On May 29,
I met actor Park Yoochun at a restaurant
in Seoul, Jongno-gu, Shinmun-ro, he arrived earlier than the scheduled time but
was instead waiting in the car. The reason was that, no matter what, to show up
before the scheduled time is discourteous. While the interview was carried out,
he maintained an earnest face, and clearly separated the times from when he had
to laugh and to be serious.
To create a
relaxed atmosphere, I joked that, “Just speak in the Joseon tone if you are
more comfortable”, he replied, “When leaving a comment in front of the camera,
the sageuk tone comes out subconsciously. He said, “Although I try hard to
remove the sageuk tone from my speech, it instead backfired” and “I’ll leave it
up to time (to solve it)”. Being stubborn yet earnest, it was similar to Lee
Gak in the SBS drama ‘Rooftop Prince’ that has recently ended its run. An
expression that was a little sullen and an attitude that tried to suppress the
smile when having eye contact was no different from the character in the drama.
Park Yoochun has
yet to break character. “This time round, this piece of work was well in tune
with me. Naturally immersing into (character) and acting as Lee Gak, it was to
the extent where there was no burden. This was the first time I acted while
being immersed into a character.”
The result of
being immersed is great success. In this drama, Park Yoochun perfectly
interpreted three characters, the Joseon crown prince Lee Gak, the Lee Gak whom
time travelled into modern day to solve the truth of crown princess’ murder,
and the reincarnation of Lee Gak, Taeyong. Not just the within the fandom, the
experts too were full of praises, and fellow actors find that “singer is more
awkward compared to as an actor”.
When asked about
the secret behind immersing, he said that it was because he felt that it was
‘interesting’. Although the answer seems brazen, but apart from it, there is no
other way to describe it. “The first time I received the script, I flipped it
to the first page, and read it all the way till episode 2, episode 3 without
stopping. It was really interesting. When it went into filming, due to the
thought that I can’t miss any scenes, I read the scripts countless times.”
In April,
the picture of Park Yoochun holding the script uploaded on an online community
is proof of it. In the picture captured by a fan, Park Yoochun’s script was
worn to the extent that one can tell just by one look of it, it was due to the
extensive flipping of the pages. Because he now feels the fun, he learnt to
naturally enjoy. This was something not experienced in MBC’s ‘Miss Ripley’.
“While filming
‘Miss Ripley’, I had the thought that I had to work harder and be better than
anyone else. Because of the burden, I couldn’t (act) freely. However, this time
while filming ‘Rooftop Prince’, because I liked the character, I didn’t have to
forcefully capture the emotions and tears would naturally flow out in sad
scenes.”
To say that in
‘Miss Ripley’, he was a ‘person who worked hard’, then in ‘Rooftop Prince’, he
was a ‘person who enjoyed’. Nearing the end of our interview which had
maintained a serious atmosphere throughout, I posed a question,
“Working with actor Han Jimin in the drama, I feel that you are compatible with
her as well in reality, what do you think?” Park Yochun said, “The one Lee Gak
loved is Park Ha (portrayed by Han Jimin), and not Han Jimin” and
concluded with a logical answer. He continued and requested, “Write well and
don’t let Jimin noona misunderstand”. He appeared so earnest that one can’t
help but laugh. That was exactly the kind of ‘comic element’ that Lee Gak
possessed.
Source Nate
Credit: Tranlated by maettugi
