[On the Record] Lee Sung-min "An Actor Is a Person Who Chases Rainbows for Life"

Interview with Lee Sung-min, Actor in the Movie 'Daewoebi'
Playing Soon-tae, the Hidden Power Broker of Busan in 1992
Feeling the Popularity of Jin Yang-cheol in 'The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family'
"Dreaming of Challenging Healing and Melodrama Roles"

"Acting is endless. It's like a rainbow that seems within reach but never quite is. Actors are people who chase rainbows their whole lives. Now that I say it, it sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? Haha."

Actor Lee Sung-min (54) expressed his acting philosophy this way. Whenever the word 'acting' comes up, he becomes serious with a faint smile spreading across his face. Didn't they say there's no experience to discard? Hunger has been the driving force that made him who he is today. He has been running without a moment to catch his breath. After last year's film Remember, the Disney+ series Detective Records, the Netflix series Juvenile Justice, JTBC drama The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family, he returned with the film Confidential Assignment (director Lee Won-tae). In every project, he deeply explores his roles and endlessly pursues genuine emotions along his journey.

Recently, when we met Lee Sung-min at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, he reflected, "It was the same when I did theater, but I just can't take a break. Life isn't much different, so sometimes I even feel sorry for my own life." He laughed, saying, "When I renewed my passport recently, I saw there were only two stamps. One was when I went to the Cannes Film Festival for The Spy Gone North, and the other was when I went on a family trip to Thailand." Looking back, good roles have come his way, and whenever he looks around, attractive projects are right in front of him.

"I Didn't Expect The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family to Be a Huge Hit... Grateful for the Popularity"

Actor Lee Sung-min [Photo by Plus M Entertainment]

Last year was Lee Sung-min's year. He received great love for his portrayal of Chairman Jin Yang-cheol in the JTBC drama The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family. Toward the end of the series, there was talk of changing the title to Chaebol Family Grandfather, and many overwhelmingly agreed with the reaction that "the true acting grand prize goes to Lee Sung-min," marking an impressive performance.

When mentioning this, he humbly said, "That kind of talk comes because the drama did well. An actor's evaluation goes hand in hand with the work's evaluation. No matter how well you act or how satisfied you are, if the work doesn't succeed, the character is forgotten." He then laughed, saying, "When The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family did well, I thought, 'It might last a month.'" He nodded, adding, "It was good. Life has its flavor. Honestly, I didn't expect the drama to do this well. It was surprising, but I thought, 'Well, there's no law that says you have to die.' Above all, I'm glad all the cast members did well."

Lee Sung-min has been showcasing his authoritative side both on the small screen and the big screen. He confessed, "These days, it's a bit tough. I'm worried about what kind of projects I'll do next." He added, "Since Secret Zoo (2020), I've been playing serious roles one after another. The role I'm about to shoot is no less challenging. I want to try more relaxed roles too." Regarding why he keeps getting authoritative roles, he said, "It's because of the influence of previous works." He laughed, saying, "In reality, I'm not dramatic at all. Usually, I'm a person without any particular character."

"Even if I don't feel like an actor, I am influenced by the roles and projects. The unconscious becomes conscious. When I do healthy and healing films, I become healthy too; when they're dark and gloomy, I become heavy as well. For my own emotional well-being, I want to meet healthy projects now."

Broker Role Protected by Power

Actor Lee Sung-min [Photo by Plus M Entertainment]

Lee Sung-min played Soon-tae, a hidden power broker shaking the foundations of power, in Confidential Assignment, which was released on the 1st of this month. Soon-tae is a formidable figure who manipulates the political scene in Busan in the 1990s, eliminating a thorn in his side?a candidate for the National Assembly?and crushing his political career.

He said, "There wasn't much information about the character, but I didn't ask the director. I thought Soon-tae should approach the audience that way. It was ambiguous whether he was a politician or a gangster, so it was actually easier to act." He added, "I imagined him as a broker protected by tremendous power. I thought there must be someone behind the power moving them?someone I've imagined."

With a short hairstyle and mustache, Soon-tae's simple but intense appearance was a character Lee Sung-min had imagined at least once. He laughed, saying, "I had thought about using this style in a project for a while, and I finally used it in Confidential Assignment."

Lee Sung-min has been portraying elderly roles consecutively in Remember, The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family, and Confidential Assignment. Although these characters are complex and not just simple old men, when asked about his thoughts on playing elderly roles repeatedly, he continued, "I didn't think of Soon-tae as an old man when creating him."

"I didn't feel any particular burden, but among the three, the old man in Remember was the hardest to create (laughs). He was the oldest and had a tough life. Jin Yang-cheol had to appear as a mix of several ambiguous characters. Although it's a fictional story, I thought it should remind people of certain figures against the backdrop of modern history, so I paid a lot of attention. I depicted the dialect spoken by elders in my hometown, and my hometown friends called me, saying they were surprised. I created Soon-tae in Confidential Assignment freely based on imagination."

"Lack Is My Driving Force... I Dream of Melodrama"

'Confidential' stills [Photo by Plus M Entertainment]

Lee Sung-min was born in 1968 in Bonghwa, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and began acting on the theater stage in 1987. While working with a theater troupe in Daegu, he was hungry but happy because he had dreams. Life was impoverished to the point where he solved meals by mixing coffee creamer in boiled water with margarine and sugar, but those experiences became the driving force that made the current Lee Sung-min. He smiled faintly, saying, "Now I just need to play hard for another 10 to 20 years and then go."

"In my 20s and 30s, I couldn't see ahead. Where was the future? I vaguely thought, 'What if I become a famous actor?' but I never imagined my current self. I was busy living day to day. Maybe that's why I don't rest well. If I were born again, I wouldn't be an actor; I'd live with another profession. A technical job. Now that I'm older and more confident as an actor, I used to be ashamed of being an actor. I had low self-esteem and used to separate Lee Sung-min the person from Lee Sung-min the actor. Now, I'm comfortable thinking that actor Lee Sung-min is me. In the past, when someone asked to take a photo while I was with my family, it felt unfamiliar. These days, when someone says, 'Chairman Jin Yang-cheol, please take a photo,' I say, 'Ah, yes~' and take it."

Lee Sung-min was diagnosed with COVID-19 on January 1 and recovered at home. He, who had been running without a day off, ended up having an unexpected break. Recalling that time, he said, "I watched movies I had been putting off and slept a lot, not leaving my room."

"I set alarms from 3 a.m., want to see?" Lee Sung-min said, pulling out his phone and showing the alarm screen as soon as he finished speaking. The screen was packed with dozens of alarms from 3 a.m. to evening. Scrolling down, the alarms continued endlessly.

Actor Lee Sung-min [Photo by Plus M Entertainment]

"Some people think being an actor is a leisurely job and say 'Wow!' but it's not like that. It's sensitive and stressful. When I wake up in the morning, I don't want to get out of bed; it's the same. If there's an important scene to shoot tomorrow, almost no actor sleeps well. I'm the same. When there's an emotionally important and difficult scene ahead, I worry and have sleepless nights before going to the set. Still, I want to act better, and I'm satisfied with my job."

The person who knows actors best is probably the actor himself. If Lee Sung-min were a director, what kind of project would he give to actor Lee Sung-min? He laughed, saying, "I want to do melodrama, but I don't get offers. I always do bromance, and it's tiring. But honestly, even though I say that, the thrill is great when I create great scenes with good actors. In Confidential Assignment, my relationship with Jo Jin-woong was a kind of bromance, and in The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family, it was a very blatant bromance where we looked at each other with eyes full of love and hate."