10asia's Lee Min-ki Interview (and Photoshoot)

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

10: We heard that your schedule had been packed with interviews but this will be the last. Aren't you tired?
Lee Min-ki: My agency always tells me it's the last one. But it was supposed to be the last one two days ago. (laugh) I hadn't been that tired but I do feel a bit weird today. I was home the whole day yesterday and I was too lazy to go out so I ate all these health foodstuff like Chitosan and Omega 3 capsules which I think is the problem. I was wondering whether I should eat ramen but I felt too lazy having to do the dishes afterwards. (laugh)



10: Shouldn't you eat and rest better during the moments you can?
Lee: I actually had a harder time yesterday. I practiced playing the keyboard for about three and a half hours but my fingers hurt because I hadn't done it in a while, so I then started reading but that was tiring too. Before, reading used to be a very peaceful time. But my breaks are always like that these days. When I'm taking time off, say for about three days, I actually have nothing to do so I end up just drinking which ends up making me even more tired. And it gets boring when I have time on my hands. I think I'm actually better off being busy working. Then I'll eat all three meals a day while staying up all night shooting or at least get three or four hours of really good sleep. I think it's healthier for me.

10: It's quite surprising because you seemed like the type who would know how to enjoy himself while resting.
Lee: I used to be able to but I think I changed starting this year. Two years ago, I was casted for a film so I had been preparing for it for about three months, when the whole movie got cancelled and I ended up taking a break. But back then, I was enjoying myself and didn't feel any emptiness. Now that I think about it, I think I wasn't bored because I had something to do. During summer vacations when I was younger, I used to wake up at noon and just sit listening to the kids playing outside until it got dark, but I can't do it for the life of me anymore.

10: Why is that, do you think? Is it because there is a certain level of popularity you have to maintain or simply because a lot of time has passed since then?
Lee: I think it's proportionate to the time that has passed. I didn't care about time passing in my teens. I rather wanted time to pass quickly so I would reach the age where I'd be allowed to drink legally. (laugh) When you're in school, the time you spend there isn't your own time, but right now, I'm doing something that is my own. So as more time passes, I think I want to keep doing something that will leave a mark.

10: You really did work very hard this year -- on films "Haeundeae" "A Million" and your album. To an extent that it seemed you were overdoing it.
Lee: I don't feel like I'm having a hard time when I'm working but rather have a harder time when I'm not. It doesn't matter when I'm in a shoot or working on an album, but the time after that... For example, if I spend a whole week doing interviews, I'm okay during that time because I meet different people and talk about different things. But when I look back on it, I feel a bit worn out because that time flew by and all I did was talk about myself which leaves me with nothing.



10: Is that what you meant about wanting to leave a mark?
Lee: That's right. But interviews afterwards help me think a lot. I'll be asked questions which will help me think about things I hadn't thought of. I think it's a time which helps me organize my thoughts so in that sense, I think it's a time that I do need.

10: So you don't really have much fun outside the time you work. Does that mean you enjoy working?
Lee: Rather than calling it fun, I think it's... I'm completely into it. I do worry a lot my acting but that's just how much I'm into it. Basically, I'm in a crazy state. And then when I have to leave behind something that thing I'm crazy about, I feel empty and as if I should keep pouring out something.

10: I think you have sort of an uneasiness.
Lee: I am able to act right now but I can't live my whole life thinking that it's a talent heaven bestowed upon me. And it's not like I'm smart. I feel like I don't have any talent when I'm not doing anything. Is this what uneasiness is?

10: Earlier this year you said, "There is nothing I can do if I give up on acting". Do you still feel uncertain about the job of being an actor?
Lee: I've come to think in more depth about being an actor since doing that interview but I'm still not sure what I should do. That self-awareness of being an actor is not something I create for myself but something that people make of me. For now, I want to take this on as more of a challenge. The interesting thing is that I've done a couple of films up till now, and I've managed somehow. I've somehow managed to get here in somewhat passing colors but I'm always doubting myself when I take on new roles.

10: It was past passable -- the character Hyung-shik that you played in film "Haeundae" which attracted over 10 million viewers was the most talked about.
Lee: I did hear about that too. That some people only took notice of me in the film... stuff like that. But I know my share of contribution. My acting didn't improve suddenly, I just put in as much effort as I usually do, worried like I always do, had as much fun as I possibly could -- it's just that the film itself was great. Of course, I do think my acting worked well with the film overall but that's because the director did a good job. I'm being praised for more than I did.

10: Are you trying to be modest?
Lee: Because there were times that I thought I did pretty well but people said I didn't, so my acting became undervalued. And I liked film "Oishi Man" but not too many people watched it which I felt was also a shame. You will get overvalued and undervalued but you can't get swayed by it.



10: But you must also think that this time, you found a role that suits you.
Lee: Of course my acting will seem more natural if my character talks, moves and laughs like I do. I do still believe that I need time to live my life like the character to become closer to the guy in the script. But the character in "Haeundae" was a very normal guy. In other words, it was easier for me to express him because I my life had been very much like his for the past 26 years.

10: Then do you think Hyung-shik and you are alike?
Lee: I think the director did a good job of making us alike. I wanted to make him seem like a man from Busan in the beginning. The typical guy from the Gyeongsang Province who is blunt and also expresses his embarrassment using very crude expressions. But the director wanted me to act as if I were a boy from Busan. Someone who is very cheerful yet shy. So we talked about it a lot in the beginning and he'd tell me if I was making the character seem too much of a man. That's how we created Hyung-shik's character. So there's nothing that I did well in particular.

10: But I think it worked because you were the one who played it. For example, when you played Chul-hee in "A Million", who suddenly turns into someone very dangerous, the emotions you displayed seemed a bit incoherent.
Lee: When I hear comments like that, I wonder if I have to act in the typical way people take evil people to be. From the beginning, I actually didn't think Chul-hee was a bad person. He's not tough nor rough. He can't be called evil because of a choice he makes in order to live at the very last and most desperate moment after being chased for days and not being able to sleep. In other words, I didn't think of him as someone with character but actually the most humane person. The problem is convincing the viewers that and if the emotions seemed incoherent, then I didn't do enough of it. During another interview, I once said I would become an actor with ups and downs. I can't be good every time. This work isn't about me alone doing a good job or everything else failing because I do bad.

10: Having ups and downs -- it's part of the process of figuring out which films suit you.
Lee: There most definitely are roles that suit you better. I don't think one person alone can be good at ten roles. But I don't know what I'm good at yet and I think I'd hate finding out.

10: Why would you hate it?
Lee: I believe in the power of time. I know people who seem evil just at a glance would be good at playing evil roles but I don't think I'd do a bad job if I was given enough time. That's why I want to try a variety of roles.



10: It means you will open up all possibilities for new challenges.
Lee: Everything has always been a challenge for me. Some people tell me I always take on similar roles but they haven't been for me. I think taking on similar roles is the tougher challenge. It doesn't matter hearing from other people that I seem the same but I don't want myself to see my acting and think that I played a similar role. For example, when I act a scene where I'm supposed to be confused and realize that I had done the same confused acting before, I'll think to myself, 'I guess I always express this emotion naturally with these type of characters', and then start worrying more.

10: In that sense, your first album "No kidding" was another one of your challenges.
Lee: I made the album because I somehow had the opportunity and the time to. And I really wanted to too.

10: It was your first album. Do you have plans to continue your activities as a musician and release more albums?
Lee: I do. But I'm not in a rush to. I think I can only get better results with both movies and music as I learn to understand more about them.

10: Then I think you would be able to try going for other genres as well. I heard you like the music of bands like Coldplay too.
Lee: I do but I don't know if I'd be good at it. I don't know how much appeal I would have singing such songs. If I was working alone, I would try writing a song myself, record it and then go with something else if it didn't seem to work, but I think I should be more considerate in the fact that there are others I work with. That's even more so why I'm not in a rush. It'll be good trying this and that. (laugh)

10: It all suits you -- taking on challenges in your 20s. But I can't picture you in your 30s and 40s.
Lee: I can't picture it either. (laugh) But I do have this thought -- that I have to get something done now to have fun with it in my 30s. I should read a lot of books now to at least be able to write one book when I'm in my 30s. So I have to work even harder right now.

Source: asiae.co.kr - 1, 2

LOL He's a total workaholic.

Comments

[misuslovett.livejournal.com]

GAH I LOVE THIS GUY ♥

[http://users.livejournal.com/zeroseven_/]

wow.

this is one of the first interviews that i actually felt was an interview. kay that didn't make much sense, but just, the questions asked & the answers given. question after question, answer after answer i felt like i was actually gleaning something from minki, instead of the standard, "oh yeah acting the role was difficult but i had a lot of help from the director", "oh yeah i love acting & i will continue to work hard".

10asia is shaping up to be one of my favorites.

[freakymysty.livejournal.com]

This interview was awesome. This is exactly the kind of in-depth interviewing I wish was more prevalent in kpop rather than the same boring soundbites. Plus it's Lee Min-ki, yay ^^. I need to find Haeundae subbed so I can watch it.

[gunsandsmoke.livejournal.com]

unf this man

and god knows i hate coldplay but i would listen the crap out of a lee minki-fronted korean coldplay (i'd still probably half-hate it for musical credibility and half-listen to it for soothing falling-asleep-music loll)

[otakbolong.livejournal.com]

He's so deep and interesting. I love reading all his thoughts about this and that