Style scanned and posted the Cover Story of mini PREMIERRE 2005.8.19-9.1 No. 31.
Translated by Gaulsan in BYJ Quilt
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BYJ & SYJ, smiles in the middle of the heavy rain.

I rent a studio with a well lighted window, planning the concept of today’s work as ‘beautiful adultery’. But Alas! Oh my god! It was raining cats and dogs from the morning.

(As I wrote in the article,) To make matters worse, BYJ appeared with a gloomy face, just like the weather, and SYJ, who came a little late, was not in good mood either. But in conclusion, these two celebrities started to laugh aloud from the beginning of the interview. (BYJ, who is known to prefer chatting with tea to noisy parties, seemed to feel better when the surrounding quieted down.) Thanks to this, there are lots of words on this cover story.

"" I was not born as an actor ""

BYJ attempted his ‘outing’ from his own working style through ‘April Snow’, the work with director HJH. It was a tough path that he bore with sometimes up to 80 cigarettes a day. How have BYJ changed and what was left to him after this venture?


[[ Oh, it’s my turn. When I received the baton from the photo-director, frankly speaking, I couldn’t think anything. Actors are a very sensitive species, and their emotions are not predictable like an unusual change in the weather. Moreover, the fact that BYJ didn’t make his sparkling smile even once from his arrival to the studio to the end of shooting made me nervous. Not knowing the dramatic reversal, I was sweating while approaching him step by step, tried to say hello to him with all my courage.

On the face of BYJ looking back towards me, oh my god, there was the smile! What kind of situation is this? Did I do something good? It was still raining outside, but it seemed shining inside the studio.

BYJ, he is on his absolute popularity by Japanese fans. But even he, the one who seems to hold the whole world, agonized at the shooting sight of April Snow. What on earth made him do so? ]]


Yon-sama, Broken into Pieces.
You smoke a lot. People say that you smoked a lot also at the shooting sight.

I quit smoking for quite a while, and usually, I don’t smoke much when I start shooting, but I smoked quite a lot this time. It was very tough. (What was so tough?) The situation that the character was put into was very difficult, and the feeling needed was very hard for me to understand, and it was different from my own opinion. I was confused personally.

You mean you couldn’t understand Insoo and Seoyong?

No, I couldn’t. I agonized a lot because of that. To be realistic, can a person who encountered one’s spouse’s traffic accident and unveiled relationship; who are suffering from betrayal and embarrassment; and who finally finds someone in the same situation that one can talk with, and sympathize…. Can they fall in love?

You mean they shouldn’t have gone beyond the ‘good feeling’?

I thought so. If my wife had a extramarital affair, I will feel very painful, won’t I?

Pain, sadness, anger…. And I will feel like attempting suicide. (Not attempting homicide instead?) Can you be fond of anyone in such situation? Moreover, she is the wife of the man. I felt like this when shooting. Maybe this woman was the ideal type of woman for Insoo. (Chuckle) I think love was something like ‘trust’ to Insoo.

So Insoo must have suffered the pain from betrayal of ‘trust’, rather than from betrayal of ‘love’.

Other than Insoo’s emotion, what was difficult?

As you know, the director’s style is unique. (laugh) I used to prepare a lot before shooting. I evaluate and think a lot. (thinks for a while) I always think of this. There are actors born as an actor, and actors not born as an actor. There are people born to match a certain field, but I don’t think I am born as an actor.

You mean you don’t think you are talented as an actor?

I really mean it. If I don’t prepare a lot, I can’t do anything at the spot. Maybe I don’t have confidence. Lacking confidence can mean I am not trained systematically. I was not trained as an actor and not stepped up from the base. I made my debut all of a sudden, and learned later. Maybe that’s why I keep thinking I’m not prepared.

Are you stressed by your style that you can’t do anything without preparation?

Because of my working style, sometimes I feel dissatisfaction. Why can’t I help performing like this? I tried to overcome my style, and sometimes I thought I did, but when I started this work, it all turned out to be a fake. What I thought was wrong… And director HJH pointed it out without mercy! (chuckle) I think I smoked the amount I used to smoke for 1 or 2 years. I smoked up to 4 packs.

Q: They say that the plot changed a lot at the shooting sight.

A: Later on, I didn’t even bring the scenario. The lines changed at the sight according to the emotion of the moment, discussion with the director, and accordingly, the lines following that also changed. Sometimes, the director didn’t give any direction at all. It was a scene standing with Seoyong awkwardly. Director just ordered us to do it. ‘Do what?’ I thought. It was even difficult to stand there. Then, director said,
“Cut! OK!”. I asked, “What’s OK?” He replied, “You were awkward, weren’t you?”

Q: Didn’t you have information about HJH’s style?

A: Yes, I had. I heard that he changes all the words on the shooting sight, and takes dozens of shootings. I thought that taking a scene dozens of times wasn’t a matter, because I also don’t give up until I am satisfied. But, he changes everything at the shooting sight? Then I can’t prepare anything. It could be dangerous, but I wanted to try. In fact, I chose this work because of director HJH’s style. I thought this was a path that I needed to go through as an actor.

Q: You must have had difficulty working with him in the beginning.

A: He is a good person. You get crazy when you start working him, though. When it comes near 30 takes, I felt I couldn’t stand any more. (chuckles) It’s not 30 takes to catch a certain emotion. Its 30 times changing words, emotions, and motion each time. I once slept on a bench instead of going for a meal. I couldn’t even open my eyes. I became so nervous that my sight blurred up.

Q: I saw the making film. The dialogue between Seoyong and you has changed.

A: We did that scene without preparation. Seoyong talked more than I did, but it was not settled that way. (You mean you didn’t know what SYJ would speak?) No, I didn’t know. This woman suddenly almost bursts into tears. I get surprised. In this situation, man would listen to what a woman says. Later I watched the film, and I thought, oh, this kind of emotion can be expressed… oh, one can react like this….. Haha… the reaction was quite strange.

Q: Is there a scene that was signed OK at once?

A: Yes, only once. It was the scene that I woke up in someone else’s room. And the scene that I drank with my junior was signed OK in the second attempt. I drank with director that time. It was also a change for me. My face and eyes get flushed when I drink alcohol. I don’t drink when I work because of that. But we drank and discussed how to perform, and did it, which was successful.

Q: Did you change the style of your routine through this work?

A: I like taking pictures, and Cartier Bresson is one of my favorite artist. He doesn’t take pictures of objects artificially produced. He takes natural vivid expressions coming out from the unconsciousness. I think HJH is similar to him. Even thought the course was very tough, I learned one more. I can’t wait till I start another work.

Q: I’ve thought that April Snow was an easy choice, thinking that the image was similar to your previous works, but it wasn’t at all. It makes me already expect for your third work.

A: I decided my next work, and I am curious if I could try what I’ve felt, though it is a drama.When I choose works, I choose one that is somewhat not of my style. I do so because I want to break the prejudice, and I like the feeling of achievement that I gain with my hard work. “Scandal” was an example, and my photo album was the same. People advised me to take pictures just as I was, but I couldn’t. So I went through an out-of-sense-training for 3-4 months to shape up myself.

Q: Scandal was quite a pleasure, as you took off your glasses.

A: Not because I took off my clothes? (Laugh)

Q: What about the style of director Hong Sang Soo? Don’t you want to work with him?

A: I would like to try what I’ve learned, first. Haha, or maybe I’ll work with director Hur once more. (chuckle)


Up to the high ground!

Q: What did you feel when you had to shoot while your fans watching?

A: Actually, actors feel hard to concentrate if there are non-staff people at the shooting sight, but I became used to the situation. (chuckle) Once, there was a moment I felt difficulty performing. I also had conflict with the director. So I decided to take some breath outside. I was really about to collapse then. It was about 2 AM when I went out, and my
fans were there applauding towards me. I bowed to them, came back to the shooting sight, and I could integrate myself. Aja! I should try some more. I felt … somewhat … the weight of life.

Q: You can’t even squat and have a smoke.

A: If I did…. But my family is different and unique. They think me as real family. I feel more responsibility because of that.

Q: Does the existence of your fan affect your choice on your work? April Snow seems to be one of the kind your fans would like.

A: How can I afford to think to that extent? No, I can’t. I just think what I should do right now, for the time being.

Q: When Scandal was released, you said that you chose movie because you want to be an actor rather than a star. Are those words still effective?

A: That’s why I’m here. (smile)

Q: Do you think your performance improved after April Snow?

A: I’ve learned a lot, but I can’t say. I think it is to be shown through my performance from now on.

[[ When Scandal was released, BYJ surprised the Choongmooro(Korean Holliwood) with his unexpected quality of performance. But due to the Hanryoo boom, it seemed that actor BYJ has disappeared and only Hanryoo star BYJ was left. April Snow seems one of that kind, and the drama The Great King seems to be its successor. It seems so if you see from the outside. But During the interview, I could come to a conclusion that BYJ didn’t forget his title as an actor. We would see in a short while how HJH has changed BYJ, and how much BYJ have grown.

At least there was one thing clear. He was not a big star full of conceit, and he was intensely monitoring his performance. I became more curious of April Snow by now. ]]

<< Bonus : This is an interview of BYJ in the same article. But I couldn’t find this part in the picture posted. I will just add it here. – gaulsan- >>

Q: People say that it is lonely up there at the peak.

A: Yes, I am lonely, very lonely. (When you feel lonely the most?) Always. I tell myself that if I get something, it is fair to loose something, and if there is an uphill, there will be a downhill. I think I am used to this by now. Previously, it was hard for me to bear, but now I try to find happiness of the moment. Thinking so, I realized that loneliness is also a feeling of a moment.


Q: What about today? Do you feel depressed when it rains?

A: Yes, I was depressed a lot as it rained this morning. So I drove here by myself. Somehow I wanted to be alone today…. But I feel good right now, as I can talk about my life and my feeling, instead of other’s interest. I think it relieves me. Talking to someone about myself.

Q: Do you really think that you are not born as an actor?

A: I can tell that I can do my best. Frankly, I do my very best. Someone would say I could even die by working so hard, but I never thought such things like ‘maybe my performance is nice’. This work has given many meaning to me. Everything has collapsed. I have thought that there were proper answers to everything. I always sought for the approximate answer, and I thought that my standpoint was quite objective. But all of these thoughts have disappeared. There are no ‘right’ answers.
Everything can exist in various forms, and can be seen different from different points of views.

As I was working in a style that I never worked before, and abandoned
my personal character, there were moments asking myself ‘Am I supposed to do this?, What am I doing here?’. Sometimes I my self-identity was in danger. (Meanwhile, YJ worries about his fans.) In fact, doing one’s best is not all that matters.


Q: I recalled the fact that when Lee Mi Sook worked with you at Scandal, she said that you could die of your hard work.

A: I think I could do to that extent because I don’t have much.

Q: Don’t you have much?

A: I wasn’t born with much talent. It’s quite strange. When I work, I talk to myself it will become better next time. Unlike my will, the work seems to become harder and harder. I always feel like a beginner. Doing one’s best is not all that counts, one should do things well. I try my best to do well.

Q: You are heading towards the better way, aren’t you?

A: I think I should be satisfied with fulfilling little by little. I learn something through this movie, and so on…. I hope that this would do.


Q: You are saying so, because you have an ample of scope by now, aren’t you? ( ^^)

A: Yes, I think so. ( ^^ ) If there is no pleasure of filling the missing part, I don’t think I would deliberately work. I think it’s like golf. At the field, you don’t know where the ball will drop. If you get self-conceited, the result comes right away. Any best player can make mistakes at any moment. I think that’s the merit of these two fields.

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The interview of SYJ About BYJ…

Q: Didn’t you mind the fans of BYJ were surrounding the shooting site?

A: Even my fans would have come to the shooting site, I couldn’t take care of them. So I felt free that there weren’t my fans there. I think BYJ must have been stressed a lot, as everybody was watching him. No one can always smile or be in good mood.

Q: What did you think after working with the actor BYJ?

A: He really has a strong will. I use to feel embarrassed if my performance doesn’t improve with several takings. Sometimes, I ask the director, “What if we go with the previous one?”. But BYJ never gives up, even to the thirty takes.

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