- Then, when did you start to take an interest in acting?
“One day I was passing through a school corridor, a senior called me to stand against the wall and told me, ‘You just have to stand still here.’ I thought ‘What is this?’, and it turned out my seniors needed an extra for an independent film that they were making. It was a role where I really didn’t have to do anything but stand still at the back, but I found it interesting. From that day onwards, I would follow my seniors around and ended up filming independent movies. Under poor filming conditions, I was shivering in the cold everyday but I was really happy. The indie film director who saw that film decided to cast me, so I ended up starring in independent movies, and I ended up acting from then onwards.”
- When the dependable son who was good in his studies in high school said he wanted to do acting, your parents must have strongly objected.
“After my dad passed away when I was in my fifth year of elementary school, I grew up under the care of my single mother, and she was really strongly against it. I was a son who had never gone against my mother’s words, but when I said I wanted to act, that was the first time I went against my mother and fought back. My mother was really hurt. I still feel sorry whenever I think of that.”
- But despite that, your mother must be very fond of you now.
“That’s right. She’s really proud of me. My mum really suffered a lot bringing me up alone, but she’s very happy now. I’m happy because mum is happy.”
- What about plans for army?
“I’ll probably go sometime next year. I don’t really have any bad feelings about the army. If one is a South Korean man, isn’t that a place he has to go no matter who he is? Because I come from all-boys middle school and high school, I should be fine (laughs).