out of his shell and came to accept Yoonhee, Sunjoon, and Yongha, I was also able to grow and see them in a good light. It was fun to shoot and now that it’s over, my regret is that we didn’t speak more often and honestly about acting. But I’m thankful to Joong Ki-hyung for comfortably giving me a lot of advice about various things. ‘This person, he isn’t only calculating; he is calculating so that he can do well’—-I realized this.
PART II:
Yoo Ah In | “I don’t want live life just to live it; I want to be awake as a person”
Yoo Ah In once appeared on MBC’s <Come To Play> and recited a poem he had written. He occasionally posts short essays on his mini-hompy, and through his Twitter account, which he started a few months ago, he speaks to the world in his unique voice. The boy who, when he was in high school, said, “I want the light to shine on me, and I want people to see me shining brightly” as he dreamed of becoming a ‘celebrity,’ became an actual star through KBS’s <Banolim>. It was only after he [achieved this level] that he was able to take the time to find his ‘true self’ and began to mature into an adult. And though he is still acting, for Yoo Ah In, who once said “Work is easier than living as myself,” writing is a way for him to not lose himself.
Q. Jaeshin once said of the Hongbyeokseo, who criticizes the state of affairs in pieces of writing he scatters about, “If I don’t do even this, I won’t be able to stand it.” Writing is an act which contains the will to express something inside of you that you feel you have to tell. After writing on your mini-hompy for a long time, you started Twitter a few months ago. How has it been?
YAI: When I’m in the country shooting [for a project], I become desperate for time and space to return to myself. But through Twitter, I was able to share the voice of Um Hong Sik as a person and Yoo Ah In as an actor, and that was a great comfort. In a way, it’s a great blessing and honor that I can say just one thing and then collect and read the opinions of thousands of people through their replies. I’ve really learned a lot. Of course, there are lighthearted or routine comments, but there are a large number of “mentions” that have taught me and awakened me to new things, and that endlessly remind me of what a limited person I am [T/N: that is, how much he doesn't know and hasn't seen]. So, I have to keep using it. (Laughter)
“I would like the word ‘youth’ to take on a new meaning”
Q. Actually, I think it wouldn’t be easy to keep [using Twitter] precisely because you have thousands or tens of thousand of people who are watching and listening.
YAI: There are many people who want me to keep using Twitter but at the same time, it also makes me speak up less. It’s not easy fighting that. It’s not like I was born as an independence fighter or with a defiant attitude. I like being comfortable and I wish my worries would disappear. But having said that, I know all too well that that would truly isolate me and make me into a miserable human being, and that’s why I forcibly pull writings out of myself. It’s not because I want so badly to write; it’s because if I’m in a place where I don’t, it will make me truly miserable–I constantly tell myself, ‘I can do it, I can speak up, I will never stop speaking, even if you gag me I will speak until the end, I won’t lose, I’m not incompetent.’ It’s very difficult.
Q. Are you saying that even though it’s hard to fully be yourself, you want to keep trying to check that [you are being true to yourself]?
YAI: Yes, and it’s not just about writing, but also the act of just living in your twenties. In truth, I very much want to live a peaceful life. I want to be comfortable, and I obviously have thoughts like ‘it would be nice if I could smile prettily and make money and live,’ but I try to continually break away from those things and force myself to be a person in his twenties. I am a person who suffered from maturing early, and I learned the basic rules for skating by in life, but I have to throw those things away. I have fallen into the dilemma of being too realistic but not being able to stay in reality. Because what the world says is maturity is seeking the answers and stopping there, protecting what you have, and continuing to do things the same way; but to me, this is immaturity. I think that true maturity is endlessly looking for answers and pressing forward, and sometimes failing. So I wish the word ‘youth’ was used differently. When people sigh and say, “He’s still in his youth,” what they mean is, “That’s what it is to be an young [and immature] kid.” I wish the word ‘youth’ was used to describe not an immature and childish kid who is only full of passion and idealism, but instead a young person who is truly mature and living the right way.
Q. On your Twitter, you sometimes write about labor or human rights issues. These are thoughts that anyone who cares about social issues might have, but as soon as actors start talking bout it, they are burdened with the label of being ‘political.’ Don’t you worry that you might be placed in that kind of very tiring situation?
YAI: I worry about it. It worries me, and it scares me to death. If I write just one thing about [social issues], I can’t sleep at night. (Laughter) But the way I see it, someone who can’t do that is either a dead person or at least partly so [T/N: He does not mean this literally]. It’s just—-I don’t want to be a person who is alive only because he is breathing; I want to live as a human being and be awake to [what's around me]. I even think I should be allowed to talk about politics. All of us live under the complete domination of the system called politics, and to just say that politics are bad is, as Go Hyun Jung-ssi said on SBS’s <Daemul>, being too irresponsible as a citizen! I’m not saying that I do it because it’s the right thing to do or because I’m compelled to stand up and criticize every social problem I see, but I think I can at least play the role of introducing issues want to talk about and share with other people. Although it’s the sad truth that even doing that much is very difficult in our society and in the system of the celebrity world.
“I show that I curse and drink and go to clubs on purpose”
Q. You wrote something after watching <MBC Special>. I inferred that you were writing about the allegations of degree forgery surrounding Tablo-ssi–even from the perspective of a person who isn’t famous, it was a painful broadcast to watch because it [forced us to] face the serious illness afflicting Korean society. As you are in the same industry as Tablo-ssi and might also one day find yourself in a similar situation as he, I think it probably prompted even more thoughts in your mind.
YAI: I did think about that. Despite the fact that I might face something like that one day—-that actually, because of that, I have to stay as silent as a stone even as I watch it happen—-is that what celebrity is? It’s not like I watched that one broadcast and said, these are truths and these are lies. I’m just a person inside that enormous system, and I’m a person living in these times, and when I go home, I’m a netizen. I was so frustrated that people could be so suspicious of one person but not be suspicious of that system at all. And on that note, I think I was also very lacking. That’s all I wanted to say, but it was distorted and misinterpreted and people took sides and some people felt insulted [because of what I said] and there were people who acted like I’d said something unbelievably huge. There were articles written about it, and even though they’re my own words, “a generation’s wound”—-ah, it makes your toes curl. (Laughter) Some people took it as “Who the hell does he think he is, calling it a generation’s wound?” But that’s really how I think of it, and what I was thinking [when I wrote the tweet] was how it was a huge wound that people living in this generation were living their lives without realizing that.
Q. I think it must be tiring to have to live by the rules of a system that doesn’t mean much to you. And Korea tends to have extremely particular moral standards for celebrities in the public eye.
YAI: The moment I package myself, it’s not just about how other people are going to see me; I end up being trapped by that packaging. So I try from the start to make the size of that packaging large. I’m a kid who curses, a kid who drinks, and I go dancing at clubs. Even though it’s not much, I need to do consciously do those kinds of things. Because right now, it’s like you can’t do those things [if you are a singer or actor].
Q. It’s also true that if you get trapped in an image of being completely faultless and moral, all of a sudden that might be all that’s left of you.
YAI: Right. It would be nice if the kinds of people [who are in the popular arts] expanded and became more diverse to match up with how much our eyes have opened and how much the standards of culture and art [have risen and] keep rising, but I’m just a very small 25-year-old actor. That’s why I wish there was a 30- or 40-year-old sunbae actor who could say this for me, so I won’t be ripped apart by people thinking, ‘Why is that bastard saying things like that.’ Someone who could show that it’s possible to do this work and still find happiness as a human being.
“Work is easy compared to living my real life”
Q. It does seem that we are gradually moving to a new generation of actors. Won’t that help things change [for the better]?
YAI: I do feel that we are undergoing a change in generations. But the problem is that these young actors or singers have been matching themselves to the system ever since they started working in it. As if there was no other choice. I saw it happen after <Banolim> ended. ‘Celebrities have to act like this. They have to smile like this and act like this, and when there are lots of people around, celebrities have to hide their faces with hats that look like this…’ These fresh kids have to think about things like this. I think it’s a very bad idea for [these young actors] to jump into this business before they’re able to develop who they are as individuals. I wish young kids wouldn’t get involved [in this business]. If I were to go back to that age, I wouldn’t do it again. It’s too much to hope for to do this work and [simultaneously] be able to establish one’s sense of self. This whole time I’ve been working, I’ve been told that I’m a crazy bastard or stupid, and I thought about whether I should quit. I’m sure there are people who would say, “He thinks too lightly of work.” They’re right. It’s light. Compared to me; compared to living as a human in my real life, work is light. I wish people who want to enter this business would do so with the thought that it is more important to be a happy person than a happy actor. I want them to be able to make themselves happy. [T/N: That is, they have to know how to be happy from the inside, rather than finding happiness through outside things, like fame or praise].
Q. If it’s been difficult enough for you to say that if you were to go back, you wouldn’t do this work again, then what has been motivating you this entire time?
YAI: I think it was my brutal honesty. (Laughter) I was secure in my beliefs and the path I had to go down, and the reason I was able to endure it was because I was not impatient. In other words, people say that they will be able to sacrifice ten years of their lives if those ten years will lead to the realization of their biggest dreams. Going to school is similar in some ways. Even though you could spend that time more happily, there are parts you have to sacrifice for the future. But even within that situation, I think I was able to protect my beliefs and live a satisfying life even as I came closer to my goals. It’s okay if all my dreams don’t come true by the time I’m twenty-five; thirty-five is fine, and forty-five is, too. And I thought it was much better to protect myself and proceed slowly than to lose myself in the effort to shorten that time. To be honest, even though right now I’m saying that doing such-and-such will lead to this-and-that, I’m not sure how I might change in the future. But I don’t think that when celebrities say “I will always hold onto my original mindset,” it means the same thing as “I will always stay this humble.” An original mindset is the absolute bottom foundation of what you have when you’re working for something or searching for something or trying to figure out what happiness means to you. That always has to come first, but the moment it comes second or third, you begin to not be yourself. So no matter how unbelievably hard it may get, let’s always keep it number one! (Laughter) Even if everything else realistically ends up a bit mixed up.
PART III:
Yoo Ah In | “Today is more precious to me than whatever I might be doing in 10 years”
“It doesn’t matter what my ending, as a person, ends up being. It won’t be so much an ending as it will just one moment, I think. If I can’t turn back time anyway, I would like to have had a fun life.” It takes more energy to live in the present moment than it does to live for the future. But Yoo Ah In lives in the moment. He laughs often, and he also speaks passionately and at great length. In every moment, he is thinking and asking questions, and before he blames others he questions himself. It’s obvious to hope that this vivid and fierce firework will not fade away for a long time. Because for Yoo Ah In, who calls himself ‘the most normal being,’ this is not an impossible existence. As an actor, of course; but also certainly as a human being.
Q. What kind of person were you about 10 years ago, before you started acting?
YAI: I think I was similar to who I am now. I was normal and didn’t have much to offer and didn’t stick out among the 40 or 50 other kids in class, but when I dig into my memories and look at my past, I can’t help but think that people have an innate nature that doesn’t change easily. (Laughter) I happened to see an essay I wrote for an ethics class when I was about 14. The topic was ‘This is how I’m going to make my dream come true,’ but I had written not ‘This is what I’m going to be,’ but rather ‘I think it’s our duty, as people, to find true happiness.’ At the time, that’s the only thing I could think about, and compared to the outside world, school was a very stable and small society. Of course, I didn’t actually like school that much. (Laughter)
“I can protect the roots of my heart, so I am not ashamed”
Q. What did you dislike so much [about school]?
YAI: Because it’s full of things that [shouldn't be] so certain. Even though I hadn’t had any choice in any of the things that happened to me, everything happened as if it was so obvious [that it should be that way]. Of course, it’s mandatory to get an education so my mother sent me to school, and if she hadn’t that would have been a whole other thing. (Laughter) But I don’t think schools teach their students how to think or reason at all.[T/N: Keep in mind YAI is only talking about the Korean school system, which may be very different from that of your own country]. I also think about this when I write. If the writings on my mini-hompy are first and foremost for myself, then my Twitter is first and foremost for mutual communication. But I don’t write [on my mini-hompy and Twitter] in order to search for the right answer. Even if I was searching for the ‘right answer,’ I don’t think it’s something that people should wish was easy to find [or understand]. I wish people wouldn’t glance at a piece of writing that’s about somebody’s life and, without even five minutes of thought, write, “It’s hard. I don’t get it. Please explain it simply.” Would it be interesting if you could see the answer immediately? Words may be easy to write down and share with others, but that doesn’t mean they are trivial. So if you’re somebody who has come to take an interest in me and has taken the trouble to find [my mini-hompy or Twitter,] I’d like it if, rather than easily finding the answer and arriving at a conclusion, you were able to find your own [personal] answer through my writings. Because the most important individual to every person is him or herself.
Q. So in any case, do you think you haven’t strayed too far from the person you hoped you would be when you dreamt of your future at age 14?
YAI: Haha, yes. It doesn’t matter what kind of work I’m doing; I’m very satisfied because the most fundamental foundation I had in my heart back then has stayed with me until now. I don’t mean that I have something better than others, or that I’m richer than they are; what I mean is that I’m satisfied because I’m able to protect the deepest roots of my heart, and because of that I’m not ashamed. In ten years, even if I’m earning millions and am a famous actor in all of Asia, if that first fundamental layer is empty, I will be ashamed. Of course, when I say things like this, people respond with, “Hey, first make those millions, and then you can talk. The ‘first layer,’ what the–!” (Laughter)
Q. Then what kind of person would you like to be in ten years? Is there anything that vaguely comes to mind?
YAI: Hmm, I might not exist then. But if I do still exist……if I could just be a person who wouldn’t be ashamed in turning back and facing my 25-year-old self, I think I’d be a truly impressive person. I’d like to be the 35-year-old adult I so desperately need now; somebody who could show one [possible] path to younger actors who will take roads similar to my own.
“It is important for me to have my own space”
Q. You once said that an interview without mutual understanding or appearing on a TV show and being forced to do things you don’t want to do makes you feel ill. Everyone has to do things they don’t want to at some point in life, but I think that there are certain people who are uniquely sensitive and are hurt and have an especially difficult time when they are confronted with this problem. Have you become more immune to this as you’ve gotten older, or is it the same as ever?
YAI: It’s as difficult as ever. But when I was a [rookie actor] kid with no power and rebelled against the logic of “What is this arrogance, you should do as you’re told,” now there are people who see me [react as I always have] and take it as, “You think you’re pretty famous now, huh?” As if I’ve lost my ‘original mindset.’ I was like this from the start. (Laughter) It’s inevitable that this would be the point on which I clashed with my management the most. Thankfully, my current company accepts me as I am, and I think we’ve found many areas of common ground where we want to continue working as equal partners. To be honest, I think that’s another thing that you can only get once you’ve become ‘famous.’ I’m not saying I’m famous–it’s just that in the process of working on this one drama, I felt like my company came to a deeper and broader understanding of me than they ever had before. (Laughter)
Q. On that point, of the things that <Sungkyunkwan Scandal> has given the actor Yoo Ah In, one might be a great deal of freedom from reality.
YAI: Yes, having that is very important to me. When I was around 21-years-old, the word I spoke of most often was not ‘youth’ but ‘freedom.’ Before I was 20, in the three years during which I came up to Seoul and worked and lived, I had such a complete lack of freedom that afterward, I did everything I could to find it. I think that for people who are out working in society, freedom originates from how much they are able to exercise control over what’s inside them. If I could only control five out of ten things inside me before <SKKS>, now I think I can control six. That’s the freedom of having control over one more thing that is important to me.
Q. If the freedom to be yourself–that time and space–is important to you, then what does the house you’re living in right now mean to you?
YAI: The house itself is a normal house. What’s important is not what kind of house it is, but just the fact that I have my own space. I get bored of the same space so I move once a year. It’s really a nuisance. (Laughter) Something that’s different from the past is that now, my friends come by often and sometimes they stay for a few days. Whereas in the past, I had to be completely alone to do my own thing, now I can do my own thing even when I’m with other people. It’s small, but I think I’ve become at least that comfortable around people I’m close with.
Q. You once said that you had conflicts with your dad when you were young because he was strict, and that he opposed your acting. As time has passed, have you been able to understand one another a bit more, by any chance?
YAI: For most sons, a father is an uncomfortable presence. What’s worse is that in a Kyungsando family, [we use short and blunt sentences in dialect like] “You eat? Let’s sleep;” (laughter) and in a relationship where you have to use formal speech [T/N: the son uses formal speech to his father; the father speaks informally to his son], it’s difficult. But we have been able to show each other more of ourselves and understand one another better. I’m a kid who’s experienced all the family troubles anyone else has, and now [that I have come to this point], I think I’m able to forgive and accept my father.
“Expressions of extreme love…I feel like going crazy”
Q. Among the writings you left on your mini-hompy, a story about an ajumma who ran the neighborhood convenience store remained in my memory. You wrote that you couldn’t happily receive her kindness and good wishes, and that you regretted this the day that store closed down. It made me think that you’re a person who is still awkward when regarding people who are unconditionally nice to you or praise you as a celebrity.
YAI: Yes, it drives me crazy. (Laughter) There’s more of that now because many people have been watching our drama these days, and I don’t think I can stand it! Of course, as an actor and celebrity there is a part of me that’s happy and proud. When the ajummas who run restaurants come over and say, “Please sign this for me. My daughter is a fan,” I’m really happy and thankful. But anything more than that makes me uncomfortable. (Sigh) I wish people wouldn’t say, “Ah In-ssi, you’re so cool/good-looking,” but just kept it at “I enjoyed your work.” When I hear things like, “When the girls get together, you’re all they talk about,” I feel like dying! I don’t know how to reply, and saying “thank you” is also weird–am I supposed to be cocky and say, “Yes, wasn’t I great?” Anyway…I don’t know how to cope with more extreme expressions very well. For me, it’s not just as an actor—in love, too, I’m the kind of kid who feels a bit uneasy with those kinds of expressions, even with a girlfriend, which is why I think…I feel a bit awkward.
Q. It’s possible that such discomfort will only increase in the future.
YAI: I’m not saying I want my private life to be respected, because I’m the kind of kid who will protect my private life even if [those boundaries] aren’t respected. It’s my private life, so whether or not others respect that… (Laughter) Actually, I move around in public quite easily, and I go around Myungdong without wearing a hat [to hide my face], but these days I’ve been wondering if acting that way might actually make things more uncomfortable. I wish it was easier. But the fact that I even had the opportunity to say this is in itself something I’m thankful and happy for.
Q. This is the last question. In the movie <Boys of Tomorrow>, Jongdae asks Ki Soo (played by Kim Byung Seok), “What do you think of when you imagine the furthest future?” What is the furthest future Ah In-ssi can think of?
YAI: As [my character's] hyung said, I really think it’s ‘tomorrow.’ I always think it’s possible I will cease existing at any moment. At one point in my life, I was completely consumed by those kinds of thoughts every single day. It wasn’t, ‘I want to die;’ it was just—-It’s okay if I fall asleep like this and don’t wake up tomorrow. There was a time I lived thinking, ‘Even if I don’t make it until tomorrow and never see this world again, it won’t be a particularly awful or sad thing.’ I was in despair. In any case, I made it safely through that time and I’m still alive. (Laughter) Once I made it past that, I opened my eyes and realized that even though the world is still here today, there’s no guarantee I will exist tomorrow. That’s why today—-this very moment—-is the most precious; and the fact that I’m here, doing this now, is more important to me than whatever I might be doing 10 years from now. It was only after enduring those times…that I came to realize that.
Writer: Choi Ji Eun
Photographer: Chae Ki Won
Editor: Lee Ji Hye
Stylist: Ji Sang Eun
Cat model: Doong-doong-ee
Translated by jaeshinah@soompi
Short interview at SKKS party
Hey everyone, while we’re waiting for the meaty 10 Asia interview of Ah In, let’s do a “pre-game” with this this yummy video. Transcript is provided by the host, our awesomeJaeshinah. Remember to bring your own mixer!
[Warning: there're several parts in this vid that are inappropriate for library or office settings. Watching at the presence of a spouse/bf/gf is also not recommended]
Q. You can’t show something that isn’t already inside of you?
A. I think so. I think it’s because I’m still in my 20s. Because I’m in my 20s… sunbaes and teachers who have acted a lot are able to make their own characters, but for now I think I’m probably better at showing what’s inside of me in a variety of ways… but as I get older and I become more ambitious, and [I can't make this part out from 0:28-0:30 T__T] I think I will be able to make and show a more properly-made character.
Q. What was the hardest part of filming?
A. There’s no time to rehearse scenes before they’re filmed. You just have to go to the filming site and match all the moves in 5 or 10 minutes, work out the order, and memorize it… because there were a lot of scenes like this, squeezing my brain to memorize everything, I think it was harder than memorizing the script.
Q. Are you sad toward Yoonhee?
A. I’m sad. Yoonhee… what can I say? In the drama you chose Seonjoon… but I know I’m the one in your heart. [followed by the cutest laughter in the world omfg<3]
Q. How long do you think it will take to say goodbye to the character of Moon Jaeshin?
A. Looking back at the other roles I’ve done… I think it will last until my next project. Rather than “meeting” the character, a part of me came out to the surface. When I meet a new character, a new part of me, a new acting project–when that happens, Jaeshin will naturally leave. I think that’s the natural progression.
YAI: Sungkyunkwan Scandal DVD, fighting!
10ASIA special article on Yoo Ah In
It seems like 10ASIA loves our Ah In a lot. Before the recent lengthy interview, the paper had written a beautiful piece about Yoo Ah In’s acting career and unique personality. Credits go to the translator, ancientkingdom unnie. I edited the English translation with the help of jaeshinah, but without understanding the original piece, I find the task quite difficult. Please don’t hesitate to point out if I misinterpret anything.
And just a note: today is an important day for ancientkingdom unnie and she is very NERVOUS (yet she still doesn’t forget to finish up this article for us!). Please give her a lot of cheers and goodluck wishes!!!
Einstein:
The greatest physicist who found the theory of relativity. Ah-in is the name mixed with the German word “Ein” and the physicist “Einstein”, and it is his stage name after his debut into the entertainment world. His real name is Hong Shik. He was a student of an art high school when he was casted in front of the school gate. To prepare for a career in entertainment, he left his hometown, Dae Gu (It’s a city of Korea) for Seoul. He thought “The school system didn’t fit me,” and “It will be great to be an entertainer,” so he wanted to be an entertainer. Most of all, he was not able to feel contented with just “drawing,” because he had a “great desire to express himself”.
After quitting school, he sometimes cried watching groups of peers in school uniform. He wants to miss nothing during his lifetime anymore because of this experience. He spent his late teens and early twenties acting in dramas and movies instead of studying in school. Casually, Ah-in uses his real name because he doesn’t care whatever he is called by others.
Ko Ah-Ra:
The actress who co-starred with him in KBS Banolim. Ah-In played the role of boyfriend to Ko Ah-Ra. He thought “I just have to add one more thing- shooting drama -to my normal life.”, but Banolim led him to a different direction from what he originally thought. He had 150,000 members in his fan club, the filming was operated by perfectly planned schedule, so he was too busy to find time to breath.
At first, he was happy to hear the cheering of his fans. Then suddenly, his personality and behavior became twisted and he was not sure what he really wanted. He once said, “I hate that people recognize me.” He even thought about quitting (acting). While he went through this kind of confusion, he realized, “a kid who starts acting living as an entertainer needs the time to organize his or her own thoughts and thinks by his or her own self regardless of what is right or wrong”. In Banolim, he majored in art, smiled brightly and purely, but he was just a teenage boy who pretended to smoke to attract his girlfriend’s attention. Perhaps, what he needed at that time was not the popularity of a star, but the attention from someone who could listen to his teenage troubles as the way they were. Puberty-teenagers go through this period, showing their most inner worries in front of the greatest number of people.
Ro Dong-Seok:
The director of the 2006 movie Boys of Tomorrow. Yoo Ah-in played the main character. Before filming Banolim, he was only a would-be actor who had a blind yearning, which was “the hope that everyone watches me glitter (as if?) when someone beams the light on me.” Yoo Ah-in decided to become someone who pursued the work few people wanted to do. “Break through and take your shell off!” he was once told by Ro Dong-Seok. The director wanted him to act freely instead of being aware of his own performance as in Banolim, and then Yoo Ah-In realized that to act was to be absorbed in the character directly rather than to perform with skills. (I think they’re talking about “natural” acting vs. acting). Jong-Dae, Ah-In’s character in the movie, is helpless against the whole world, but, at the same time, he wants to be strong, so he wants to have a gun. Yoo Ah-In (naturally) expressed this distorted youth with his gloomy and feeble stares, before he planned to act in a certain way. It was the moment the actor and the character met each other for the presentation of youth- just like Ah-In said; ” The world is more horrible than the ghost.” From Boys of Tomorrow, You Ah-In started to act “to absorb the character into himself rather than to change himself (for the character), because the character comes from within himself.”
Jung Yun-Chul:
The director who cast Yoo Ah-In for Shim’s Family. In Boys of Tomorrow, Ah-in wanted to tell “the story of his own.” However, through Shim’s Family, he learned how to work with other people. Cheon Ho-jin (actor who played Father) smashed his head from time to time while teaching him how to act (I think this implies intimacy, not domestic violence!). And as he worked with his co-actors, Yoo Ah-In had a “bright side popping up to mind” experience. He could broaden his acting in this environment. Jong-dae of Boys of Tomorrow, who ran into a difficult adolescence with every fiber of his body, was a perfect role for him because he could express his own concerns in their raw form through Jong-Dae. On the other hand, Yong-Dae of Shim’s Family was a high school boy who thought he had some birth secret and believed he had been a king in the past life because he was too normal and worthless. Instead of portraying Yong-Dae as a rebellious teenager to mirror his own self, Ah-In made him a childish and geeky boy. So he found a point of compromise between the unusual setting and the tone of reality. It was the moment he could step forward to being a professional actor: to find compromise between “acting as himself in reality and beyond the reality.”
Min Kyu-Dong:
Director of Antique Bakery. He said, “I want to record the youth sparkling and burning like a flame” when he casted Yoo Ah-In. For the first time in his acting career, Yoo Ah-In analyzed the film script with his co-actors, and they got friendly over a drink. The young man who “used to be fascinated with something different about myself” started being concerned about “a role I have to play for the twenty three years of age.” Ki-Bum was very different from his past roles, because while Ki-Bum had a critical eye-injury, and had to quit boxing, he wanted to live positively in everything; so Ki-Bum was a very different character from his past roles. However, Ah-In portrayed Ki-Bum as a kid, who could overcome his fear because he was just an immature kid, by acting in a little bit high mood for every aspects (of Kibum) instead of making him a mature boy who silently overcame (endured) his sufferings. In KBS Drama The Man Who Can’t Marry, his character seems mature and economically capable but he is just a kid in his romantic life. He thinks like a grown-up in one (professional) world but remains childish in the other (romantic) world. That was Yoo Ah-In’s boyish youth-Yoo Ah In who considered the words “act manipulatively” as the evidence of (his) gradual adjusting to the world.
ERIC:
His co-star in KBS Strongest Chil-Woo. Yoo Ah-In played a swordman suffering from a will-less destiny-the nemesis of Eric’s character Chil-woo. Although this was a key supporting role, much as important as a main character, the filming memory was unpleasant to him. He was an actor who wanted to absorb in the character, but in a historical drama, sometimes he had to make his acting technical for the dramatic effects; that was uneasy for him. So was the communication (with others) while analyzing his character. It is true that he got on top of this issue if he became a professional actor. However, to the person who said “The only thing I can do is acting” and wanted to express “someone totally same with me,” the performance can be his unfinished school years and his diary (I’m not quite clear of this part). He had faith; It is an art to express his thought. He talked about writing, “I am not sure if extensive reading is really necessary because I mimic the writer’s writing style when I read books.” That will be his homework to embrace and harmonize the world of his own acting-a world in which he cherish his acting as he says, “Acting is my life itself”-a world of the professional actor which requires him to perform regardless of whether he doesn’t want or not. (Here it’s something like: whether he thinks he fits the role naturally or not, he still can do the role as a pro)
Joo Ho-Sung:
Actor and the film producer of Sky and Ocean, which Yoo Ah-In starred in last year. Ah-In expressed that Joo Ho-Sung had gone beyond his duty, taking over the the director’s jobs etc….during the shooting of this film. There are different opinions regarding this accusation: “It was a courageous comment,” or “It was an indiscriminate attitude to a big senior.” In those days, he said “[his] tear is a wound of our time (that reminds us to) reflect on our conducts and heal it together” on his twitter. This comment seems to “be interfering,” like he said. However, as acting is a form of self-expression, his characters and himself can be bound together by the key word “Youth.”
Like acting, expressing his thoughts in writing can be a way to self-express and he wants to use “the right to speak and the influence which [he has]” to the right way. Of course, you can see this as “showing off.” However, from his debut till now, he has enlarged his own world on the common denominator of youths, those who have awareness and grow. In years to come, things will be re-examined and he may be criticized. However, that (his speaking up) is better than doing nothing or concerning only for one’s own stability (and faking ignorance).
Gul-ro:
His character in Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Gul-ro concerns about his present time like Jong-Dae in Boys of Tomorrow, is a warm-hearted person to the girl he loves just as Ah-In inBanolim, and expresses his thoughts straightforwardly just as Ki-Bum in Antique Bakery. Also, in matters of love, he seems like a boy, but about the problems of the world, just as Ah-In himself, Gul-ro doesn’t beat around the bush, shooting Hongbeokseo (the Red Messenger)). Playing this character in SKKS, Yoo Ah In consolidates the many facets of youth that his characters have experienced. Gul-ro has a fresh romantic storyline like many youths, but at the same time, he carries adults’ agonies about the political situations that drives youth out of the world. When the two aspects/faces/worlds converge, the youths grow up emotionally and socially, so they’re precarious but beautiful. And this is the greatest virtue in SKKS. Becoming Gul-ro, Yoo Ah-In uses every moment to put the whole feeling of the drama into the youth he expresses. His twitter address is “seeksik.” (Which means) Um Hong-Sik who seek knowledge bravely. Sometimes, during the process there will be failure and he will be misunderstood. However, that is just youth. The process to seek the answer is more meaningful than the answer itself.
Source: 10ASIA
Translated by ancientkingdom; edited by tinysunbl and jaeshinah
News bits from 11/02 to 11/03
Wow! I’m overwhelmed by the amount of news about Yoo Ah In on the media these days. I wonder how Ah In himself would feel. Others may squeal and marvel at Yoo Ah-in because of the super cute and cool Geul-ro, but I personally take Ah In’s soar in popularity as an indicator that his talent has shined through Geul-ro the character. Without Yoo Ah In, I don’t think I would have loved Guel-ro as much as I did.
Jaeshinah@soompi has taken all the trouble to collect and translate the recent bits of news about Ah In on Nov 2nd and 3rd. Please give her a round of applause and enjoy some yummy Ah In news, everyone.
At a press conference on the 2nd, Yoo Ah In was asked, “Song Joong Ki remarked that Yoo Ah In’s lips are pretty. Do you also think your lips are your most attractive part?” to which Yoo Ah In gave an embarrassed laugh and said, “I am taking good care of them,” drawing laughter.
Yoo Ah In played the role of Guh-ro Moon Jae Shin who has eyes for only one woman, causing ‘Guh-ro [Heart]ache’ syndrome. He also showed a unique friendship with Song Joong Ki’s character of Gu Yong Ha, prompting viewers to say that rather than the Seonjoon-Yoohee couple, the Jaeshin-Yongha couple was the real gay couple. Yoo Ah In was asked what Song Joong Ki’s most attractive point was, to which he replied “His skin…his skin is really good; it’s like a white gem.”
[LOL I wonder how many times they had direct skin contact during the filming, esp. considering how Yong-ha always takes every chance to jump on Jae-shin!]
At a press conference on the 2nd, Yoo Ah In was asked about his beard. He said, “At first I grew it out for the drama, but I actually like it,” and “People around me say it looks alright, so I’m wondering whether I should not shave it [and let it be].”
Okay, finally somebody asked a question I’m dying to know the answer to!!!! I really want to know if that beard would be kept in the future. Thing is, I don’t like boy/man with fuzzy beard. The beard looks almighty fine on Guel-ro, though. Maybe I’d make an exception…What do you all think?
“‘SKKS’ will remain in my heart for a long time” -Frontier Times
“My regrets [about my acting in SKKS] are as great as my happinesses, but this drama will remain in my heart for a long time.” -YAI
At the last shooting on the 2nd, Yoo Ah In confessed, “When I first took on the role of Guh-ro, I came out and said, ‘I have confidence [I will do a good job],’ but in truth I was scared and worried a great deal about whether I would be able to do a good job.”
He added, “I thank everyone who gave me a great deal of love despite my lacking points, as well as the hard-working producer, the director to whom I sent that first letter, my fellow actors, and all the staff.”
Song Joong Ki said, “The Jalgeum Quartet’s Park Yoochun, Yoo Ah In, and I, as well as Ahn Nae Sang [who played Prof. Jung Yak Yong] gathered together and shot a sincere and serious scene. We’re not normally these kinds of people, but for the first time in a while we shot in a serious mood,” and “Once we heard ‘Cut!’ our tears started pouring out.”
He was then asked, “Do you think you were able to portray the emotion of your last scene well?” to which he replied “I’m not that good of an actor…” and trailed off, drawing laughter.
The ones who have benefited the most, by far, from SKKS are Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In.
Though the male lead was played by Park Yoochun, who conquered the music world with DBSK, the popularity of Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In left Park Yoo Chun in the dust to the extent that one might call it ‘Rebellion of the Sub-leads.’
Despite the fact that Yeorim Gu Yongha and Guh-ro Moon Jaeshin’s had relatively smaller proportions of broadcast time, they were able to cause waves of love for ‘Mischievous Yeorim’ and ‘Guh-ro Ache.’ Song Joong Ki went back and forth from showing mischief to charisma, cleanly ridding himself of his former image as [merely] a kkot-mi-nam star. Yoo Ah In, whose image as a child/juvenile actor had lingered, captured women’s hearts with his voice resonating from somewhere deep within his chest and his penetrating gaze.
Whatever the two actors said in the drama were quickly uploaded online as soon as each episode aired, building their popularity. Even after the last episode of <SKKS> airs on the 2nd, it looks like it will continue for a very long time. Whatever else anyone says, Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In are the greatest beneficiaries of <SKKS>. However, they did not merely get a free ride from the popularity of the drama, but rather they, along with Park Yoochun and Park Minyoung, are actors who deserve to be recognized for helping to make the drama popular.
[Yay, after SKKS, who self-identified his or herself as both Aile and Ainese?]
Jaeshin said, “The person who made hyung like that was not the Left Minister,” and insisted Lee Sunjoon was innocent. However, his words fell on deaf ears, and his father Moon Geun Soo locked Jaeshin in a closet so he could not surrender himself as the Red Messenger. Jaeshin, who was going out of his mind with rage, tried to persuade his father with apologies and tears.
He said, “I was wrong. I went around thinking that I was more hurt than you. I was wrong. I was sure I loved hyung more. I was also wrong to think that. Father–” and opened his heart to his father for the first time in 10 years. He cried, saying he did not want to live in the hell of hating his father any longer.
The great majority of viewers chose Yoo Ah In’s crying scene as the episode’s best scene. One viewer said, “When Jaeshin said to his father’s back, ‘I was wrong,’ my own heart felt like it hit rock bottom. Whether he is explosively showing his deep pain or hiding it all away, the acting is properly done.”
Another viewer wrote, “I was surprised at Yoo Ah In’s acting skills. His expressions, emotions, eyes, voice tone, and speaking speed are all perfect. This scene could have been unbearably corny, but Yoo Ah In kept the proper feeling alive. His acting felt so authentic that I started crying without realizing it.”
Whatever anyone might say otherwise, the first foundation of ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ is its beautiful male cast: ‘perfect prickly man’ Garang Lee Sunjoon, the blend of rough masculinity and sweetness in Guh-ro Moon Jaeshin, and mischievously attractive Yeorim Gu Yongha.
The best performance among the flower-like cast is Yoo Ah In. Could anyone have known from his very first appearance as a ‘Joseon Dynasty Bad Boy’ overflowing with rough beauty that he would establish such a full presence later on?
Yoo Ah In, whose character’s older brother was brutally murdered by the Norons, created the ‘Guh-ro Ache’ syndrome through his frequent line, “[If you keep doing that] it’ll become a habit.” [This is] Moon Jaeshin, whose bluntness is only softened by Daemul Kim Yoonshik.
With his bittersweetly loving eyes and his bass voice digging deep into the heart, he has earned compliments such as ‘Rediscovery of Yoo Ah In.’ This has been the catalyst for transforming Yoo Ah In from someone with a child actor image to a mature, adult actor.
‘Guh-ro Moon Jaeshin’ Yoo Ah In is the actor whose growth we most anticipate.
When actor Yoo Ah In was cast [as Jaeshin], fans of the original book reacted negatively. Yoo Ah In’s milky image as a young boy was devoid of anything resembling a ‘crazy horse.’ But Yoo Ah In turned this around. Yoo Ah In portrayed his crazy passion whenever he appeared, overwhelming the screen. Though his part in the first episode was just 5 minutes at the most, it was plenty enough to become a hot topic.
His rough beauty was clear as he fought a group of raiders in his ragtag ‘beggar clothes.’ On top of that, his consideration for Yoonhee by covering her eyes so she wouldn’t be shocked shook women’s hearts. ‘Guh-ro Ache’ began from the moment he realized that his roommate Yoonhee was actually a woman. His delicate, emotional acting as he watched over the girl he loved fall in love with another was truly earnest.
Moreover, his anger against the cruel world that witnessed his brother’s unfair death and his rage and disappointment against his cowardly father stirred one’s protective instinct for the character of Moon Jaeshin. Though the character of Moon Jaeshin was plenty attractive in the original book, Yoo Ah In used his personal charm to create a new Moon Jaeshin and gave an excellent performance that exceeded expectations. Viewers who have fallen into ‘Guh-ro Ache’ are, now that the drama is over, falling equally deeply for Yoo Ah In’s charm.
Though ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ raised the profiles of many young stars, the definitive center of all the hype is Yoo Ah In, who played the part of Moon Jaeshin. The two main leads of the drama were Park Yoochun and Park Minyoung. However, the popularity of supporting main actors Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In rose with each episode, eventually reaching sky-high levels. They surpassed the performance of the two main leads.
Yoo Ah In is, especially, the best star to emerge from SKKS. One may easily confirm his extreme popularity on all kinds of surveys and polls about SKKS on various portal sites. Moreover, nicknames like ‘Guh-ro Ache’ definitively show the heated response viewers had to his character, providing concrete proof that Yoo Ah In has risen to become a star through SKKS.
The main driving force behind Yoo Ah In’s rise as the best star of SKKS was his attractive character [of Jaeshin]. Yoo Ah In’s character of Moon Jaeshin was not a normal scholar but a defiant character who showed strong masculinity even while he risked his life for a noble cause. Though he showed his strong, wild charm in this sense, he also loved Kim Yoonhee from afar, quietly protecting her even as she fell in love with another man. He earned explosive responses from female viewers for his character’s charm. Moon Jaeshin’s attractive character is the first and most important factor in making Yoo Ah In a star.
The combination of strength, softness, and cuteness, along with his good looks and natural acting style has earned Yoo Ah In high popularity. For Yoo Ah In to take a place as a true star, however, he must refine the areas of his acting he is still unable to express, and he must be able to enter so completely into a character that [the viewer can see] no traces of the actor Yoo Ah In.
Although SKKS has given Yoo Ah In the status of a new and great star, there are many challenges ahead for him if he wishes to become a true star.
Yoo Ah In is beautiful. When he smiles brightly his eyes disappear and he seems mild, pretty, and delicate. But if you look closer, he is not an easy person. He has denounced the internet’s dysfunctional treatment of the Tablo controversy on his Twitter, as well as written heartfelt posts on his mini-hompy that criticize movies in which he himself appears. Nowadays, this courageous actor has been gaining passionate fans by the day. [...] Seven years after his debut in the 2003 drama <Banolim>, Yoo Ah In is enjoying his greatest popularity thus far as the beastly man of the Joseon Dynasty.
Moon Jaeshin does not have very much to say in ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal.’ His actions come before his words. He is an uncontrollable man who acts exactly how he feels, even as he meets the night dew as a dark hero and lets red arrows fly. The original work ‘Lives of Sungkyunkwan Scholars’ on which ‘SKKS’ is based features Moon Jaeshin as a large, manly man at great contrast to Yoo Ah In’s slim stature and young face. As a result, there was a backlash from fans of the original book [when Yoo Ah In was first cast]. There were concerns about the casting of milky-bright kkot-mi-nams Micky Yoochun, Song Joong Ki, and Yoo Ah In. But Yoo Ah In’s prickly acting is plenty attractive and charming, with his disheveled Banolim hairstyle and facial hair. He adds yet another fun side to the rough and heavily weighed-down original character [from the book].
There have been other rough, beastly men like Moon Jaeshin in several other dramas. The role of Kyungsangdo-style men who mask their anxious hearts with pretended nonchalance have consistently earned love. Moon Jaeshin is also that type of man. He, too, casts lingering gazes at the one he loves and throws out his words bluntly. But [unlike other beastly men,] he communicates his inner feelings with one look. One is able to feel not only [his] love, but also [his] happiness, rage, and sadness. The character from the novel was reproduced as a much more complex, vivid character. This is the result of the foundations of his steady acting, his unique color [as an actor], and thorough character interpretation.
When Yoo Ah In appeared in 2003′s ‘Banolim’ as Go Ara’s nice boyfriend, his popularity was explosive. In just a few months, his fanclub membership exceeded 150,000 people and his popularity was so sensational that he was even chosen as a school uniform model. Though it looked like Yoo Ah In would rapidly rise as a young star on the strength of his brilliant looks, he took a sudden hiatus. Three years later in 2006, he came back through the indie movie ‘Boys of Tomorrow’ and also took roles in the movie ‘Shim’s Family’ (2007), the drama ‘Strongest Chilwoo’ (2008), the movie ‘Antique Bakery’ (2008), and the drama ‘The Man Who Can’t Get Married.’ Though the movies premiered and the dramas enjoyed popularity, Yoo Ah In did not become a star. Instead, he patiently perfected his acting skills in order to become a true actor.
Yoo Ah In is an actor whose writing precedes his spoken words. His active use of Twitter and his mini-hompy have earned him the nickname of ’21st Century’s Red Messenger.’ Like Moon Jaeshin, whose talent with words captures the public’s attention, he frankly reveals his opinions and convictions to the general public. His writings speak for the deeply thoughtful actor Yoo Ah In. Though he has sparked debate at times by speaking too honestly, he shows us the human Um Hong Shik (Yoo Ah In’s actual name) without a filter. Yoo Ah In possesses not only brilliant good looks and brilliant acting skills, but also a firm personal sense of conviction. This is precisely why I so look forward to seeing what Yoo Ah In has to show us in the future.
Credits: Jaeshinah@soompi for collecting and translating the articles, pics are courtesy of InK Cho@Naver
[101021] O2 Cover Story: Yoo Ah In
PART I
[O2/Cover story] Yoo Ah In: “The Hongbyeokseo who endlessly persists exposing the world’s problems; that is youth.”
KBS’s ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ ‘Guh-ro Ache’ Syndrome: Yoo Ah In
He scrunches his forehead in a frown and gazes at a far-off point. After a heavy sigh, he opens his mouth.
Yoo Ah In (age 24), the actor with whom we met on the set of KBS’s ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ in Gyeonggi-do’s Hwaseong, said himself that he talks a lot. The words he spilled in one hour filled 9 pages worth of A4-sized paper [T/N: A4-paper is skinner and longer than US letter-sized paper, and holds slightly more words per page]. And yet nothing was spit out lightly or thoughtlessly. Unlike typical celebrities who reflexively respond to questions with ready-made answers, he must organize his thoughts before opening his mouth. He who said “I became an actor because I had a lot to express” is an actor with many thoughts and many words to say.
> “Hongbyeokseo, who endlessly persists in exposing the world’s problems: that is youth.”
Q. You seem to have gotten thinner.YAI: I lost about 5kg. I think I’m still losing weight.
Q. Most of the filming is outdoors in the countryside–I heard you all are suffering because of the cold weather.YAI: Munkyung [T/N: name of a city] is really cold but it’s not deathly cold. If you stick on hot packs it’s bearable.
Q. Moon Jaeshin can be described in one word as ‘beastly man.’ Does this appeal to you?YAI: I think he’s more of a boy than a man. He’s not a man who has completely found himself; he’s a boy who is undergoing many rapid changes as is typical of his age.
Q. It’s become known that after being cast as ‘beastly man’ Jaeshin, you went tanning and went to an action school.YAI: (Laughter) The tanning and the action school seem to stand out but it actually wasn’t that big of a deal. I just tanned enough to get a big darker and worked out just to enough to tone my body [without making it strangely big]. For viewers, of course, the outward changes are the most obvious which is why I think they have been saying those kinds of things…
His words fade and he is silent for a moment. He flashes his trademark eye-smile. “Why is it that I want to say it’s not a big deal?” he says quietly. In actuality, stories about how he had suffered while tanning or gotten hurt while at the action school could, when drawn out, fully fill ten minutes. [But] to him [YAI], this did not appear to be a crutch on which he would lean. The tightly-packed questions I had prepared [suddenly] seemed embarrassing. So instead of a standard interview, I decided to try having a conversation with him.
Q. Are you saying that you made more of an effort [to transform] your inner self than your outer appearance?YAI: When many people have said that I have transformed or changed through Moon Jaeshin, it’s laughable if I say ‘Nothing about me has changed,’ isn’t it? But in truth, there really hasn’t been any big changes. It’s merely that I have taken out one of the many colors [of myself] that I have. That’s why a different color came out [in Jaeshin]. In the future, too, I will always be able to take and out and show different appearances. Rather than ‘Look at this, I have transformed well,’ I want to have the appeal of ‘I have all of these different [sides].’ That means that as long as my outer appearance is readied, I can take out and show [a different side of me] at any moment.
Q. You have taken on a variety of different roles in the past–does this mean that all of these [characters] were part of Ah In-ssi’s inner self?YAI: Yes. My acting philosophy is to enlarge what I have [inside of me] through the character. On a fundamental level, I don’t think I could [take a role] that isn’t already a part of me. In SKKS, I am showing you Um Hong Shik [T/N: YAI's real name] through the shell of Moon Jaeshin .
Yoo Ah In debuted in 2003 in the youthful drama ‘Banolim‘ as Okrim (played by Go Ara)’s boyfriend. He has also appeared in the movies ‘Shim’s Family,’ ‘Boys of Tomorrow,’ ‘Antique Bakery,’ and the dramas ‘Strongest Chilwoo‘ and ‘Man Who Can’t Get Married.’
Q. If that’s the case, who is the Ah In-ssi you are showing us through Jaeshin?YAI: Of course, there’s the masculine and rough side. Falling short, sadness. These days, a major connection [I have with Jaeshin] is through the Hongbyeokseo. Jaeshin puts on a black mask every night and shoots arrows with red messages into the doors of the houses of powerful men. As Lee Jungmoo (Seonjoon’s father, played by Kim Kap Soo)’s lines say, he is a young man with the foolishness to think he change the world with words. Reading those lines made me realize that Jaeshin is really similar to me. I feel like this was a role I had to do. I’m someone who talks a lot about youth this, youth that, and so I’m thankful that I could take a role that properly shows what youth is.
Hongbyeokseo are writings on red paper that criticize the state of society. It has been pointed out that the red messages only bring up problems without offering alternative solutions. But Yoo Ah In thought differently.
YAI: That’s what youth is. If Jaeshin knew what the solutions were, he would be the Prime Minister or the Left Minister. Most people live without any consciousness that there are problems at all. I think the work of pointing out that problems even exist is plenty valuable in its own right. Though it’s a dilemma of the young, I still can’t help but think that we should still persist in pointing out problems where they exist. If you do that, you will [at least] become closer to the answer.
In Episode 14, Jaeshin says the reason he scatters these red messages is, “If I don’t do even this, I won’t be able to stand it,” and “Because I have to in order to live.” For Yoo Ah In, who tweeted, “The 21st century’s Um Hong Shik is the 18th century’s Hongbyeokseo” [the character of Jaeshin] is one with whose heart he genuinely connects.
YAI: It’s not a logical thought process of revealing society’s problems in order to get people to react and solve the problem. It’s just that he is so aware of and obsessed with these problems that if he doesn’t do at least this, he will be so frustrated he can’t live.
Q. Is that what you think of youth?YAI: I don’t think it’s as much my personal thoughts so much as the actual face of youth. Though he is caught up in problems everywhere, the solutions don’t exist no matter where he looks, which frustrates him…. I think that most youth are like this. I’m actually the kind of person who is closer to the solutions. I have tried for a long time to find [the solutions] and am pretty smart, and on the flip side of my confusion I also tend to be logical.
Q. Have you passed that stage [of not having answers to the problems you expose]?YAI: i think I have gathered [my thoughts] and transferred it into action, to an extent. In the past, I was like a messy and discorganized room, but now I have found a place for everything and have placed the books in the bookshelf. I think I have steadily transferred my life to the action phase, but my consciousness is sometimes still confused and scattered. Because if you live as if you know the answers, it’s no fun and you could fall behind.
He added, “Being confused is a difficult thing, but I would still like to be confused,” carefully pronouncing each syllable with strength and precision.
> “Even if they make a SKKS Season 2, I would not participate”
Q. You have had revealing scenes because of the role of Jaeshin.YAI: Hahaha. Right? When I get the outline [for the next episode], I no longer have any clothes on my top half. This isn’t right. That’s very much a commercial beastly man [T/N: that is, for sale]. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to appeal [to viewers] with a six-pack; what I don’t like is the idea that ‘I must take off my clothes because I am beastly-man Moon Jaeshin.’ Continuing to do it because it worked once is the lazy way out and it’s no fun. I’m already fed up with it. My company has been saying, let’s try wearing some clothes now. Hahaha.
Q. There is a huge number of fans who say they have ‘Guh-ro Ache.’ Do you feel your popularity?YAI: I make an effort to feel it. I read people’s reactions [to my acting] often, and if they like it I feel like flying. In the beginning, I would pay attention to whatever anyone pointed out about my acting. Nowadays, I read good [reactions] more often and listen more closely to people who cheer me on. I am usually the kind of person who [cynically] thinks ‘How long can popularity last, anyway’ but when I thought about it more, I wondered if I really had to be that way. Now if people applaud me, I am be happy and enjoy it, and if [my popularity falls], I can comfortably think, ‘Well, it’s over.’
After participating in ‘Banolim‘ he was so popular he fan cafe members numbered 150,000, but afterward Yoo Ah In gave an interview and said, ‘Popularity disappeared and only the constraints [of popularity] remained.’ I was curious as to whether he could fully enjoy his current popularity.
YAI: If people like me, I like it; if [my popularity] ends, it ends. Either way, I am still here, in the same exact place. Some days make me happy and excited, and then other days it subsides and even if I leave, it’s a place to which I can comfortably say ‘goodbye’… it’s the same for not only popularity or work, but also love. I think that’s just my disposition. Of course, if there are good things, positive things, it would be good if I made an effort to keep them, but if it doesn’t work out then I try to just be comfortable with [what happens].
Q. I feel like you have a lot of affection for Jaeshin. When the drama ends, don’t you think you’ll suffer from withdrawal?YAI: You’re right. It is like that. (Silence) Because I am pouring myself out through Jaeshin and letting things go, I think I will feel relieved/unburdened [once the role is over]. I also think that my fans see Yoo Ah In through Jaeshin and can look at [the real] me a bit more comfortably. Even when the drama finishes, Jaeshin’s color will show strongly in how I live my life. Until I meet a new character who pulls a different side of me to the surface, that’s how I will have to live.
Q. As the drama approaches its middle part, fans are asking for a second season. It doesn’t seem impossible, as the original novel ‘Lives of Sungkyunkwan Scholars’ has a sequel titled ‘Lives of Kyujanggak Government Officials.’ If a second season is produced, would you consider participating?
Before his answer came a groan. After thinking for a long time he replied.
YAI: If it took place in about 2 years, I would very seriously consider it then.
Q. If you had to decide now?YAI: (Silence) I don’t want to do it.
His expression has darkened. I asked him why, and he began thinking again.
YAI: Because how I think of SKKS right now, Jaeshin’s finish line is already decided. [What happens] after that point is a whole new question.
Q. Do you think you will be able to say everything you want to as Jaeshin?YAI: No.
Q. Then won’t you feel regretful?
“I don’t think I have to borrow only Jaeshin’s mouth. I will speak through other characters, writings, or other ways,” said he before adopting a blank expression. After another silence, he said quietly and as if to himself, “But still it’s regretful.”
YAI: While it’s happening, you don’t really know how thankful you are. Will I have [another] opportunity to speak this much again. I am telling my own story through Moon Jaeshin’s voice, but I think about whether I will have the opportunity to have this kind of voice again.
PART II
[O2/Cover story] Yoo Ah In “I trust that the non-mainstream can become the mainstream”
> “I trust that the non-mainstream can become the mainstream”
Q. After you finish this drama, are you planning to rest? Or are you going to go straight into your next project?YAI: I’m currently thinking about it. This is the time when I should be working a lot, but when I don’t have time to myself I feel like I will die. I feel like I will disappear. So (during filming in the countryside) even when there is a little bit of time, I come back to my house in Seoul. I am desperate for time to be myself in my house, in my space. So I’m very seriously thinking about whether I should go straight into another project, or if I should go back to my space and take some time for myself.
Q. Ah In-ssi, on the one hand you seem to be the kind of person who is well-matched to be an actor, but on the other hand I wonder how you will make a living as an actor.
He explained that he would answer with “slight bragging and the assumption of some narcissism” as he flashed an eye-smile.
YAI: Someone on Twitter wrote ‘Yoo Ah In-ssi’s non-mainstream feel is really wonderful but when ‘SKKS’ is over I’m afraid that feeling will disappear.’ Hmm.. what’s mainstream and what’s non-mainstream isn’t absolute. If the general public is mainstream, and what’s not the general public is non-mainstream, then I think the non-mainstream can change into the mainstream [over time]. I work with the belief that I have the strength to make that happen. If that wasn’t the case, I would really have to stop acting. No matter how much non-mainstream mania I might attract, the yardstick for celebrity success is how many people turn their attention to me. I’m not saying that I want to throw away my non-mainstream inclinations to transfer to the mainstream [for that], but rather that if I show more people what I have within me, that can become the path to the mainstream. I’m trying to become a bit better in navigating this area.
Q. Are those the reasons you picked ‘SKKS’?YAI: Yes. SKKS has all the entertaining elements of a product for the general public. It’s called a romantic comedy, right? Of course, if you look deeper SKKS is not a simple romantic comedy; within it, the non-mainstream outsider Jaeshin has a particular uniqueness. I figured, ah, there is something here that I might be able to show.
As he spoke more and more, I became curious about the person named Um Hong Shik. He did not seem like the kind of person who would want to be dragged into the bright lights and become a celebrity.
Q. With what thoughts did you become an actor?YAI: Ah, I can become a celebrity. These kinds of thoughts?
Q. I feel like you wouldn’t have started so lightly/thoughtlessly.YAI: I entered an arts high school and considered going for auditions in 11th grade. I thought it would be good to be a celebrity. That was it. Hahaha.
Q. Why did you want to become a celebrity?YAI: I guess I had a lot to say, even back then. Hahaha. I think my urge to express myself is very large. I have a lot to show. Our generation is like that and I think I match our generation well.
Q. Do you think you’re doing a good job expressing [yourself]?YAI: Personally, I’m satisfied. To begin with, whatever the public sees is an edited version of myself, so I, too, should edit myself well. So that the things I want to show are not misunderstood, or even if they are misunderstood, that they can be corrected; so that confusing parts can be clarified; so that preconceptions can be turned around. I think I’ve done this while editing myself well so far. I would be happy if I could continue that in the future. And on the point of the person I want to show [to others], I would like it if [I could be] always confident, unembarrassed, and not countrified/unsophisticated. I would like it if I could use the person I am effectively.
> I would like the ending of ‘SKKS’ to be a frustrating one
Q: You once said, ‘I have never played a character I didn’t like. If I didn’t like it, I changed it.’ Did you change parts of Jaeshin as well?YAI: Many parts. Jaeshin was really cliché. His masculinity was just that of a beastly man. As [SKKS is] a romantic comedy, he had many lines that made you cringe. I talked to them about it before filming started, and even now I am constantly talking to them about it. I tried to remove a lot of the grease. It’s not enough to say I’m 100% satisfied, but I figure I am showing a bit of a different kind of beastly man.
Q. A different kind of beastly man?YAI: The typical beastly man is someone with a lot of muscles, but the beastly man I think of is someone who is free, someone without a typical mold. Not a beast locked up in a cage, but a razor sharp mountain beast–that’s the beastly man I wanted to show.
Amongst his fans, Yoo Ah In is a poet, an author. He consistently uploads his writings onto his mini-hompy and Twitter. I asked how ‘writer’ Yoo Ah In wants SKKS to end.
He groaned and laughed in succession with an “Aigo…” and “Hahaha” before offering an ending that was simultaneously both Yoo Ah In-like and Moon Jaeshin-like.
YAI: Well, on the romance side Seonjoon-ee and Yoonhee are going to get together. ‘SKKS’ shows [the 4 of us] growing up and maturing. I would like it if it had a frustrating ending. I would like it if teenagers and people in their 20s saw it and felt suffocated and heavy along with us. So that rather than showing a bright tomorrow, they can feel the futility of ‘We have no strength at all.’ So they can feel greater anger and feel more deeply that they don’t know what can or should be done. I would like that.
Q. If that’s the case, what kind of person do you think Jaeshin would be at 40?
YAI: I would like it if he made it to Lee Jungmoo (Left Minister)’s position. Though he was being shot with the Hongbyeokseo’s arrows back then, I think one could live as a better version of Lee Jungmoo today.
I had actually thought he would reply that Moon Jaeshin in his 40s would be similar to Jung Yak Yong (played by Ahn Nae Sang), a professor at Sungkyunkwan who orders his students to be awake [to the world around them]. I was surprised to hear he thought he would take a political position like the Left Minister.
YAI: Jaeshin is educating himself about politics beyond the lives of Sungkyunkwan scholars, so he should make it to Lee Jungmoo’s position. Of course, [it should be] in Jaeshin’s own way; in the way only Jaeshin can. Actor Yoo Ah In is the same. If I am still acting at age 40, I think I have to become the best. What I think of as the best is making [myself] not ‘like so-and-so’ but rather ‘like myself.’
Yoo Ah In has said that his 24-year-old self is close to whom he had hoped to be at this age when he was a teenager. Upon asking him what kind of person he wanted to be when he reached his 20s, he gave the ambiguous reply, “Rather than this hyung, wouldn’t it be nice to have that hyung–I think I have become that hyung.” And to the question of who he wants 40-year-old Yoo Ah In to be, he said, “An adult that I would have needed in my 20s; I want to become that kind of adult.” Again, ambiguous.
“I always have dreams and things I wish would happen, but in this reality, those kinds of things vanish completely and [we] become different people. A person I needed in my 20s, a person I would wish had been by my side; that’s the person I want to become. I suppose I am [even now] also becoming an adult, but I would like it if I could become a better person than today’s adults.”
October 21, 2010. O2 webzine/Dong-a Ilbo.
Written by Kim Ah Yeon (aykim@donga.com)
Translated by jaeshinah@soompi
[News] Yoo Ah In in High Demand For Commercial Model
Along with charisma brought by his role Moon Jae Shin in addictive drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Yoo Ah In receives many calls from companies who want him to be their CF (commercial film) model. His healthy body attracts many brands from cosmetics, clothes to drinks brand. He’s hot, indeed ! His role as cool and brave rebel student who usually hiding in his sanctuary, a big tree in Sungkyunkwan’s yard, melts many hearts.
Meanwhile, last October 6, Yoo Ah In celebrated his 24th birthday and his cast-mate Song Joong Ki who plays playboy Gu Yong Ha, his childhood friend in Sungkyunkwan Scandalshowered Yoo with some affection. Song brought a birthday cake to the filming set . So sweet. See below, the picture from filming set, Yoo Ah In and Song Joong Ki discussed their scene when Gu Yong Ha (plays by Song) reminds Moon Jae Shin (plays by Yoo) that the invitation for Red Messenger is a scheme to set him up.
September 2010 Elle Girl Photoshoot & Interview
In the studio, his tanned skin and mustache come into view. Though his 25-year-old masculinity is very well felt, his black eyes and long legs still seem to belong to a boy. The prepared clothes look shockingly good on him, and he is supremely skilled before the camera. Whenever there is even a short break, he searches for a cigarette to place in his mouth. If Yoo Ah In is a pro as a model, what will Yoo Ah In be like to interview? At the end of the interview, he said he thought he had rambled a lot. “There are times when my words are as organized as books on a bookshelf, and there are times like today when they are scattered all over the place. But to be honest, my condition is like that these days.” Though it isn’t possible to know the nature of his confusion, instead of passing on ‘good enough’ prepared answers, he made an effort to express in his own language the thoughts and images tangled up in his head. Has the acting he has shown us until now also come from such an intense place? This 25-year-old said, ‘I am always depressed,’ and ‘I want to stupidly bump into things, and experience, and awake to the truth.’ Can such an actor be said to be fulfilling the duties of youth! Although his casting in ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ divided fans of the original book, there are few actors who understand the loneliness of wandering student ‘Guh-roh’ better than he. It’s also possible that through Jaeshin, he will be able to overcome the confusion of his 20s and, as he put it, grow into a ‘beautiful and wise adult.’
Q. You have a role in one of the most anticipated dramas of the season. What attracted you to the part of ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’s Guh-ro Moon Jaeshin?
A. Starting from a few years ago, I began feeling frustrated while acting. All actors probably go through this. Frustration because there are things you want to show, but you can’t. There is a certain brightness that everyone is able to obtain at age 21 or 22, but I think I missed that. I think I’ve been able to portray the parts I missed [back then] through this drama. After I read the synopsis and the original book, I really wanted the part, and by showing how much I wanted it I was able to earn the part of Guh-roh.
Q. It’s still the beginning of filming [for the drama], but have you been able to become one with Guh-roh at this point? It’s quite a tough role.
A. When I act, I don’t ‘become one’ with the part as much as take something that’s already a part of me and ‘maximize’ it. At this point, I think [the part related to Guh-roh] has been maximized a lot. More than the external things, like his talking back or shouting, [I have maximized] the internal part, especially. The center I see in Guh-roh is ‘Expect nothing from no one.’ Whether in the system of the times, the older generations, or in people around him–expect nothing from no one. With thoughts like those, his portrayal comes out a bit rough.
Q. Your looks have changed a lot. Does it feel unfamiliar to you?
A. It’s unfamiliar. But I think others have a harder time accepting it than I do. When a few pictures from the press conference [before SKKS aired] were released, people said, “Why did Yoo Ah In become like that? How did he get so sloppy?” But I like comments like that. When my casting was first announced, people said, ‘The three of them (Micky Yoochun, Song Joong Ki, Yoo Ah In) are all similar. And now they say, “Why is he sticking out so much all by himself?” People’s reactions are amusing [because they change so often].
Q. Song Joong Ki is one year older, but the rest of you are the same age, all born in 1986. How is it working with actors your own age?
A. Actually, because we are all the same age there are some things that can’t help but be uncomfortable, but I am trying to open my heart and be as comfortable as possible. When I shot ‘Banolim,’ it was inevitable that we had to deal with the kind of envy, jealousy, and emotional fights that characterize teenagers. But [at SKKS] the actors are all well-aware of the point of the drama and are all focused on their acting. I like that.
Q. This is your trendiest project since debuting. It means you will become more known among the general public.
A. That’s right. Of course I decided [on SKKS] with those thoughts. I spent a few years in a place that was neither here nor there, you could say. I mean that my image as it appeared to others was like that, not that I myself felt like I was only doing things halfway. Because ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ is so highly anticipated, and the viewers will probably be teenagers or in the 20s, I thought the reaction might be more passionate. I want to make a big impact on people who have not had the opportunity to see me very much until now and become closer to them. But still, in the final decision, the most important thing is my sense of personal satisfaction.
Q. Your looks are those of a ‘young kkot-mi-nam’ but the roles you have chosen are almost always depressed or rebellious figures.
A. I liked roles like that in my early 20s. Don’t people that age naturally want to express things like, ‘I’m sad,’ ‘I’m depressed’?
Q. Because of that, your most normal role of Hyun Kyu in ‘The Man Who Can’t Marry’ actually felt newer/fresher. If you weren’t an actor, do you think you would be a normal man in your 20s like Hyun Kyu?
A. Even now, I live like Hyun Kyu on the surface. There are many people who misunderstand me, thinking, ‘He is somehow harsh,’ or ‘His personality isn’t easy [to know/to get close to],’ but I actually try hard to live a very relaxed and easygoing life. I don’t have complaints, I don’t have things I want to obtain, and I don’t act like I’m better than I am. However, if something builds up [for a long time], I explode. (Laughter)
Q. Because you didn’t choose the path of only chasing after popularity, it appears [from the outside] that you have strong convictions of the path you want to take as an actor.
A. Being an actor fits me well, and I think this is the work I should be doing. I don’t want to become a slave to this work, and I don’t want who I am to disappear because of it. If acting makes me unhappy, I don’t want to continue doing it just because I don’t know how to do anything else. That’s why when I select a role or come to a fork in the road, I always think. In the end, that’s what I sincerely want.
Q. Living as an actor, when do you feel the most happiness?
A. Actors know whether they have truly acted or whether they just faked it. Whether they passed along the script like a tape recorder, or whether they really acted through their own language. Whether they cried because they were truly sad, or only because they had to cry. When I think ‘I did it for real,’ I feel the most happiness.
Q. What period of your life until now would you choose as the most depressing and difficult?
A. Around when I was 23? I think that was the worst of my depression. Part of it was because of the environment around me, and part of it was because I became emotionally entangled in that atmosphere. I’m not saying, ‘I was this depressed when i was 23 and now I’m not depressed anymore.’ I’m as depressed as ever and as sad as ever, but because I deal with it differently now, I think I have become a bit more comfortable [with it].
Q. But you seemed happy at today’s photoshoot. Do you have severe emotional ups and downs by any chance?
A. No. I’m just always depressed. (Laughter) But like I said before, I don’t express all of that in my [day-to-day] life. I actually tend to show it less than other/normal people. I have never once said, ‘I’m having a hard time’ to my friends. I think of it as my own burden that I have to solve by myself, completely.
Q. But you can share [that kind of burden] with someone you love. What about when you date?
A. I don’t think I’m a very good person. So I tell the other person beforehand. “I’m not going to be a very good boyfriend; is that going to be okay.” Everything I don’t express to anyone, and don’t depend on them for, falls as a burden on my girlfriend. Because of that, there is always one reason or another that makes [the relationship] hard. I don’t have an ideal type drawn in my head; I simply like people who don’t live their lives by too many rules. Someone who can accept me and someone to whom I can freely express myself.
Q. You debuted at 19 and six years have already passed. Are you happy, living as an actor?
A. Acting is fun and makes me happy, but I’m not sure if living as an actor makes me happy. Still, I am making a great effort these days to be happy. In the past, I liked that I had a lot of thoughts. I thought I was special and that I was superior. (Laughter) Now, I am making an effort to find happiness, and to make myself happy.
Q. You are currently 25 years old, exactly in the midpoint of your 20s. What do you see when you look back toward your early 20s?
A. I feel regretful that it passed by so quickly. It is not easy to grow older in a beautiful, positive way. As I grow older and I learn more, I become more fearful. People say that becoming more cautious and avoiding things [you don't need] are part of ‘gaining wisdom,’ but I disagree. I think that true wisdom means that even after you have suffered, you get up and keep fighting; even if you are hurt, you are not afraid. My early 20s were a time of stupidly colliding into things, experiencing life, and awakening to truth. Now, even though things are starting to make a bit more sense, I don’t want to become like other people.
Q. Then how do you want to spend the last half of your 20s?
A. Stupidly!Credit to jaeshinah@soompi for translating. Interview taken from InK/dalbbit1004′s Naver blog. Vid uploaded by janjher@soompiBecause of a tech issue, Jaeshinah has to translate this article twice. So here is my extra gratitude to her:
In the studio, his tanned skin and mustache come into view. Though his 25-year-old masculinity is very well felt, his black eyes and long legs still seem to belong to a boy. The prepared clothes look shockingly good on him, and he is supremely skilled before the camera. Whenever there is even a short break, he searches for a cigarette to place in his mouth. If Yoo Ah In is a pro as a model, what will Yoo Ah In be like to interview? At the end of the interview, he said he thought he had rambled a lot. “There are times when my words are as organized as books on a bookshelf, and there are times like today when they are scattered all over the place. But to be honest, my condition is like that these days.” Though it isn’t possible to know the nature of his confusion, instead of passing on ‘good enough’ prepared answers, he made an effort to express in his own language the thoughts and images tangled up in his head. Has the acting he has shown us until now also come from such an intense place? This 25-year-old said, ‘I am always depressed,’ and ‘I want to stupidly bump into things, and experience, and awake to the truth.’ Can such an actor be said to be fulfilling the duties of youth! Although his casting in ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ divided fans of the original book, there are few actors who understand the loneliness of wandering student ‘Guh-roh’ better than he. It’s also possible that through Jaeshin, he will be able to overcome the confusion of his 20s and, as he put it, grow into a ‘beautiful and wise adult.’
Q. You have a role in one of the most anticipated dramas of the season. What attracted you to the part of ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’s Guh-ro Moon Jaeshin?
A. Starting from a few years ago, I began feeling frustrated while acting. All actors probably go through this. Frustration because there are things you want to show, but you can’t. There is a certain brightness that everyone is able to obtain at age 21 or 22, but I think I missed that. I think I’ve been able to portray the parts I missed [back then] through this drama. After I read the synopsis and the original book, I really wanted the part, and by showing how much I wanted it I was able to earn the part of Guh-roh.
Q. It’s still the beginning of filming [for the drama], but have you been able to become one with Guh-roh at this point? It’s quite a tough role.
A. When I act, I don’t ‘become one’ with the part as much as take something that’s already a part of me and ‘maximize’ it. At this point, I think [the part related to Guh-roh] has been maximized a lot. More than the external things, like his talking back or shouting, [I have maximized] the internal part, especially. The center I see in Guh-roh is ‘Expect nothing from no one.’ Whether in the system of the times, the older generations, or in people around him–expect nothing from no one. With thoughts like those, his portrayal comes out a bit rough.
Q. Your looks have changed a lot. Does it feel unfamiliar to you?
A. It’s unfamiliar. But I think others have a harder time accepting it than I do. When a few pictures from the press conference [before SKKS aired] were released, people said, “Why did Yoo Ah In become like that? How did he get so sloppy?” But I like comments like that. When my casting was first announced, people said, ‘The three of them (Micky Yoochun, Song Joong Ki, Yoo Ah In) are all similar. And now they say, “Why is he sticking out so much all by himself?” People’s reactions are amusing [because they change so often].
Q. Song Joong Ki is one year older, but the rest of you are the same age, all born in 1986. How is it working with actors your own age?
A. Actually, because we are all the same age there are some things that can’t help but be uncomfortable, but I am trying to open my heart and be as comfortable as possible. When I shot ‘Banolim,’ it was inevitable that we had to deal with the kind of envy, jealousy, and emotional fights that characterize teenagers. But [at SKKS] the actors are all well-aware of the point of the drama and are all focused on their acting. I like that.
Q. This is your trendiest project since debuting. It means you will become more known among the general public.
A. That’s right. Of course I decided [on SKKS] with those thoughts. I spent a few years in a place that was neither here nor there, you could say. I mean that my image as it appeared to others was like that, not that I myself felt like I was only doing things halfway. Because ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ is so highly anticipated, and the viewers will probably be teenagers or in the 20s, I thought the reaction might be more passionate. I want to make a big impact on people who have not had the opportunity to see me very much until now and become closer to them. But still, in the final decision, the most important thing is my sense of personal satisfaction.
Q. Your looks are those of a ‘young kkot-mi-nam’ but the roles you have chosen are almost always depressed or rebellious figures.
A. I liked roles like that in my early 20s. Don’t people that age naturally want to express things like, ‘I’m sad,’ ‘I’m depressed’?
Q. Because of that, your most normal role of Hyun Kyu in ‘The Man Who Can’t Marry’ actually felt newer/fresher. If you weren’t an actor, do you think you would be a normal man in your 20s like Hyun Kyu?
A. Even now, I live like Hyun Kyu on the surface. There are many people who misunderstand me, thinking, ‘He is somehow harsh,’ or ‘His personality isn’t easy [to know/to get close to],’ but I actually try hard to live a very relaxed and easygoing life. I don’t have complaints, I don’t have things I want to obtain, and I don’t act like I’m better than I am. However, if something builds up [for a long time], I explode. (Laughter)
Q. Because you didn’t choose the path of only chasing after popularity, it appears [from the outside] that you have strong convictions of the path you want to take as an actor.
A. Being an actor fits me well, and I think this is the work I should be doing. I don’t want to become a slave to this work, and I don’t want who I am to disappear because of it. If acting makes me unhappy, I don’t want to continue doing it just because I don’t know how to do anything else. That’s why when I select a role or come to a fork in the road, I always think. In the end, that’s what I sincerely want.
Q. Living as an actor, when do you feel the most happiness?
A. Actors know whether they have truly acted or whether they just faked it. Whether they passed along the script like a tape recorder, or whether they really acted through their own language. Whether they cried because they were truly sad, or only because they had to cry. When I think ‘I did it for real,’ I feel the most happiness.
Q. What period of your life until now would you choose as the most depressing and difficult?
A. Around when I was 23? I think that was the worst of my depression. Part of it was because of the environment around me, and part of it was because I became emotionally entangled in that atmosphere. I’m not saying, ‘I was this depressed when i was 23 and now I’m not depressed anymore.’ I’m as depressed as ever and as sad as ever, but because I deal with it differently now, I think I have become a bit more comfortable [with it].
Q. But you seemed happy at today’s photoshoot. Do you have severe emotional ups and downs by any chance?
A. No. I’m just always depressed. (Laughter) But like I said before, I don’t express all of that in my [day-to-day] life. I actually tend to show it less than other/normal people. I have never once said, ‘I’m having a hard time’ to my friends. I think of it as my own burden that I have to solve by myself, completely.
Q. But you can share [that kind of burden] with someone you love. What about when you date?
A. I don’t think I’m a very good person. So I tell the other person beforehand. “I’m not going to be a very good boyfriend; is that going to be okay.” Everything I don’t express to anyone, and don’t depend on them for, falls as a burden on my girlfriend. Because of that, there is always one reason or another that makes [the relationship] hard. I don’t have an ideal type drawn in my head; I simply like people who don’t live their lives by too many rules. Someone who can accept me and someone to whom I can freely express myself.
Q. You debuted at 19 and six years have already passed. Are you happy, living as an actor?
A. Acting is fun and makes me happy, but I’m not sure if living as an actor makes me happy. Still, I am making a great effort these days to be happy. In the past, I liked that I had a lot of thoughts. I thought I was special and that I was superior. (Laughter) Now, I am making an effort to find happiness, and to make myself happy.
Q. You are currently 25 years old, exactly in the midpoint of your 20s. What do you see when you look back toward your early 20s?
A. I feel regretful that it passed by so quickly. It is not easy to grow older in a beautiful, positive way. As I grow older and I learn more, I become more fearful. People say that becoming more cautious and avoiding things [you don't need] are part of ‘gaining wisdom,’ but I disagree. I think that true wisdom means that even after you have suffered, you get up and keep fighting; even if you are hurt, you are not afraid. My early 20s were a time of stupidly colliding into things, experiencing life, and awakening to truth. Now, even though things are starting to make a bit more sense, I don’t want to become like other people.
Q. Then how do you want to spend the last half of your 20s?
A. Stupidly!
Credit to jaeshinah@soompi for translating. Interview taken from InK/dalbbit1004′s Naver blog. Vid uploaded by janjher@soompi
Because of a tech issue, Jaeshinah has to translate this article twice. So here is my extra gratitude to her:
SKKS stars answer questions from Daum users
Thanks to summersky, who sent along the link to an “exclusive interview” Yoo Ah In, Song Joong Ki, Park Min Young, and Park Yoochun did with Daum users! As you can tell from the time stamps, the questions were actually asked way back in August 2010, before SKKS even aired–kudos to these fans who recognized months before I did what a gem this drama would be=)
<Yoo Ah In interview>
Q1. To actor Yoo Ah In! To be honest, you’re actually a good writer like Sungkyunkwan Scandal’s Moon Jaeshin, and I understand you have a fiery side to your personality as well…^^ .. please choose 3 similarities you see between Moon Jaeshin and the person Um Hong Sik!
A. If I were to compare myself to Jaeshin, the way we both express our pain? I think we’re similar in the way we fill up the empty spaces within ourselves. Of course, I’m not as rough(?) as Jaeshin, but I do feel that the eyes with which I see life are very similar to the eyes with which Jaeshin sees society.
Q2. Yoo Ah In oppa! Many people have been saying that your character this time around is a beastly man! But is your actual personality also that kind of beastly man style??
A. I don’t think I’m a rough and strong beastly man like Jaeshin. Personally, I tend to think that showing my pain and scars to other people makes me seem shallow, so I think I tend to hide my feelings inside more than Jaeshin does.
Q3. Ah In oppa, your skin seems especially dark…did you go tanning for the drama?
A. My skin isn’t very white to begin with, but I have to show a strong image for the drama so as I was preparing for the character I also went tanning.
I totally missed these last two questions the first time around -___-
Q4. Yoo Ah In-nim, was there anything you were nervous about as you tackled this role? Did anyone give you a hard time??
A. Nobody really made me nervous, but I worried a lot on my own. The first introduction to the character is as a ‘beastly man,’ so beyond acting skills, I was worried that if I didn’t have the kind of body(?) that people were anticipating, I’d disappoint them…I was extremely nervous about that kind of thing. Because to be honest, I’ve never done a project where I had to show my body even once. I exercised hard, and there were a few action scenes too, so I went to action school whenever I had the time. I’m also doing my very best to create beastly man Jaeshin internally, so [he won't be a character with] empty emotions.
Q5. Ah In-gun, you said you’re making an effort to make your body fit–what kind of exercise do you normally do?
A. I go to the health club, and I went to an action school for the action scenes in the beginning of the drama and exercised that way.
Source: DBSK/Tohoshinki Lovers Forum [includes questions answered by Joong-ki, Min Young and Yoochun]
Translated by jaeshinah
