These days it is not so unusual for actors to also showcase their hidden singing talents and even come out with digital albums. But it is a totally different story when it comes to one person doing not only acting but also writing, drawing, composing, singing and making a movie. Even if she caused the “accident”, it is an enormous “accident”.
GHS making hallyu star status through Geum Jandi role in BOF. Yet she left the easy royal road all behind to start something new and different.
her astounding resume and how her short and long film received recognitions.
She did so much last two years. She could easily be part of the MBC hit variety program, INFINITE CHALLENGE. But, did she start such a difficult road?
It was the night of Jan. 31st. Darkness was heavly laden that night. I met GHS with so many questions. My first impression of her is, not the star of INFINITE CHALLENGE, but of a young girl who challenged/stimulated the very foundation of comfort zone/instinct for protection.
Stage Fright, shaking it off through acting.
Q:How did you end up focusing so much on projects other than acting?
G: While acting, I wanted to reveal things that I had hidden inside me one at a time. From the start, I never thought of becoming an actress. Since young, I loved drawing. My friends used to think of me as the “drawing friend”. I even won prizes for my art work. My parents hopes that I will be a type of person who studied hard, but I did not satisfy their expectation. Since 3rd year of middle school (most likely first year in High School in western standard), I became engrossed in musical composition. I submitted a tape of my singing compositions to various talent agencies. When I turned first year in high school, I became a part of a talent agency. For several years after that, I received acting training.
Q: Was that in anticipation of making a debut as an actress?
G: No. At that time, I hoped to become a singer. The reason that I received acting training was due to my shy personality and stage fright. At that time, I would be overwhelmed by the trauma of despondency as soon as I would get up on the stage. As I switched over to YG Entertainment, I accidentally started acting. It helped a lot that I received previous acting training.
GHS became an ulzzang star sensation while attending In Chun Boo Pyung HS. She made a debut in 2002 through a computer CF. Then, she appeared in 2004′s “Anagram” of KBS Dramacity followed by sitcom “Nonstop5″, “Suh Dong Yo”, “Pure Heart of 19″, etc. She portrayed the image of bright and energetic person.
Q: I never knew that you suffered from stage fright.
G: I became more open through acting. I was a timid student who was not easily recognized during school days. Some teachers would know I was there or maybe not. I did not have many friends either. I am somewhat awkward in making friends. Even at the talent agency, I do not really have particularly close celebrity friends. Among the celebrities, I am very close to Nam SangMi and Han HyoJoo. Nam SangMi is a same-age friend who also received attention as an ulzzang star. Han HyoJoo is a dongseng with whom I became close while working together in NN5.
Q: Once you make a connection, it seems to go a long time. You were the first actress to come aboard YG Entertainment and you have been there now for 8 years and have been working with Pres Yang all this time.
G: Our agency respects the personal choices of the entertainers. There is no oppression and there is no unnecessary interferences. I really feel valued there. I remember a time when a proposal for picture magazine came in. It was proposal that asked for excessive exposure and nudity. Both Pres Yang and the agency’s reps all stressed over the issue with me so that I make the right decision which will not negatively impact me in the future. I felt so thankful and so comfortable.
Q: Do they feel like a family? You guys even call the members YG family.
G: Rather than family, I think of them like an excellent partner. The agency’s management/administration operates with extreme crystal clarity. You could even say to the point of being coldhearted. There is no room for misunderstanding since they record everything (income and expense) to the penny.
Q: Which work would you rank as your top joy?
G: I really like everything that I do. But if I have to choose one, it is when I make movies. When I just compose or just draw, I still have this empty feeling. But when I make a movie, I feel brimming fulness. More than anything, I love the fact that I can express what I want without much interferences.
Her life’s endorphin, Movies
GHS’s mentor who discovered GHS’s potential as a movie director is the late Jung Seung Hye. She is GHS’s teacher and role model.
G: I met Rep Jung at age 25 when I was at the crossroad of my life. I showed her my script that I wrote before I became an actress. She tossed it into garbage and advised me, “That is why this is no good. Do not hide what you have inside, but show it and communicate with the world.”
Then, Rep Jung ordered GHS to come up with conti for a short film scenario, music and etc. GHS just obeyed. After doing everything asked of her, Rep Jung revealed her decision.
“Now it is OK. Go and make a movie with all these materials.”
That is how GHS’s directorial debut project Cheerful Caretaker is born. She had 5 roles as one person for that film. She received 2009 BuSan Asia Short Film Festival’s Audience Award and also received Hot Movie award at the Japan’s 2010 Short Short IFF.
Her fist feature film YOSOOL also was invited to JunJooFF and received praises as a “well-made youth movie”. YOSOOL also stood side by side with Director Gang WooSuk’s IKKI and was nominated for Best Asia Movie at the TokyoIFF under the category of Asia Middleeast Panorama.
Q: Anything memorable while making a movie?
G: I really wanted to put a snowing scene in YOSOOL. It was during the time when it snowed heaviy that I thought it would be easy. But on the day of the filmming, there was no snow. Unexpectedly, the star Lim Ji Gyu-ssi was sick that day. So, we had to postpone the filming for two days. But, on that day, it snowed very heavily. it was really like magic.
Q: So, do you feel like you understand directors’ stress now?
G: As I gain experience as a director, I acquired a positive mindset. I learned to estimate the director’s distress and dilemmas and I also try to respect the opinions of the actors and the staff. Good movie is a result of teamwork. A director is not a position of power but a person who is able to facilitate/fine tune the overall process–more like a conductor. Something will most likely go wrong if the director forgets that point and forces her own point of view only.
Q: Between acting and directing, which is harder?
G: Both are hard and interesting at the same time. But if I were to pick the one that give me more stress, it is acting. When I am acting, I must give up myself. I have to replace myself with a new life that I must really work hard to suppress and hide myself. The most stressful of all is the waiting. To do 5 minutes of acting, an actor may have to wait 8 hours at times. Of course, I now have some know-how or coping strageties. But as a beginner actress, I really hated the waiting. I would never know when I would be called that I would be nervous/tense throughout the whole day.
Q: What is your know-how?
G: I bring my notebook and write my scenarios/scripts.
Q: Are you preparing another movie?
G: I am planning to make another full-length movie. When the officila filming starts, I will get together with the producer who will work with me. I also established a movie production company. It is called ‘Goo HyeSun Film’ . Rep Jung made that name for me.
(reporter) take a glance at the natural GHS.
Q: Do you get along with the staff?
G: I tried hard to become close. If we have drinks, we would linger til dawn.
Q: Do you drink well?
G: I don’t drink well but forced myself which messed me up. Now, my body cannot tolerate it that I stop after an appropriate point. It was reckless of me in the beginning to have a face to face challenge with the people/leaders who can hold liquor well.
Q: What is a good amount for you that makes you feel good?
G: One glass of soju, for beer maybe one or two glass.
Q: Did you ever regret having become an actress?
G: In my early 20′s, I found it difficult as I could not freely move around. Those younger entertainers also go through the same difficulties.
Q: Do you still find other people’s gazes very difficult to deal with?
G: I don’t mind/care about it. I sometimes use the subway. I wear a hat tightly over and no one recognizes me.
BOF and LOVE
An actress’s income is related to whether the drama becomes a hit. If the project becomes a hit, the actress’s total price package also jumps up. From that perspective, GHS is a lucky actress. Most of her acting projects scored high on rating. Especially BOF which gave her wealth and fame and whose rating hit 35%.
G: I wonder if I will be able to make another project like that. I had some expectation as it was a drama that received so much recognition already in Japan and TAiwan. However, I never expected tat it will receive such passionate love. I wrote my diary everyday with gratitude. I just felt thankful for each day. Because of that, I also filmed many CF’s but it also left me with feelings of missing it.
Q: Do you resemble Geum Jandi in real life?
G: At that time I thought so. I think I lived as Geum Jandi. (laughter)
Q: Among the F4 (GooJoonPyo, YoonJiHoo, SoYiJung, Song WooBin), who comes closest to your ideal?
G: None, I don’t really care much for men who only has money. I am not saying that it is bad if one is wealthy. All the F4 are wealthy not from their own sweat and work but from inheritance.
Q: Do you care about the looks or the feel?
G: I don’t really look at the looks. When I was young, looks was important. I was once stuck on someone because of ‘the feeling’, but it ended up in failure.
Q: So your ideal is?
G: Someone with good manners, who is kind and a man with good (out-of-the-box) ideas. A man who tries to make something of himself with his own resources/abilities. A man who does not depend on/rely on women. I am attracted to men who, whether they make 100,000won or 200,000won, are able to maintain their pride and self-respect. Of course, that does not mean that my ideal is someone who makes 100,000won. (laughter)
Q: Are you currently in love?
G: Every now and then, I see few male friends. But I do not yet have someone whom I feel, “That is the guy!”. I feel that the real love is found after watching over someone for a long time and after experiencing difficult times together.
Q: While back you said that if you get a boyfriend, you will marry. Were you serious?
G: What I said in jest became a big deal. I want to marry around 30. I don’t think it is a good idea to marry too late if I want to raise children.
Q: What kind of love relationaship do you want to have?
G: I thoroughly enjoyed and was impressed by the drama, “Life is Beautiful” by Master Kim SooHyun. I originally saw it becuase my close friend Nam SangMi appears in the show. It was a drama that warmed my heart. It showed me the good way to live without the craftiness or nastiness. I feel that love has to be like that too. Because you love that person, you try to understand more, treasure more and respect more so that you become good love partner.
Rediscovery of Study
I asked her if she had to pick between work or love, which one would she pick? She did not hesitate one second. She chose ‘work’. She is returning to acting. After long deliberation, she chose a drama called THE MUSICAL. She plays a medical student Go Eun Bi.
G: Go Eun Bi is a genius with phtographic memory. She can look at a text just once and can memorize the whole thing as if she took a pic of it. Such a smart person can easily become a doctor. However, she becomes stuck onacting in musicals. She auditions over 80 times in order to become a musical actor. You have to wait and see whether she becomes successful as a musical actress. I am in the middle of filming for it but the script only came out so far.
Q: Why did you choose this drama?
G: Go EunBi seems to resemble me a great deal. I am not a genius with photographic memory. However, I kind of identified with a character who chose the difficult of the two roads before her and challenges herself with firy passion.
GHS also has the singing ability enough to become a musical actress herself. She loves to sing at Karaoke rooms, 1080′s hits, “My Love At My Side” and “Watercolor Painting On A Rainy Day”. She loves songs by Yoo Jae Ha who died in 1987.
Q: Are you sure you were born in 1984?
G: I started to look into old song that survived the generation and I fell in love with them. It actualy is my style of songs. I must be born in the wrong generation. (laughter)
Q: Are there any roles that you still want to challenge yourself?
G: I sometimes want to try evil characters and even a sexually charming yet coldhearted murderer. However, when I look deeply into myself, I seek characters who are warm and interesting. Maybe it is becaue the world is becoming so hard and cold. I want to play roles that give hope and courage to the audience, like Geum Jandi.
GHS also has a busy schedule ahead. After the drama ends, she has piles of work to do. She is scheduled to act in TAiwan’s ABSOLUTE DARLING starting April. In the same month, she is to be ready with the trailer for the 13th WISIFF.
GHS: (about her trailer)”The Women’s Film Festival is trying to encourage the progress of women film makers. I want to portray the image of women, transcending ageism, who develop and realize their dreams.” She plans to take one day in middle of March to film the trailer in ShinChon.
GHS also said that she postponed her studies as her schedule is so tight. She got into SGGU as an older student in the Art depat’s Image/Movie Making section. GHS: “It will be difficult for me to attend the campus this March, but I do not just want to get a diploma by putting in so so work due to the excuse of a busy schedule.”
GHS really fits the description of “palbangmiin”=8-room beauty=beautiful in all 8 directions. It is a nickname very appropriately fitting who she is. I wonder what kind of title she will carry before her name in 10 years?
G: At that time, I will not be in Korea. When I finish school, I plan to make a documentary. With comfortable sneakers and camera in one hand and mike in the other, I want to film unspecified huge number of people about the topic of love . Since Korea has a limit, I will go around to the other countries and carry out the task. However, I cannot guarantee that I will definitely do it. It is possible that I may have a baby by then or already have a child in school…hohoho.
Translation susAmerica@soompi & Credit Article DCKu
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