LMH was joking with 3 female staffs as he got out of the van, which seemed like a scene taken right out of SBS’s upcoming drama City Hunter. Although LMH merely had 3 hours of sleep the day before, and had just finished filming a pursuit scene at Gwanghwamun earlier on, he was shining more brightly than the sun. The reporter hinted saying “wouldn’t you prefer to rest instead of having lunch since u’re tired”, to which LMH replied corteously with a smile, “it’s all right, today’s weather is good.”
Stepping foot in the charming cafe, he browsed the surroundings, and picked up a mandolin that was used as decoration. Even with a light strum of the instrument, he exhibited a Hongdae musician pose. Even his appearance seem to change, from his bronze skin, dishevelled hair, all the way to his sharp chin.
Having interviewed hundreds of stars during the past 9 years, the strange palpitations I felt with LMH who is 9 years my junior made me embarrassed. Would any female reporter be able to guard a neutral stand facing the charms of this person that oscillates between a boy and man?
My natural action instinct: I experience catharsis
-After ‘Boys over Flowers’ I have almost never done media interviews. Actually, it’s hard to get in touch, thank you for supporting ENEWS24′s First Issue Interview. I drew closer as if in combat with 007, and barely connected with him, however, i sensed it will be fruitful.
“I’m the one who should be more thankful since I’m able to be with ENEWS24 during the first issue. I’m very sorry about my schedule. I always have to standby at filming locations, so it’s not easy to take time off. Although i’ve started filming for a month now, i haven’t even finished filming episode 1. We still have a long road, isn’t it?”
-You seem to have lost weight, how’s your health?
“It hasn’t been long since i got back from Thailand. Before leaving for filming, I did a bit of tanning for my drama character, however, i got really tanned after my visit overseas. Due to a combination of swimming and training at the action school, i naturally lost weight. I’m the type that will lose weight if I eat less no matter how difficult it is, so i always try to eat well. I think I will eat a lot during lunch today too. ” (LMH ordered several different types of spaghetti and salads to share with his stylist, manager, hair designer and makeup artist, and in a moment, all the food on the plates were gone.)
-How will the character this time be different/ or how will you be making them different from that of ‘Boys over Flowers’ and ‘Personal Taste’?
“I have expectations on the action scenes. Although Lee Yoon Sung of ‘City Hunter’ has a PhD from MIT and is the brain of the communications team in the Blue House, he loves to joke in front of beautiful women. He is a bright two folded character. Although he has his hurts and holds the secret of his birth, he hides all of that and frequently behaves frivolously, just as a coverup for a righteous/chivalrous goal. Although there are probably people who expect the character to be a pervert-like playboy just as that from the manga, this is after all a TV drama, so don’t expect too much, haha.”
-Is LMH’s action in the form of guns or knives/swords?
“Initially I learnt a form of southeast-asian martial arts known as kali, where you attack the opponent’s vital points agilely and rapidly. It was no fun and hard when i was practicing at the action school, but once I used it when filming, I feel a surge of pleasure.”
“As long as you are a male actor, you will have expectations on action scenes. I remember happily watching the ‘Rocky’ series while i was an elementary school student. As for exercising, I’m by nature lazy. I lose weight easily so when i’m resting at home, i don’t eat anything and play and I shed my weight intentionally. I like games such as squash, bowling or table-tennis where you get an outcome (can tell who wins).
-Even by eating a bit less, he gets to lose weight. As expected, the saying of an egocentric(? may be she means superior??) gene is not a lie. His family members who possess the same gene are uncommon.
“I’m not sure about the rest, but everyone’s tall. My dad’s 182cm, mom’s 168cm, my sister’s 172cm, so the average height in our family is around 177cm. Although people say we have a superior gene, my sister is actually not pretty, and just average looking. But she’s truly a good sister. Although she probably experiences difficult times because of me, she’s always unchanging and becomes my source of strength.”
-‘시티헌터’는 이민호 원톱 드라마로 봐도 무방한데 책임감이 남다르기도 하겠어요.
N: sorry, i don’t understand this sentence well so not translating
“Fortunately, Kim Sang Joon sunbae who acts as my dad in the drama was with me in Thailand, so he is my support. Of course, when filming in korea, there are a lot of juniors. Although I’ve always been a hubae(junior) wherever I go, this time because of new actors such as Goo Ha Ra, Yang Jin Sung, I get to be called ‘oppa’. It feels good and awkward at the same time. Since my partner in the drama, Park Min Young-sshi is a nuna, just as it was in my previous works, this time the loveline will be with a nuna. (N: he uses the term nu-nim, more respectful form as he refers to all the female partners he has worked with previously)”
-Aren’t there a lot of stand-ins for action scenes?
“For cars scenes, the stunt doubles will stand-in for me, since it’s by nature dangerous. With the exception of that, other scenes such as ones where i drive a motorbike or spar, I try to do most of them. Because of that, i have plenty of small injuries on my hands.” (actually LMH showed me some of the scabs on his fingers, which were from former injuries)
The misconceptions and truth about actor Lee Min Ho
-Do you work in perfect harmony with the female actors since things might brew up and there might be scandals?
“To be honest with you, i was very perplexed when all the news about scandals involving me surfaced. When I had interviews during ‘Boys Over Flowers’, i carelessly answered a reporter’s question saying, ‘if scandals will surface with those i’m close with, then there are 3 more people whom i might have scandals with’. After that articles titled ‘LMH has 3 more parties he’s in love with’ surfaced, didn’t it? However I realized that other only view it from the outside and do not know our relationship, so it’s possible that they misunderstand. That was how i looked past it. Those false accusations, and mention that I received branded goods which I didn’t even receive, those were all distorted reports and mere rumors.
-Do you diligently search for or read reports regarding yourself?
“Of course. After finishing a day’s work, I will type my name and do a search on portal sites without fail. So this is the report that came out today, this is the photo that came out, this is the reaction of my fans. There’s a lot that I experience just by these.”
-What kind of replies or feedback do you think is good?
“For me, it’s much better to get praised for my acting than for my looks. I want to be assessed for my acting more than for my looks or popularity. I hope to hear comments such as ‘his acting is good’ more in the future.”
-Due to the support of fans, you’ll be able to overcome hard times or even a slump right?
“During the last 3~4 years, i’ve received an overwhelming lot of love. In contrast, I don’t think I have done much in return. Giving pleasure to my fans by meeting them in projects is merely my duty. I have visited Thailand for more than 7 times now. It’s brightly lit just like downtown Seoul nowadays. Every time I visit the country, I’m greeted with enthusiastic fans who participate in all my schedules. Even when I was held back in the airport due to the fog, there were hundreds of fans shouting my name and cheering me on although it was after midnight/early morning. There were also many who rode taxis and followed me around throughout 10 days. I’m thankful towards them and also apologetic. A lot of feelings go through me, especially during the times when fans gave me a present by donating funds in my name during promotions/fanmeetings. My heart’s response is to live diligently and show them my sincerity.
-Your extremely positive personality is impressive. Although you (LMH) are a blood type A person, it seems like you’re O type instead.
“Not actually. Should I change my personality to survive? I was an introvert up to elementary school. However, when I received placement for secondary school, I was sent to a school different from any of my friends. I knew no one when I was in middle school. In order to survive, I deliberately changed my personality. I often played games such as football with them, that is why the friend I had during middle school years have become my close buddies of 10 years.”
-Now that you mentioned about school, Jung Il Woo and you were famous as Dae Bang Dong’s uhljjang (best face).
“After attending Ban Po’s middle school, I entered Dang Gook high school. My friends are mostly in the 대방 영등포 보라매region. I got to know (jung) ilwoo through a friend. Both of us can’t drink well so we like to chat over a cup of coffee. Right now, we monitor and advise each other, giving each other support. I don’t have many friends who are entertainers. Including (kim)bum, i can count them within 5 fingers. Ah, how is ilwoo’s drama 49 days doing? I regret that I can’t support him by watching since I don’t have time, but I hope the drama gets the 1st spot in viewership ratings.”
“???(think he means he stays at home). I watch movies or TV at lot. I like entertainment programs so I mostly watch ‘come to play’, ‘strong heart’ and ‘knee guru’.”
-Haven’t you thought of participating in those programs?
“No. I’m not ready for it. (laughs) I’m not confident of talking in a manner that others deem interesting, and don’t have any dynamic stories to tell. To be honest, I fear the burden of having to be comical. I’m not up for it. For now, I think it’s better if I give my best to acting.”
-aren’t there any difficulties or regrets when filming?
“We’re far from Hollywood when it comes to filming skills and apparatus. There’s a scene in the movie ‘Matrix’ where someone dodges a bullet in slow motion. That requires the use of over ten cutting edge cameras. Our team takes the manual way. Director Jin Hyuk (Director of City Hunter) told me that although it’s embarrassing from the standpoint of an actor, the scene will come out good if I act in slow motion as I throw my fist. It was pretty embarrasing initially, but now i’ve mastered it. You musn’t laugh when you view those scenes when they come out!”
-What is the biggest, most meaningful present you’ve given yourself.
“I don’t know… (was worried for a while) house. Having lived in the previous house for around 2 and a half years, i just moved to a new place that is more spacious in Hek Seok Dong.”
-Why didn’t you move to Kangnam?
“My mom is not familiar with Kangnam. What if she loses her way? So we chose somewhere which is not far from where we used to live, since we have more friends there. Up to now, I don’t feel that I want to move to Kangnam.”
-Lastly, what kinda viewership ratings would u like to attain for ‘City Hunter’?
“It will be good if the viewership ratings can pass 30%. Also i really desire to win the grand prize. I got the newcomer prize for BOF in 2009, the excellence award for Personal Taste in 2010, this year winning the grand prize is my goal. I earnestly desire to win it. (smile)”
Source: ENews24
Translation by webby @ soompi
Cre::http://loveghs.wordpress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment