[Eng] Cine21 Magazine Interview – Lee Seung Gi

A big thanks to LSGfan (Ann) for the translation! ❤ 😀

Cover Star
‘Love Forecast’ Lee Seunggi, Moon Chaewon
Love In This Generation

How did you address one another while filming?

LSG: By name, not character names but our real names.

Are you the same age?

MCW: I was born in 1986, and Seunggi is an early 1987er. We filmed 2009 drama ‘Brilliant Legacy’ together, and I remember back then that we were 3 months apart. When we first met he said he’d address me as noona… (chuckles)

LSG: Hehehe.

For both of you, it’s your first time starring in a romantic comedy.

LSG: Personally, I like the romantic-comedy genre, and I want to be good at it. Meaning that it’s a genre in which an actor has to show both diverse and natural attributes. In choosing my first film, since I didn’t have experience on a huge action or blockbuster project as of yet, I didn’t feel I could do it well. On the other hand, with this movie, I felt I could create and develop this well with Chaewon.

MCW: Different from Seunggi, I didn’t like romantic comedies. I will be 29 in the new year, and I did want to do a romantic comedy at least once before I turned 30. I wanted to see how I would appear in a romantic comedy. And at that point, I got to meet a personality similar to that of Jun Jihyun’s character in . Someone once said, if I wanted to do a romantic comedy after the age of 30, it would have to be with a young guy. (chuckles) I feel very lucky to have met this project now.

In the movie, Junsoo and Hyunwoo have a ‘some’ relationship and have been friends for 18 years. When you received the script, what type of character came to mind?

LSG: Junsoo is a friend who would be extremely good to Hyunwoo. I felt I could convey these sincere, loving positive attributes for Hyunwoo. More importantly, since the character Hyunwoo acted by Chaewon has a lot of charms, I thought a lot of fun scenes could come out when [Junsoo and Hyunwoo] get together.

MCW: Junsoo has deep perseverance. Even though he also shows pitiful sides in order to make the story fun throughout, by and large, he is a man who does everything he needs to do.

LSG: For our generation, the ‘Heartless Guy’ is very popular. A guy who is cold and prickly toward a woman. Junsoo is a man who’s opposite to that.

MCW: Not really into heartless guys.

LSG: Yeah, more than that, ‘Heartless Guy’ is not suited for me, right? Through the movie, I wanted to show a sincere and charming love and depth to the generation of daters for which the ‘Heartless Guy’ has been popularized.

MCW: Hyunwoo acts like a tomboy in front of her dear friend Junsoo, and acts like a cunning fox in front of her work boss. She’s rough around the edges but also tenderhearted, therefore she’s a woman who always needs to be taken care of by someone.

What did you think when you heard the other person was cast for the role?

LSG: Honestly? Haha. I really liked it. For a romantic comedy, I think actors’ friendly nature is just as important as their acting skills. I’ve always been close with Chaewon, and Chaewon’s face is a style I like.

MCW: (raising one arm up to the sky) Wow! (busting out laughing) When Seunggi said he was going to do it, I thought it was the best casting. (chuckles) On top of being able to convey an easygoing, unaffected charm, there’s also a sweet charm to him. If another person was cast, I probably would’ve thought he at least had charms as an actor, but I don’t think he could have showcased Junsoo and Hyunwoo’s relationship to the extent Seunggi did. Like when would you become close?

How often did you meet before filming?

LSG: Because I was filming <You’re All Surrounded>, I rarely got to meet with the director or Chaewon beforehand. I would have felt burdened about having to become close if she was another actress, however, since Chaewon and I started our careers around the same time and did well, we were well aware what the other person was up to throughout the years. Honestly, in working with Chaewon again, I worried a lot about how close we could become, but we became close more quickly than I thought…

MCW: On the first day of filming there was a drunken fit scene, and we filmed a kiss within four days, no, I mean a [bo-bo, not deep kiss] scene. (chuckles) Unlike Seunggi, who tends to treat even people he’s met for the first time quite naturally, I have a tendency to be very reserved. This time, I wanted to become close with Seunggi quickly, and so I tried hard to do that. Although I don’t appear very tense in the movie, early on, I was incredibly nervous. As time went on, I became comfortable, and I found myself leaning on Seunggi again and again.

Like Junsoo and Hyunwoo in the movie, do you think it’s possible for two friends to be in a ‘some’ relationship for a long time?

LSG: If it were me, I’d be direct. (chuckles) But looking at the situation, I don’t completely not understand Junsoo. After being rejected by Hyunwoo when they were young, he was afraid about confessing his feelings after that, but at the same time it’s difficult to get back into a ‘some’ relationship. People are shaped by their roles and after being stuck together for a long time, they were forced to become friends. Although he dated other girls, he kept being drawn to Hyunwoo and since he still has residual feelings, if Hyunwoo tells him to pick her up, he goes and and if Hyunwoo doesn’t like it, he leaves it at that. (chuckles)

MCW: Just like Seunggi said, though the two are friends, they haven’t explicitly stated the terms of their relationship. Nevertheless, I hope that people will see the people by their side as lovable after watching . Since in a movie like , the person by one’s side seems scary. (chuckles)

It must have been hard to control your tone. You’d seem like boyfriend-girlfriend if you were to become too close, on the other hand, you’d appear just friends if you were too distant.

LSG: Since Junsoo always shows up to patch things up whenever Hyunwoo has a meltdown, so it wasn’t that hard to regulate the tone.

MCW: There was this. There were some scenes in which she gets into another ‘some’ relationship even before her other dating relationship ends, and it was difficult to accurately convey that. I felt people wouldn’t be able to relate if I made a mistake. I mean in real life, how many relationships are there in which people are only friends for 18 years. Nevertheless, after filming, I felt these difficult aspects subsided a bit while seeing the charms of Lee Seunggi, Lee Seojin, Jung Joonyung and the other participating actors. The director also has a style which allows actors to follow direction comfortably.

As this is the first film for both of you in which you are the main leads, you must have felt a big sense of responsibility.

LSG: It wasn’t that big. I’ve felt the pressure of tv ratings in filming dramas and it’s not like a project will do well because an actor feels burdened, and there are projects that do well despite having worried it wouldn’t do well. No one can know a final outcome. Apart from the acting, no matter how well the staff takes care of things, if you don’t act well, it means you didn’t properly portray your role as a main lead. Thus, I felt most burdened about accurately portraying my character.

MCW: I would have felt burdened if I had experienced a bad result in which I played a main lead. Since I haven’t had that kind of experience, I didn’t feel as burdened. Meaning, should we just solely work hard if there’s no clear direction as to what type of picture should come out. Merely, we trusted that we had to film happily in order for a happy movie to come out. Seunggi too, me too, it’s also because we were able to pour our passion and enthusiasm into this.

Seunggi, how was it filming a movie for the first time after working in dramas?

LSG: Just as seeing a movie on a big screen and watching a drama every week while preparing a meal are different, I think they require a certain approach. Meaning, unlike dramas where the dialogue is the base, movies are about depicting the many given situations through multiple devices. Just doing the same acting, I don’t think it’s that. At the same time, I won’t distinguish between movies and dramas. If it’s a good project, I’m all for doing it. It appears we will match up with 2014.1.8 movie . I’m worried about the response.

MCW: These days, Seunggi checks the internet everyday. (chuckles)

LSG: Someone told me, successful results are updated every night at 12am on a site that aggregates all the movie tickets across the theaters. When the movie releases, I plan to go somewhere like a PC room to check. I don’t think I could look at it from home. (chuckles)

Chaewon, you will be 30 years old next year. As an actress, it must be a worrisome time.

MCW: Friends too, I worry a lot too. At the age of 29, I always thought I’d have a lot of the answers by this age, but I realized that wasn’t the case throughout this year. I still have child-like attributes so I tend to have serious mood swings when I’m feeling good and when I’m not. I’m not saying it’s immature to be that way… I don’t think becoming mature is just only all good. This year, I never even imagined I would take on a main lead and carry out a romantic comedy. Since I’ve always acted the role of a woman who has some hidden situation. Next year, maybe I’ll want to do a new-school type of project but this year, I didn’t want to cry in a project. I’m sick of crying. I’m always crying. (chuckles)

LSG: Me too, I’m always crying. When filming my drama, I cried three times a day.

You must be relieved wasn’t a new-school type of project.

MCW: Of course, as there are a lot of happy tears.

If you were to rate your partner.

LSG: I think Chaewon would be really well suited acting the role of a crazed woman like Rosamund Pike did in . (strongest burst of laughter)

MCW: I told you to stop saying things like that. (chuckles) Yes, I was so happy to do my first romantic comedy with Seunggi. To to the degree that after a few years have passed, I want to meet him again through a different story. That’s why after the movie filming ended, I even thought maybe I should have worked in a more aggressive way. Honestly, since Seunggi has a lot of experience leading various variety programs, you’d think he’d make fake-ish small talk. But in real life, he’s a friend with none of that. Since he simmers on his own. You never state anything from your mouth that doesn’t need to be said, right?

LSG: Of course, I never say such things. (chuckles)

source: cine21 via naver
English translation by LSGfan