[INTERVIEW] Actor Kim Hye-seong - Pt. 1

Actor Kim Hye-seong [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

The leader of the baseball team, the fourth batter and the team's only catcher. I felt that Kim Hye-seong pulling off the role of Jang Dae-gun in "Glove," based on the true story of a hearing-impaired baseball team in Chungju of the North Chungcheong Province in Korea, did not fit his delicate image. Even he himself feels the same way since it's been five years since he was in MBC's sitcom "High Kick" but he still takes on the roles of students because of his young image. But other than the fact that he played a supporting role and the weight of his character was not big, taking a part in "Glove" was a turning point for Kim as an actor who had concerns about his child-like image. He may be playing the role of a student even at the age of 24 but through that he has shown growth and change. 10Asia sat down for an interview with Kim on his development.

10: It seems like "Glove" must’ve been a physically demanding movie. How did you feel seeing the final product?
Kim Hye-seong (Kim): I watched the movie with professional baseball players, aside from the press screening for the film. The burden I felt from watching the final production for the first time with real-life baseball players was no joke.

Scenes of "Glove" [CJ Entertainment]

10: I heard it was your first time playing baseball. Do you enjoy watching professional baseball?
Kim: I am a die hard Lotte Giants fan. (laugh) I have a uniform signed by player Lee Dae-ho. I received it during an opening game three years ago at the baseball stadium in Busan when there was an event that celebrities participated in. I didn't wash it thinking that the signature would wash off. (laugh) When I watched the game, I thought I’d be able to do a pretty good job at it myself but that wasn’t the case once I tried it out. I couldn't catch the ball and my posture wasn't great as well.

10: Taking that into account then, it must have been difficult to act as a catcher. Catchers are usually thought to be bulky but you did a good job pulling it off without looking awkward.
Kim: My character was really great and I honestly thought that even if I asked to play the role they wouldn't let me since a catcher is someone who is bulky or well-built. But the production director asked how I felt about being the catcher when we had our meeting. He said he thought someone small like me would be able to do a good job as well.

10: The movie itself seems to be focused on the pitcher and catcher. You’re also the leader of your team in the film. Did you feel any burden of having to be grounded in terms of your acting?
Kim: The production crew didn't let anyone’s managers come to set and it was through me that they controlled the baseball team. At first I was busy taking care of myself and just the thought taking care of ten other players made things harder but the shoots became much easier after the players started to listen and follow after me even in our everyday lives. I worked really hard during practice as well because I thought that if I didn't, the other players might think, "If he's not doing it then why should I?

10: You didn't have to use your voice in this movie. You basically had to give up on using one of the tools you can express yourself with.
Kim: The other players and I decided to practice not speaking to each other before we started filming the movie. However, an actor naturally memorizes their lines while saying them so it was really hard trying to sign language perfectly while act out the facial expressions without speaking. Luckily, my experience in acting only with my facial expressions through my last movie "Boy Meets Boy" helped. I tried to communicate with the other actors with my eyes while always looking into them.

10: And were there times you felt something was getting delivered to you?
Kim: When you look into another actor’s eyes, you can feel what he is trying to relay. Such as one’s earnestness or emotions of the sort. I had a lot of scenes with Jang Ki-bum who plays the pitcher but it was really hard to shoot sad scenes with him because there were many times when I felt him express those earnest emotions.

10: It seems every character has a different style of using sign language.
Kim: Every character has characteristics to how they sign language. We called actor Kim Yeon-joon’s sign language harlem style. (laugh) He practiced a lot but I think he’s smart because he was unbelievably great when it comes to doing the sign language. That's why everybody asked him when we couldn’t meet with the sign language teacher.

10: What was it like having to act with sign language?
Kim: It was hard. I had long lines and a complex scene for the first shoot but my lines got changed on the day of the shoot. So I had to memorize the new lines while filming which I couldn't do. I think it took me nine takes to complete that scene. People on set knew I wasn't feeling good so they tried to cheer me up by saying I did a good job. They also asked why it took me nine takes when I was doing so well. (laugh) Director Kang Woo-suk asked, "Hye-seong, did you do well?" but I didn't know what to say. Since I was sullen, the director told me that I did a good job.

10: You had to act like someone that can't talk and can’t hear. But don’t you hear things immediately, no matter how hard you tell yourself you don’t?
Kim: We had to always look at the umpire in the scenes we play baseball because we would judge whether the umpire is saying in or out by looking at how he moves but there were times when an actor would stop running after hearing him yell “Out!” (laugh) There were many incidents like that when we first began shooting.

10: It must’ve been a lot of fun being amongst guys who were all making mistakes like that and talking.
Kim: It was fun but I'm the kind of guy who is shy around new people. At first, we all had a hard time approaching each other. For the first two months of four months we spent practicing, we only said hi to each other. We’d say hi at first and then just keep training after that. I’m not like that once I become close to someone but it takes time for me to make friends. That’s why other actors said they were prejudiced about me when they first saw me, thinking that I was showing off just because I had more acting experience.

10: Given your personality then, it must be difficult to be in an industry where people demand you to be nice to everyone.
Kim: There are many times when I envy people who are good at being nice to others. I think, "Ah, I have nothing to lose being [nice] like them but why can't I do it? " I know that if I was nice, senior actors and the director would accept me better but I’m just not the type to. It’s kind of embarrassing for me to act like that as well. It always takes me a while to become close with others.

10: Do you think you cross that line over time?
Kim: I cross it only when me and that other person are like-minded. I'm not necessarily like that to people I don't get along with. It may be because I’m young but I don’t feel like saying things that I don’t mean just for the sake of looking good for others. Of course there are times when I feel that my life would be easier if I had paid lip service in the past. But I’m in my mid-twenties now and I'm past my years so I can’t act merely with the dream of wanting to act even if it means I’ll have to starve. (laugh) I know that in reality that there will be times when I will have to pay lip service but I’d like to hold back when I can and keep my pride when I can.

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Reporter : Lee Seung-Han fourteen@
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@
Editor : Lucia Hong luciahong@, Lee Ji-Hye seven@