[INTERVIEW] Singer Kim Dong-wan - Part 2

Kim Dong-wan [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

10: You once said that "happy and beautiful projects" aren't of your taste. And that's why you said you were more drawn to "Hedwig" but what is it about its story, from whether it's from your standpoint as an actor or the audience, that you were so drawn to?
Kim Dong-wan: Whatever the subject matter is, I'm drawn to it if its story is made well. I once said that I like stories regarding the petit bourgeois but I don't like stories about them that aren't made well. In that sense, I'd work on happy and beautiful stories if they were made well too. Of course, there are badly made movies and dramas and I may be a weird and bad actor but I'm trying to become a good actor.

10: Music was what Hedwig found to escape reality and it was the reason he lived. Is there such a field for you?
Kim: Singing and music are probably not that... Maybe being hyperactive? (laugh) I think singing and acting have been my tools for showing my hyperactiveness.

10: You used to write in your blog quite often before but you've changed the privacy settings for it so that it's not open to the public anymore and the last messages you left on your Twitter and Cyworld account say that you're not thinking of writing on them anymore. I thought you're the type that likes talking to people so why is it that you're not so-called 'hyperactive' through writing? (laugh)
Kim: I made the blog so that I could communicate with just my fans on it but I haven't been writing on it because of the musical. And I was actually going to have it closed off to the public but I decided that what I write on it would get circulated anyway so I might as well open everything and if I make a mistake, whoever notices it first could tell me as quickly as possible. (laugh) And with blogs, you have to at least make the effort to go to it but things spread too fast on Twitter so I don't like the fact that even people I don't like would monitor what I say. I don't even like people responding to my postings. I want to be talking alone. (laugh)

10: When you mentioned that girl group f(x) member Sulli is the person that gives vitality to your life when you were in the military, fans said, "She's like your daughter! Your daughter!" That's how much the gap between you and new idol groups has widened. And they show you a lot of respect when you sometimes appear on TV shows. How does all of this feel?
Kim: It's fun. And it's sometimes embarrassing but I've gotten to see IU close up as well. (laugh) The idol singers these days are amazing. Everyone is good and honestly, I didn't work as hard as them back in the days. Our first album didn't do well so I worked hard up till our second album but I played from the third album onward. So I've basically been playing for ten years. (laugh)

10: But Moon Hee-joon of H.O.T said he was envious of how Shinhwa seemed to have a lot of freedom. Do you think you were able to enjoy yourself like so because you weren't nervous?
Kim: I always felt like I was playing when I was carrying out my activities as a member of Shinhwa. I had a hard time when I pursued my activities alone but even now, I don't get nervous when I'm with them. When you've been a celebrity for a very long time, there are times when you'll even treat your own family with extreme kindness, as if they are guests. But it's not like that with Shinhwa. Who could be as mean and play such jokes on me were it not them? (laugh)

Kim Dong-wan [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

10: You were economically challenged while growing up and did not have an easy time in your twenties. Now, you are in your early thirties which is when the average person has started to settle into society. Is there anything you'd like to say to people who are currently in their twenties?
Kim: Whether something goes well or wrong, it's not because of you. I had such a hard time during my childhood that the rough time I had when I was young felt like a learning process for me. But I think people in school these days must have a rough time in many ways as well because for example, tuition is so expensive. Nonetheless, I want to tell them that they'll do well for themselves. There's no need to live life frantically but there's also no need to be too easy-going.

10: What do you think you were like when you were in your twenties?
Kim: When someone told me that it seems like I don't play, I used to say I do, but I once heard that people think that I don't play because I don't when I'm working. But I mean, isn't that only natural? Why would you play when you're working? For example, I don't drink the day before I have to go on TV because if I have a hard time, it'd be because of the alcohol, not because of the work. (laugh) I might have drank if I was the type that's okay after drinking, but I tended to get bad hangovers and my skin would become bad quickly. I think having such inferiority complexes helped a lot.

10: Do you still have such inferiority complexes?
Kim: I do but I've trained myself not to mind them. I live with a more positive attitude than I used to.

10: It seems that you have a lot of thoughts and concerns so I've been curious as to whether you're thinking of staying a celebrity your whole life.
Kim: I may take breaks in between and I do want to try something else as well but I don't think I'd be able to quit it completely. I like being hyperactive so if one day, I decided to set up a restaurant, I'd be hyperactive only within that space but if I stayed a celebrity, I could be hyperactive on a national level. (laugh) I'd like to stay a celebrity as long as I'm in demand. There are quite a lot of celebrities my age these days that want to quit and when I think about it, I too was like that before I served my military duties. Well, rather than wanting to quit entirely, I wanted to rest a bit. I think it's because I sprinted too early in my life, during my early twenties, when life is actually like a marathon.

10: Then how do you want to live your life from now on?
Kim: However it goes. (laugh) I think I've lived my life quite hardcore up till now without having really done anything in particular but I don't think it's really necessary. I just need to make sure that I don't disappoint people greatly. I can drink two days before going on television, as long as I don't drink the day before it. (laugh) That's why my future plan for life is to just life it as it goes. To just go for everything and what doesn't work out, whatever.

10: What is it that you have gained through that 'whatever' mentality?
Kim: Sound sleep. (laugh)

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Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@, Jang Kyung-Jin three@