[INTERVIEW] Actor Kim San-ho

Interview with TV, film and musical actor Kim San-ho

My name is Kim San-ho. A syllable in my name is used for everyone else in my family but I think he just flipped the name of the hospital where I was born which was "Ho San Women's Clinic"
I lived in Cheonan in the South Chungcheong Province from the day I was born on February 12, 1982 up until high school.
I am the youngest of three brothers. My family is composed of my parents, my two brothers, my eldest brother's wife and their two children. I love kids so whenever I visit my hometown, I play with the two. They always ask me to take them to Baskin Robbins (laughs).
I was a theater major at the Seoul Institute of the Arts when I enlisted for the army at the age of 21. I didn't think it was a big deal back then but after seeing one of my close friends enter the army at the age of 30, I'm relieved that I finished my term at an early age.
I am currently practicing for my performance in "Grease" which will open in February. I'm a bad dancer but having practiced the same dance over and over again has helped me improve. I think this will be last time I will ever appear in "Grease".
During previous "Grease" performances, there were a few times when the zipper of my pants had been open. So when I was performing in the musical "The Fantasticks", I used to turn around once in a while for a check. How insecure I felt with scenes where I had to use both hands.
"Thrill Me" which I did last spring was a musical which had a huge number of fans so it was hard to prepare for it as well as play my role. After having contemplated on how I would interpret my character Richard, I chose to portray him as someone who uses Nathan but likes him to a certain extent. "Let's just act in however way we feel," is what my good friend and fellow actor Jung Sang-yoon and I would say to each other during the shows and although we received a lot of criticism, it was a refreshing experience.
In the documentary-drama "Missy Young-ae" I constantly give character Young-ae a hard time about losing weight, but I actually know how hard it is because I've been on a diet too. When I get a girlfriend, I'm not going to pressure her to lose weight. I would go out with her because I like her for the way she is so I do't want to give her stress about that.
My character's trademark phrase "naturally" was originally used by one of the scenarists here. It's so funny, everytime I say it. I'm actually someone who would eat whatever the other person wants to eat but San-ho will "naturally" say that he will eat what he wants to.
San-ho lives at the Xi apartment in the Banpo district but I live alone in Itaewon. My friends and I usually drink in the Itaewon area because we will drink til morning and they can just sleep over at my house after.
The writers for "Missy Young-ae" and I first met at a karaoke. After suggesting that I sing as if we were at a company get-together attended by pretty girl co-workers, they cheered loudly for my performance. One of the writers said, "If you go out with me for a year, I will change the name of the show to "Missy San-ho". (laughs). That's how we became more comfortable with each other and I think that's how they set my character's personality.
The 100th episode of "Missy Young-ae" will be completely different from the regular episodes. The episode will combine the crazy aspects from all dramas and between Young-ae and San-ho there is this shocking... It'll be a spoiler so I won't say more. (laughs). There were will many special guests in it too including Horan, Koo Jun-yup, Kim Mi-hwa, Kim Jin-pyo just to name a few.
Like Young-ae and San-ho, if I were to become friends with a girl, I would like her to be a writer. Since the actor has to understand and play the part that a writer has written, I'm curious to know how they come up with such characters and try and understand what they want to say.
I recently started working on the thriller film "Yeouido". The movie is about actor Kim Tae-woo who plays the role of an ordinary businessman who gets caught up in a bad situation and starts committing wrongdoings. I play a junior staff member who is close to the main character but later betrays him.
When shooting began, Kim advised me that rather than becoming too absorbed with the shoot on a daily basis, I should try to understand the flow of the movie as a whole. And I was very thankful for his advice that instead of just memorizing the script, I should read it carefully once everyday in order to learn how cultivate a deeper understanding of the film.
I would like to get the chance to play the role of Colin in "Rent". I became enamored with Colin's voice from the original broadway show and wanted to be just like him. I could play a young notable role right now, but I would need years of experience to act out a man who has a big heart and can impress the whole audience.

Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@10asia.co.kr
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Lucia Hong luciahong@asiae.co.kr, Jang Kyung-Jin three@10asia.co.kr