LEE JOON GI'S
INTERVIEW
IN
KANKOKU
TV DRAMA
GUIDE
2021
VOL. 97
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THE INTERVIEW Source: https://allaboutjoongi.tumblr.com/ |
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C1 |
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A trustworthy actor. An actor
who continues to create characters that touch our hearts. That’s Lee Joon-gi,
and he has once again created another career-defining work. And that is Flower of Evil,
the story of a man who hides terrible past secrets and feigns his love for
his wife he’s been with for the past 14 years. This time, Lee Joon-gi plays the
son of a serial killer named Do Hyun-soo. Living the life of another
person named Baek Hee-seong, Hyun-soo does not understand what
emotions are because he grew up in an environment that traumatized him in the
past. |
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JG |
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When I first read the script, I
was very worried and even scared about how I was going to play this role to
make viewers understand and convince them. I thought that my vessel (*) was
still not big enough for me to portray a character with such a complex inner
world, and I couldn’t even imagine what the character looked like. No matter how much I thought
about it, no matter how many times I read the script, I couldn’t shake off the
pressure I felt because there have been so many psychopathic characters. If viewers thought, ‘It’s
just another psychopath character’, then we wouldn’t be able to get
viewers’ attention right from the get-go. I felt like we would end up failing
to get them focused even before we could convince them. (*The ‘vessel’ is Joon-gi’s
favorite metaphor that he’s often used to refer to his capacity or
competence.) |
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C2 |
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You might find yourself
attracted to the ‘psychopath’ aspect of the drama, but then it has suspense
and romance constantly colliding and then harmonizing before it eventually
evolves into a touching and beautiful love story. It is such a demanding role and
a tremendous challenge for Lee Joon-gi. But he says he became gradually
fascinated by this unique story world through his performance. He was
particularly attracted to how Hyun-soo’s relationship with his wife Ji-won
dramatically changed Hyun-soo’s life. Because, no matter what choice
or action Hyun-soo takes, the key to understanding it is how Hyun-soo
always thinks about Ji-won. |
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JG |
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To Hyun-soo, Ji-won is
‘light.’ And ‘hope.’ The family Hyun-soo has
built with Ji-won is the first ‘place to live’ (home) he has ever had
in life, and living in it, he has felt a sense of peace and warmth. (Due to his very unusual
upbringing and the unfair treatment he suffered at the hands of the townsfolk)
Hyun-soo suffered so much as a child, was deprived of love, and now lacks
human emotions. Ji-won is the
one who builds this place with Hyun-soo that fills him with those
human emotions. That’s why Ji-won is a very ‘precious person.’ To Hyun-soo, Ji-won
literally means life. |
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C3 |
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There is a scene where Hyun-soo’s
older sister, Hae-soo, tells him after seeing him trying to make his
wife in trouble happy: ‘To you, Ji-won is a very ‘precious person.’ To that, Hyun-soo says, ‘Yes.
She’s very important.’ Hae-soo says, ‘For
something important, after time passes you realize that was not such an
important thing. But after a ‘precious’ thing passes, it really hurts.’ Hearing Lee Joon-gi, too,
describe Ji-won as a ‘precious person’, we can guess that
Joon-gi also had the same thoughts as his own character did. |
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JG |
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Up until he realizes he can feel
emotions, Hyun-soo has lived with the thought, ‘I need Ji-won to
protect and secure the life I have now.’ So to him, Ji-won has
been the only hope. But once he realizes he can feel
emotions, Ji-won has become ‘light’ to him. That’s why he
thinks she is someone really precious to him. He is ready to throw it all
away, thinking, ‘There is nothing I can’t do to protect my wife and
daughter I love and can’t afford to lose.’ To Hyun-soo, Ji-won is
light, hope, and life. |
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C4 |
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To Hyun-soo, Ji-won is
like a savior. What lines in the drama does Lee
Joon-gi find most memorable? |
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JG |
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Ji-won has
always pushed that ‘switch’ to get Hyun-soo’s emotions on and
functioning. She has embraced his pain and suffering, and struggles to
protect me even when she is forced to stand face to face with the cruel truth
and accept it. The lines I found most memorable
are from one of the past scenes where the two are together. Hyun-soo
never knew what emotions are like, always avoided and hid away from people. Then, Ji-won was the
first person who showed any interest in Hyun-soo, and expressed
affection for him. Hyun-soo felt
awkward because he had no idea what kind of feeling that was, but there is
this scene where he feels what Ji-won feels for the first time: the
scene where Ji-won says, ‘I will love you more. I will be really
good to you’, and then kisses him. (From Episode 5; it also appears as a
flashback at the beginning of Episode 1.) Up until that moment, Hyun-soo
has always been haunted by the illusion of his dead father, but right then,
the father’s illusion disappears, and the things that have haunted Hyun-soo
like some kind of obsession also fade away. ‘How come I am feeling so
peaceful now?’ ‘What kind of person is she? ‘How come she sees me just the
way I am, without any pretense, without any barrier?’ Those lines were what prompted
him to feel this infinite love, a love that asks for nothing in return. |
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C5 |
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Newfound acting style that felt
rewarding This drama even made Lee Joon-gi
change his perspective on acting. |
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JG |
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Up until now, I tended to
monitor my work thoroughly. I was the type of actor who would check back my
work every time I heard ‘Cut’. However, this time, I abandoned
my old methods. Because, if I let my thoughts, eagerness, or overthinking get
in the way, it would ruin the balance of the whole drama. I realized that when I tried to
make things up, it felt too forced and a little too stiff. That’s why, for
this role, I wanted to make it feel rather plain and dry, consciously giving
a performance that was much more emotionally restrained, all the while
following the reactions my co-stars gave me. Because, in the end, people like
Hyun-soo can be very different depending on the person he interacts
with. |
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C6 |
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Of course, he says, at first, he
was curious what his performance looked like during the shoot. |
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JG |
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Anyway, I trusted my director
and (people I worked with) on set. Fortunately, things went well
and I got OK. When I forgot my lines or got my
lines wrong, I suggested that we do it over. But other than that, I left it
all up to the director’s judgment. Instead, when doing the rehearsals, I
talked everything through with the director, and he would take a look at my
performance like I was in an audition. So that was how we put the
scenes together, and as a result, we were able to get the scenes just the way
the director expected them to be, and some even surpassed our expectations. Instead of remaining fixated on
my own performance, I tried to look at the big picture and immerse myself
into the life of this person, Hyun-soo. Personally, I think it wasn’t
such a bad choice. |
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C7 |
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He says, along with this change
of acting style came unexpected discoveries, too. |
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JG |
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This time, I was able to watch
it on TV from viewers’ point of view, and it was so great. I didn’t do any monitoring so I
had no idea how the actual drama would come out. I couldn’t remember well how
the filming went, either, so I was laughing and crying just like any other
viewer, saying things like, ‘Wow, the director did such an awesome job.’
I was so eagerly looking forward
to each episode; I really became one of the drama’s fans. I even cried
watching the final episode. (laughs) |
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C8 |
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Lee Joon-gi says he will
probably stick to this new acting style for the time being. |
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JG |
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Up until now, I have had this
obsession: a lead actor should not be just acting but needs to look at the
big picture from a director’s standpoint. There were some who agreed with
this attitude, but this seonbae (senior) actor, who dotes on me, once
said, ‘Joon-gi, right now you are too ‘open.’ You need to close up a
bit.’ Come to think of it, I think the
seonbae thought I looked awkward. This time, however, I took my
chances and ‘let go.’ When I did, I became convinced that this
approach worked. So, this was how I found a ‘new
me’. I guess the right way to put this is: ‘I should let go a bit and
put aside my eagerness.’ |
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C9 |
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This drama also asks what it
means to live an authentic life. How does Lee Joon-gi want to
live his life from now on? |
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JG |
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For me, living the lives of
other people is my job. As long as I do it for a job, it’s a happy thing. But what if I were in such bad
situations as the ones Hyun-soo has been in, forced to hide myself
away? Would I be able to ‘reset’ my life as Hyun-soo does, and
acclimatize myself to that new life? I think that kind of life would
be extremely hard. Of course, humans are adaptive animals, so I guess I could
adjust myself to that new life. However, it is not easy to leave your
‘place,’ where your roots essentially lie, and live a new life, and I don’t
think it would be a happy life, either. Eventually, I would end up
coming back to find my roots. I do not wish to live that kind of life. I want to treat my life with
honesty as ‘Lee Joon-gi’ just the way I am. |
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C = Comment JG = Lee Joon Gi |
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