Lee Hyun Jae's 10asia Interview
2012-03-16 06:15 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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omonatheydid
Good-looking face, talented musicianship and strong fist. To be honest, tvN's "Shut Up and Let's Go" is a drama that is more close to a fantasy of a boy than a story from a young woman's diary. Especially Jang Doyle, a talented drummer with a mysterious character whose dad is a gangster, suits perfectly with every young man's hidden fantasy. But the moment Lee Hyun-jae, who is unrealistically handsome, starts to act out Jang, the character becomes every girl's mcdreamy. During his interview with 10Asia, Lee, who concurrently holds the title of the band MATE drummer, commercial model and a rookie actor, he said, "I like being called drummer (laugh). What I do in my 20s will all be fruitful experiences in life. As long as I can keep my integrity and focus on doing music, I hope to try different things as much as possible." Only 25, Lee seemed to know how to communicate with people and he truly was the ideal man whom girls dream of.
How was your acting in "Shut Up and Let's Go" after making your debut as an actor in the film "Play"?
Lee Hyun-jae (Lee): "Shut Up" will be my second work I played in if you can call it acting (laugh). I didn't plan on becoming an actor from the beginning. I heard that the script writer of "Shut Up" watched the movie "Play" and wrote the plot after considering me in the drama. So I thought I could just be myself when first starting the series. Whereas "Play" was pretty much reenacting MATE's story, "Shut Up" was a real drama and I was under the title "actor." I needed some preparation before starting the drama such as acting lessons.
Did the acting lessons help?
Lee: I had a very short time to get the lessons but it did help. But I think I learned more on the set. When watching real actors (or veteran actors) doing their job, I get a lot of tips. And the cast members are all around my age so that really helped. We all became close like friends later.
You're the youngest in MATE but the relatively old in the drama. Do you feel like being in the new group changed your status?
Lee: Not really. Kids these days are......(sigh) (laugh). I get along with my co-workers like I'm the youngest. Actually, we don't care about our age and we are cool. L, for example, we usually shoot on different dates because he has a busy schedule, but we get along well and I spend most of the time with the other three actors. Even when there's no shooting schedule, we boys get together and grab a drink together.
I heard you "boys" don't make that much bloopers during the shooting. I think I can guess why.
Lee: Scenes where we have to hang around naturally like when I'm playing with my band members, can't have bloopers usually. Min-seok is particularly good at that and he really knows how to party while Sung-jun is good at taking care of other people on set.
One thing that surprises me when watching the drama is that you guys are getting natural in acting even though some are still rookies.
Lee: Maybe the viewers are getting used to us. Even my acting in the movie "Play" feels natural when you watch it over and over again. (laugh)
But still, with the absence of Lee Min-ki who was in the earlier episodes, I guess you guys had a lot of concerns.
Lee: We really worried a lot how we'll do without Lee. We all thanked Lee after we recorded the first two episodes recorded good numbers in viewership ratings. But we had to go with what we had and tried very hard to get closer to each other. Because we're close friends in the drama, we tried to talk a lot on the set and even during break times.
So what do you guys usually talk about?
Lee: It depends. When Min-seok imitates comedians from comedy programs, everyone else follows him. The actors' real personalities match with the characters inside "Shut Up." We have the same director from the movie "Play" and sometimes he points out my acting when I'm just being myself and not acting. We have a great atmosphere when shooting so I keep forgetting that I have to play Doyle. I hear from other actors that not every drama has a good atmosphere like ours. Sometimes when we're kidding around and joking, we get punished by our director to focus on work. (laugh)
You probably would feel like you are back in high school like the characters.
Lee: Yes, when we're together, we all become immature. There are times when we feel that something's funny but everyone else doesn't. We do fool around and make weird faces. Whew.
The more you guys make a great team, you would feel included in the group, right?
Lee: I really want to make a band with the boys from the drama. I'm serious! It's fun and the guys like music. Sung-jun is an actor but he does have profound knowledge of music, always asking me how to play drums, what beat a certain music has and what kind of music I listen to. He is good at playing guitar too and L also knows how to play an instrument. When we first started the series, the director asked me to give them musical advice and lead the team. But now that I look at it, I'm being led by the other members. We make a great ensemble too. I thought it was going to be awkward but their postures are great as well.
For real players, isn't it hard to act like you're playing an instrument?
Lee: How did you know that? Acting like you are playing an instrument is a bit different from actually playing one. You have to exaggerate more to look natural on screen. My job is a drummer so in comes out naturally but it does require some acting.
It seems like there are increasing number of scenes that capture your happy face when playing drums.
Lee: Well that was the only way for me to survive in the drama (laugh). At first, I tried to look stern because Doyle's character is a bit heavy and he barely smiles. But I thought Jang needs to laugh and smile more when he's hanging around with his friends. I think I tried to express more to show his brighter side later on. I study my character more deeply by talking about it with the director because I didn't receive all the scripts till the last episode. I'm learning more about Doyle with each episode.
Did you know about your love line beforehand? It seems like it just started.
Lee Hyun-jae (Lee): Ah, it's nothing. (laugh)
While Doyle is known for his poker face, having a love story in the drama would be a great chance to express your motions through your character Doyle.
Lee: I felt very comfortable acting with actress Kim Jung-min, who plays my love interest Bang Woo-kyung because she has been in this field longer than me. I also learned a lot from her because we rehearsed many times together. But I think overall, Doyle is hurt from Ji-hyuk treating Woo-kyung in a cold way. He's only hurt inside. He doesn't even take action to that and just be jealous of the whole situation.
It is more cool to watch someone from far like a prince. (laugh)
Lee: Well, he's not like a prince and he's just green-eyed. It is to win Woo-kyung's love! However, I don't see him doing anything different other than keeping his feelings hidden inside.
"Shut Up and Let's Go" is a drama that covers various aspects even with its love line. I thought it would only fulfill women's fantasies though it has elements that could appeal to men as well.
Lee: The director and the film director tried hard to avoid only appealing to females, like those loveydovey scenes in "Cool Guys, Hot Ramen." That is why the angles are a bit rough and there are a lot of scenes that are dark and have shadows. I think the details in it make us look more masculine but the sad part is that we can't say bad words. It would be more realistic to do so if it was a movie but it is a bit difficult to naturally show different emotions since it is a drama. I made several mistakes while shooting because I was so immersed in my emotions that I accidently said bad words.
There is a fair share of action sequences. Did you feel any burden because you had to learn different techniques for the action scenes?
Lee: No, I loved acting out the action scenes. I thought about shooting action sequences even when I didn't have any dreams of becoming an actor. Just like any other guy, I imitated the action sequences from Jet Li movies like "Once Upon A Time In China" when I was young. Also, I think all guys fantasize about them without knowing. And I can see that male actors, including me, try to get a good angle by looking strong and fit when shooting an action scene. Later on the shows, you can see that we're trying very hard to look cool. (laugh)
Are you more confident in kicking or punching?
Lee: Ah, I remember shooting a scene where I kick in the air with my legs. It took me ten takes in order to shoot it properly even while the other actors waited for me and the director complimented me. But they all laughed later, saying "where did Doyle's kicking scene go?," when we found out that scene was cut out from the episode. I really want to star in a real action movie with actual action sequences.
So does that mean you are also interested in the roles other than a drummer?
Lee: I had no interest in acting in the beginning but I learned how much it is fun by working in this series. I suddenly feel like I want to act well and I have to prepare and study a lot in order to continue with acting. However, I think that I will be concentrating on my music for a while after finishing the drama. I didn't know that acting in a drama would be so hard. I don't have any time to practice my drums. I feel that my hands have gotten stiff and restless. I should focus on something that I'm good at.
I read in an interview in which you said that you started to like drumming before liking "music."
Lee: I played piano and violin when I was young. I hated playing the violin and I remember that my neighbor caught me playing it with my feet. I learned how to play drums when I was in middle school and I've been playing it since. I bet my mom would have gone into shock had I told her I was going to major in drumming. (laugh) I feel percussion instruments have their unique ways of making people get excited. And the drums sound the coolest amongst them. I think I learned how to deeply appreciate music and its authenticity the moment I started to do jazz music.
So, I'm sure you weren't able to express yourself freely when playing with MATE, compared to doing jazz music.
Lee: Jun-il was a jazz pianist but it's inevitable for us to walk on the different path of music from jazz genre. But it's really fun putting on shows. Jazz is always about self satisfaction. It's about the connection and enjoying the session. And our feelings change depending our the audience's response and it hard to give up being part of it after getting a taste of that joy. That is why you can see the wild and crazy side of MATE at our concerts. It can get even more wild depending on the audience's response and feedback.
Basically, it's like feeling different kinds of satisfaction through different genres of music. Right?
Lee: Yes, I am greedy. (laugh) I miss rock when I'm playing jazz and when I'm performing rock I want to do jazz. I found a new joy in playing drums while recording a soundtrack to the movie "Sunny." I find myself wanting to do different kinds of performances. Other members of MATE have worked on their solo careers and I also plan to continue playing drums by using different methods in different teams. Being a member of MATE is like being home, it is a place where you go back to, after doing other projects.
I'm sure that there will be days where you will want to act when you are drumming.
Lee: I dont know. I do think about drumming when I'm acting. (laugh) I'm not too sure right now. Remember that you have to ask me the same question next time when I'm drumming.
Pics previously posted here.
Source: 10asia 1 & 2
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Date: 2012-03-16 02:46 pm (UTC)But who is this Doyle they keep referring to? :/
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Date: 2012-03-16 03:01 pm (UTC)COMMENCE FANGIRL SELF PROJECTION
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Date: 2012-03-16 03:37 pm (UTC)OOOOOO I MISS MATE ;; wish Heon-Il would just come back from army already ;;
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Date: 2012-03-16 04:09 pm (UTC)ahhh this interview was so interesting and all the mentions of the sufbb cast :'3
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Date: 2012-03-17 12:04 am (UTC)This man is flawless, beautiful, ethereal etc etc
I WEEP.
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Date: 2012-03-17 07:45 am (UTC)brb finding my panties
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Date: 2012-03-17 10:36 pm (UTC)