Actor Go Dae Hyun "I was depressed trying to let go a gay character I played"

[sarangeodi.livejournal.com]

If the recent controversy regarding KBS‘s new lesbian drama is any indicator, it’s not easy for actors to take on characters of the LGBT genre. Korean society isn’t as open or accepting of dramas with such themes, which is why the dramas will often times be dumped altogether before it even has a chance to hit airwaves.

Still, top stars like Jo In Sung, Joo Jin Mo, Kim Nam Gil, and Hwang Jung Min have fared better in their roles as gay characters, but at what costs? Rookie actor Go Dae Hyun recently sat down with E-Daily concerning his role as a gay character in the movie “I Envy You“. He discussed some of the psychological effects he’s had following the movie’s completion.

Go Dae Hyun was praised for his role in the film, which was entered in the Junju International Film Festival back in 2008. “In the movie, there was a kiss scene and a light bed scene. After I finished the film, it took me two months to let myself go from the character. I was depressed to the point of having to rely on alcohol.”

He continued, “It was psychologically hard to handle so I always chanted to myself to get myself in the right mindset. I knew that I didn’t love my co-star, but it also felt like I wasn’t not in love him either. I subconsciously tried to defend my feelings and just naturally drifted away from my co-stars.”

The real problem came after, in that he was now only being offered roles specifically in the gay genre. “People would come up to me and say that he liked the movie and offer me some roles. I was really happy, only to find out that the role was another gay character. I once even received a proposal from another male.”

Go continued, “Actors will often refuse to film half-way through filming and production companies will just dump the entire production itself because they’re afraid of public opinion. That’s why they’ll look for the same actors that followed through with their roles. In order to pursue a larger diversity of roles, I don’t want to take on such roles again.”

Concluding the interview, he said, “I want to try new things. I’m confident in playing the role of a cold looking, modern city man with a warm heart, or maybe even the role of an antagonist. I don’t hope of becoming a big star or landing a big role. I just want to become an actor that continues to improve with each new project.”

source: naver + allkpop

sounds like a tough life.

Comments

[loverboy.livejournal.com]

So he... fell into a depression because of his own homophobia? Am I reading that right?

I've noticed that actors can get away with ambiguously gay roles (Antique, King and the Clown), but I haven't seen many actors rise after doing an explicitly gay movie. Though Korea still makes some really good queer films.

[pladpuss.livejournal.com]

No he fell into a depression because people kept offering him the same kind of roles because they knew he would follow through playing a gay character

[threebits.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. I guess that's also one of the perils of getting too into the character you play sometimes, I mean to even resort to alcohol ._.

The article makes me remember the gay korean movies I watched (Frozen Flower, Just Friends, Boy Meets Boy)

[dalpaengi.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to understand his point of view but all I can do is shake my head. My knee jerk reaction was to side-eye.

[umetraehi.livejournal.com]

I want to believe its just an awk translation or he worded it badly

[epona.livejournal.com]

yeah homophobic.

[enchantark.livejournal.com]

it's not that. he was constantly offered more roles... GAY roles. He wants to be known more than just an actor with gay characters.

[alexander-kc.livejournal.com]

If you react this badly to playing a gay character in a movie you might need to sit down and figure out why. This isn't a normal reaction.

[aifurikuri.livejournal.com]

lol, your so right.

[carmendove.livejournal.com]

I always wondered how actors who played gay characters in Korean Ent were treated after their roles were over. But this sounds like more of an internal battle rather than a case of being ostracized.

I think he might be having a harder time moving away from the role because he was a newbie when he took it. It has sort of become the role that defines him as an actor rather than just another movie on his resume. For example, Song Chang-ui and Lee Sangwoo who played a gay couple in "Life Is Beautiful" have both had numerous heterosexual roles since the show. Especially Song Chang-ui who seems to be just as popular now as he was before LIB.

[suzieeq-luv.livejournal.com]

Paragraphs 3 and 4 don't seem right.
But I'm not here to pass judgement on some actor I have never seen before.
I hope he gets the chance to play more diverse characters. He seems to take his acting seriously and wants a chance to branch out.

[dorkiilove.livejournal.com]

oh, i thought the article was trying to say that he got depressed cause he was trying to figure out his sexuality because after filming that drama, it made him question it or something?

[jyusou.livejournal.com]

idk, but that's the vibe I got as well :0.

[jyusou.livejournal.com]

...I smell denial.

[jaenovation.livejournal.com]

I read it as him not being able to be comfortable with his own potential homosexuality, which is understandable for a man who spent his whole life thinking he's straight, in a country where homosexuality is frowned upon... But it's late and I should go to bed! ;D

[the-erotomanic.livejournal.com]

so he empathize too well with his character that he became his character? or maybe he is gay and the movie made him realize that. but now he doesn't want to face that reality? or i could just be reading too much into this.

The real problem came after, in that he was now only being offered roles specifically in the gay genre.

i guess as an actor, he doesn't really want to be typecasted. but a gay character can be ...a cold looking, modern city man with a warm heart, or maybe even the role of an antagonist. :o\

p.s. joo jin mo and jo in sung's kiss/sex scene in frozen flower was pretty intense.

[liederkreis.livejournal.com]

re: that gay men can be all those different types of characters too, yes! It's very frustrating that - pretty much everywhere - "gay" is where characterization ends for most characters. As a person, I'm a whole lot more than just my queerness, and it'd be nice if, idk, queer characters reflected that.

[orenji13.livejournal.com]

This man is in denial..

But anyway, it's also not fair that he keep getting the same offer. I understand his frustration on this.

[michiyo-mori.livejournal.com]

"I knew that I didn’t love my co-star, but it also felt like I wasn’t not in love him either. I subconsciously tried to defend my feelings and just naturally drifted away from my co-stars.”

This, to me, says that you might need to take a deeper look into your real feelings sweetie. And paired with the homophobic undertones of everything else, I'd say he's perhaps one of those people who can't handle their sexuality and cover it up to make themselves more secure by projecting themselves as being homophobic. Does anyone else see it?

[icedevil0289.livejournal.com]

mte

[steeele.livejournal.com]

(http://tinypic.com?ref=29erfgy)

[lazmy.livejournal.com]

(http://tinypic.com?ref=116o08j)

[czarny.livejournal.com]

Who is this cutie.

[itskimbitches.livejournal.com]

he honestly seems confused...too bad society isn't going to help him through it.

[redgreendress.livejournal.com]

I wish people would think twice before accusing someone of homophobia. The way I see it, playing a gay character made him go through sort of an identity crisis, which seems perfectly understandable. I've heard about this. Sometimes an actor gets so used to being in a character's skin that they have a hard time going off-character. The thing is, a person's sexuality isn't as fixed as some would have you believe. People who are either completely gay or completely straight are uncommon, most often you would have tendency to go one way or the other. If you are playing a character whose sexuality is different from yours, I can understand you getting a little freaked out at your own flexibility if you spent your whole life thinking you were either 100% gay or 100% straight.

[lenra.livejournal.com]

mte

[aifurikuri.livejournal.com]

Sounds like he unconsciously came out of the closet to himself due to his role in the movie. However, he couldn't/can't deal with it, got depressed, and wishes that they'd offer him roles not involving gay characters. He seems to be in a pickle.

[umetraehi.livejournal.com]

I read it as that or I don't know if it has a word attached to it but when people play as a couple for a movie or a tv show they begin to fall for each other but its not real its just from pretending to have feelings for each other. Did that make any sense haha

[lasthenia.livejournal.com]

yah it's rly hard to have ppl think something so horrible of you omg icky

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

Maybe he's trying to deny something he knows deep down inside. Or he's homophobic. Or both. IDK.

[padmik.livejournal.com]

What I'm getting from this is that he's seriously confused with his own sexuality. He got so into character that he may have had some type of kick in the head and was like 'oh shit, what is this feeling? That's not normal of me.' And I've actually come across people who've experienced that, straight and gay. He seems to be hiding with with homophobic statements though so I'm just going to label him as in denial.

Though also, i his situation, it kind of reminded me of Heath Ledger getting so caught up in his role with the Joker that he just snapped. It kind of gave me that vibe.

[ilu.livejournal.com]

I think he's trying to say that he felt like he got too "into" the role, and well... I haven't seen the movie, but considering the state of Korean homophobia, that can't be an easy role to play.

I'm guessing that since there was such a large gap between the character he was playing and who he considered to be "himself" (by which I mostly mean his identification as a heterosexual male), it triggered a lot of powerful emotions within him.
Sexuality can be and often is such a large part of a person's identity, and to have developed feelings for your co-worker, whether it be from "holy shit, this is not me, this is the character" or "holy shit, I might be experiencing homosexual feelings and I thought I was straight", seemed to have been pretty shocking for him.
It sounds like he had an identity crisis, essentially, and more than just a crisis of sexuality. Although, it definitely sounds like a crisis of sexuality is a big component to this... You don't necessarily have to be homophobic to be alarmed and confused about something as fundamental to your identity.

(p.s. I'm not defending homophobia, god no. I just think that there's more to what he's saying than "omg guys I'm not gay and playing a gay role drove me to depression because gays r gross!!")

[shintotchi.livejournal.com]

“It was psychologically hard to handle so I always chanted to myself to get myself in the right mindset. I knew that I didn’t love my co-star, but it also felt like I wasn’t not in love him either. I subconsciously tried to defend my feelings and just naturally drifted away from my co-stars.”

I wouldn't side-eye him for homophobia since he actually went through with the role. It seems that's rare enough, and for him to get into the mindset so deeply that he looked at the people around him through the eyes of his character...I really don't think homophobia is the issue.

It seems reasonable that a straight male who finds himself looking at another male with a slight attraction would be unnerved. He lives in a country where people get persecuted for the smallest things and homophobia is still rampant. That would be cause paranoia and depression.

On top of that, he doesn't want to be pigeon-holed into gay roles. As an actor he has a right to say that. It happens often where an actor is great and gets big off of one eccentric role, but then they get type-casted and either never move on from the role (Steve Urkel/Jaleel White, Marsha or most of the Brady Bunch) or they only get roles similar tot he character they got known for. If the goal is to get famous or be rich (which doesn't seem to be his goal)then there would be no problem. But if you enjoy acting and want diverse roles, then you need to look for other opportunities. And if he is only getting offers for gay roles, that would also contribute to his depression.

Due to homophobia and just plain distress he probably couldn't even talk to anyone about it. Just...I don't think it's necessary to get on this guy's case. He has a legit reason to be distressed without being called homophobic. It seems about as sensible as calling a high-schooler homophobic because they're freaking out and trying to figure out if they're gay, bi-sexual, or straight and confused.

Who knows? Maybe he's gay and this opened a door he wants to close again? That too would cause distress. It's just that, of ALL things, I don't think homophobia is the cause.

[loverboy.livejournal.com]

Playing a gay man for a movie doesn't give him super gay points or make him incapable of being homophobic.

Re: Take a read and wonder~

[loverboy.livejournal.com]

The minute someone denounces homosexuality in any kind of way, let's not jump the bandwagon, k?

Umm what do you mean by this.