Q. Last year, your movies and drama were all super successful.
A. It was really amazing. I might look confident [because they were all box office hits], but I’m absolutely not at all. With every work I ask myself, ‘can I do well this time?’. I have big concerns like that. So when the work turns out really well and successful, when I experience that, it feels so wonderful/fascinating. I always want to have moments like these [T/N: by “these moments” he means the excitement of worrying about his works before they are released, then being happily surprised at their positive outcome, like with Veteran and Sado].
Q. That must have created a heavy burden on you, in regards to your next projects.
A. I’m mainly looking at movies right now. I’m reviewing works which should be filmed at the end of the year, since I have a free time at the moment. No matter how rationally I proceed given my situation, there will be people who will ask: “why hasn’t he enlisted in the army yet?”. I’m not going to do any works, and I want to wait till I receive the enlistment notice, since I need to be careful about people’s feelings. So I’m carefully considering/looking at some works. [T/N: he wishes to take up works, since he hasn’t been sent the enlistment notice, and he does have time. But he won’t, because the public would have strong feelings against him taking works during this time in particular, since this is time for him to enlist. So, we believe he’s only reviewing works. He’s super reluctant to accept any. Obviously deep down he wants to do one work before military. He just fears the backlash]
Q. Do you regret not enlisting earlier?
A. Since I made my debut as a teenager, I’ve been working nonstop. Years went by so fast, and I missed the perfect time to enlist. So I do regret that. And I’m not proud about it. People who enlist later in life say that a lot [that they feel regretful/wish they enlisted when they were younger].