Stream K-Dramas at OnDemandKorea

Yoo Ah-in: 'I Can Do Everything in Front of Camera'

Actor Yoo Ah-in, who played the protagonist named Wan Deuk in the movie "Punch", said during an interview on October 13, "There are things that I have to give up simply because I am an actor, but I can do everything and I can give up everything in front of a camera while filming. I do not feel scared even though I am actually a timid person. I can even die as an actor". He looked very serious while saying, "Attitude and viewpoint are important".

Advertisement

Yoo Ah-in debuted with his appearance in a teenage drama entitled "Sharp 1" in 2003. He became popular when he appeared in the drama "He Who Can't Marry" (2008) and he became a star actor with his appearance in the drama "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" (2010). He has begun to appear in more movies since he appeared in the movie "Shim's Family" in 2007 and he continued to make appearances in movies such as "Antique" (2008), in which he appeared with many other "flower boys", and "Sky and Sea" (2009), in which he appeared with actress Jang Nara, but his movies could not reach the level of success as his dramas. This time, Yoo Ah-in is challenging himself again with "Punch", in which he appears with actor Kim Yoon Seok to portray a relationship between a teacher and student. "Punch" will tell a story with various social issues such as problems arising from a multi-cultural society and education. It is based on the original novel with the same title written by Kim Rye-ryeong, who won the 1st Changbi Prize for Young Adult Fiction. "Punch" keeps its cheerful and pleasant atmosphere during the whole running time of 107 minutes.

Asked about his feelings regarding playing a character who is eight years younger than him, he answered, "I felt pressure, but I decided to play the character to break people's expectations about my acting. People might have built some expectations about me and my acting since 'Sungkyunkwan Scandal', and I wanted to break the expectations and the preconceptions that people might have about me. I thought that it would be very fun. I do not want to call it 'transformation', but I just did not want to follow the specific path that people can easily predict. I did not want to be locked by specific boundaries. At that moment, I came to read the script of "Punch"". He reportedly did not simply try to recall the days when he was a high school student to play the character. Instead, he tried to meet high school students to learn how they feel now. He said, "These days, students are so individualistic. We tended to gather to eat and talk together, but current students usually do something alone. They do their own works and respect each other's tastes. They also have their own strong beliefs, which is very different from our generation. I envy their culture".

"Punch" is based on a subject of multicultural society that has rarely appeared in Korean movies, but the story is not something totally new. There are many settings that are very typical in the movies, including a good teacher who tries to persuade a bad student. Yoo Ah-in said, "The script was not that interesting, but I could easily read it. I chose this movie because I liked the attitude and viewpoints in the story. It was very pleasant and natural, and there was no artificial laughter. There is no huge storyline, but there are trivial plots flowing naturally".

Yoo Ah-in also experienced a stormy youth. He did not want to wake up early to go to school and felt bored about school just like other ordinary students, but he was different because he asked himself, "Why should I go to school if I do not want to?" He said, "I asked myself many times why I had to attend school. I tend to ask the reason for many ordinary things that usually happen very naturally from the time when I was young. But I was different from Wan Deuk, who is just wandering. I was good at studying. I was a rather social and political person at that time, unlike the character Wan Deuk (laugh)". He went to an art school in a suburban area and he impulsively came to Seoul to become an entertainer. Even though he went to an art school, he could not find any excitement from his school and he dropped out against his parent's strong objections. He explained, "We do not know anything about acting if we do not act, and if we do not become an actor. At that time, I just wanted to become an actor because I thought that actors seem to be respected by many people. Usually, handsome boys can become actors at first and they can act to some degree. Just like other good-looking boys who become actors, I also became an actor in an unguarded moment".

But when Yoo appeared in "Sharp 1", he reportedly asked himself instinctively, "What kind of actor do I have to become?" He came to a dead end and he could not explain the reason for a long time. He lost his interest in acting and went back to his hometown. He had to think about it, and he finally decided to appear in a low budget independent movie entitled "Boys of Tomorrow" (2007). He said, "At that time, I thought that an actor had to be at least a scarce resource that could not be easily replaceable. I was deeply immersed in art in my early twenties. I had to seek my own direction, and the answer was to appear in an independent movie". But then poverty came upon him. He did not appear in any other commercials since he appeared in "Sharp 1", and he experienced severe poverty in his early twenties. After he had decided to become an actor, he decided to take all responsibility for himself and never depended on his parents. He said, "Living alone in Seoul after coming from a rural area was very hard. I could not pay rent, and my gas supply was cut off because I could not pay the bill. I received payment sometimes, but I usually used all the money quickly. But I never depended on my parents. My independent attitude seemed to have become my only asset. I left home after declaring to my parents, 'I do not need your help. You do not need to take responsibility about my life because I will become an actor'. How then could I try to depend on my parents (laugh)? There were many difficulties in my life, but I think that those hard moments and experiences have become a good asset for me".

Asked about a notable actor among other actors in his age range, he named the actor Lee Je-hoon, who appeared in the movie "Bleak Night". He explained, "After I watched the movie, I felt sorry because I should have appeared in that kind of movie". Regarding the question asking whether he has any acquired talent, he answered with a smile, "I believe in destiny. I want to become Mozart rather than Salieri. I think that I have a certain degree of talent".

❎ Try Ad-free