[INTERVIEW] Kang Hye-jung - Part 2

10: Do you mean the fact that you don't have the heart to be as bold or rash as before?
Kang Hye-jung (Kang): I don't think I'll be able to be as crazy because I'm under different circumstances now, but I used to be really crazy about acting in the past. I was completely addicted. I would scream my head off saying that I would keep filming even if I ended up getting a hole in my head. But I don't know the path I should take although I myself should realize what I'm craving for above anything else. I guess it could be the same thing that people are looking in from me. And even if I do find an answer, it wouldn't be solved right away because every circumstance is articulately intertwined with each other.

10: You must've been concerned about a lot of things but it doesn't seem you were in too much of a rush to find answers. I think I also noticed a confidence in you -- the belief that you'd end up finding an answer.
Kang: When I get a role in the past, I would bring that character's personality to real life and try to experience that character in a natural setting. For example, with my character Sang-eun in film "Herb", it would feel completely different playing her role after having acted like her in real life. "Girlfriends" on the other hand was a film I took on because I wanted to experience planting my own characteristic into my character. The reason I'm not in a rush is because I think it won't be too late to worry later on after I've tried various roles. I was actually in a slump when I started filming "Girlfriends". And I don't know who it was but someone told me 'live your problem'. I think it means that you'll find an answer once you start living with your problem and I think it's true. I had such a hard time trying to solve my problem when I didn't have an answer. But my husband was beside me to listen to me so it helped to lessen my worries.

10: I know you can't not talk about your husband but it seems you're talking more and more about your personal life nowadays. Don't you ever become stressed with having to talk about what is going on outside your work?
Kang: People aren't actually curious or excited to hear about my work. They're interested in other things. So I won't insist that I talk about other things although I am careful about what I say and don't say.

10: You've been receiving attention from everywhere and so much recently that reporters took photographs of you heading off to your honeymoon while your in-laws appeared on a morning talkshow. I have a feeling you wouldn't have been able to stand it in the past.
Kang: You have a keen eye. I would have not put up with it, ever. I used to be very particular about revealing my personal life. For example, whichever neighborhood I go to, I'd answer I live nearby if someone asked where I live or I always change the information I give regarding my siblings.

10: Was it because you wanted people to see you only as the actress Kang Hye-jung?
Kang: I started acting when I was 17 which garnered unnecessary attention to my younger sister and older brother. I didn't want my family to face restraints because of me. There were cases they would be troubled because of me. I found out that my sister, whose name is very similar to mine, didn't speak with a single person while in school. And when she told people upon graduation that I was her sister, nobody believed her. (laugh)

10: How is it being in your current situation? There's a new person in your life who will be identified by you.
Kang: What are you talking about, I'm the one who's identified as Tablo's wife. (laugh)

10: It seems that you won't lend that identification to your children that easily either.
Kang: We'd keep our children hidden in our huge garden if we were making as much money as Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp but that's not the reality we live in. Everyone will know who they are when they just go out to the playground. (laugh) But we won't reveal who they are on purpose.

10: You seem to be happy. I sort of feel bad that us as the general public may have been forcing you to seem depressed.
Kang: I get depressed and go through tough times when I'm working on a movie. But I don't have a hard time easing out of my role when I'm done filming. So that's probably not why Heath Ledger died either. Everyone praised him for his acting in "Dark Knight" and everyone wanted him to be the Joker. But I don't think he ended up like that because he was having a hard time from the role. It was probably because of something else.

10: But doesn't being happy at work also help you to be happy at home?
Kang: That's exactly how it was while filming "Girlfriends". But I'll choose a movie if I think, 'Wow, this is fun,' after reading the script. I don't know what sort of choice I'll make next. And I may not be able to give a reason for my choice. I'm going to have a baby soon too so I think I'll be given scripts depending on how I'm doing after that. That's why I'm looking forward to it.

10: Then what are your expectations for "Girlfriends"?
Kang: I hope it does really well. I don't pick a film thinking about how well it will do on the box office but I'm always hoping it reaches the break-even point. And we're the only romantic comedy pic so don't you think we have a shot at it?

Reporter : Yoon Hee-Seong nine@10asia.co.kr
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr, Lee Ji-Hye seven@10asia.co.kr