Ju Ji-hoon: I torture myself a lot because I'm barely breaking even when I do well - Part 2

Ju Ji-hoon [OD Musical Company]

<#10LOGO#> Actors who have worked mostly on movies and dramas tend to want to be acknowledged for their acting than singing when they're working on musicals. I heard that when you did "Don Juan," you started on it with the mindset that you'll own at least the ending.
Ju Ji-hoon: Singing is important as well but I'm focusing more on the acting. Because singing is about acting as well, just with notes to it. And from a certain point on, I've stopped drawing a distinction between films, dramas, musicals and plays. I'm just an actor that tries to relate to every situation.

<#10LOGO#> Then wouldn't you be able to show more detailed acting in a smaller than larger theater?
Ju: As someone who does a lot of work which seeks after what's realistic, when I first started on large theatrical musicals, I felt a considerable gap in the sense that I had to make even the 1,500th person sitting in the very back row see me. But I came to change my mind after continued practice. If you think about it, I'm sure there's at least one person of this world with seven billion people that does acting that seems very big. But people may not think he's unique or weird. He may seem natural. Because he's been living that way his whole life. So I told myself that I'll rehearse more and deliver what I think is real. It's impossible to enlarge something that's small but it's easy to break down a big piece of chocolate. And a lot of people take part in large theatrical performances and there are a lot of good actors and people who are dependable in "Doctor Zhivago." I know I need to go my way but it's also a blessing to be able to be led that way by someone.

<#10LOGO#> But wouldn't you still want to show more detailed acting?
Ju: I'll just need to trouble myself a bit more for that. I'll stick to what I have promised to do on stage including my movements. But in scenes that it's hard to see me or I don't have much acting to do, I do what I do with movies. Whether people see me or not. At least I won't be disappointed in myself after putting in that much more effort. But I have thought, 'I wish they could see it a bit.' That's why they have a great system at theaters. Called opera glass rentals. [laughs]

Ju Ji-hoon [OD Musical Company]

<#10LOGO#> It seems that you're the type that tortures yourself because you're saying that you'll act even in the moments you're not seen.
Ju: That's right. I know, rationally, that I don't need to do that. I know it but emotionally, I can't control it. I'm a very lucky actor. I debuted as the main character in movies, dramas and musicals. And I know it's something that a lot of people would envy but it's also extremely tough and I think if I saw it happen to anyone else, I'd feel sorry for them. Because whether we're good or bad, we get judged. It doesn't even have to be the judgement of someone else -- it could be myself or people we trust in. But it needs to happen in steps. In my case though, I had to take in and deal with the damage that came upon me in one go. What I felt while shooting "Goong" was that nobody cut me any slack because it was my debut project. And I knew that would be the case but it was much worse than I thought it would be. That's why I put my all into musicals when I started on them. And I'm still barely breaking even by putting my all into them. I'm someone who is barely breaking even when I do well so it's become my personality. Of course I'm happy and very grateful but the brighter the light, the deeper the shadow. And I have extremely deep shadows.

<#10LOGO#> But you turned 30 this year so maybe there'll be some changes to that aspect of your personality.
Ju: In the past, I used to consider my goal important and headed in a direction I set. I had obsessions but those have lessened now. I've come to look at the world on a wider perspective so although I may still not take on a lot of projects, I'll probably work on a larger variety of them. I felt light at heart while serving my time in the military and came to be at ease after experiencing a lot of ordinary incidents. In the past, I just wanted to act and if I felt overwhelmed by my fans' love, I even turned away from them. I used to be very scared but I think I've shedded a coat of that.

<#10LOGO#> You said earlier on that you imagined yourself on stage while watching certain musicals. Which ones are they? I think they'd serve as the hint to the next step you'd take.
Ju: Oh! I like the musicals that OD Musical Company takes on. [laughs] I love musicals. They're not like movies where they come down after a showing but run for extremely long times. And during that time, you make various attempts and learn to communicate with the audience so what people usually say are good are really good. I've enjoyed all the musicals that have name value.

<#10LOGO#> Well I'm hoping we'll get to see you on the stages for more projects with name value.
Ju: Even if there aren't! [laughs]

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10 아시아 Reporter : Jang Kyung-Jin three@
10 아시아 Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@