'Dream' Hongdae actor Park Seo-joon interview
Actor Park Seo-joon, wearing a knit with a neat hairstyle, gave off an athlete-like vibe. Park Seo-joon, who was interviewed for the movie 'Dream' (directed by Byung-hun Lee) at a cafe in Sogyeok-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 18th, brought out the image of Hongdae, a character whose filming was already completed four years ago.
Park Seo-joon played the role of Hong Dae, a former soccer player and coach of the Homeless World Cup. IU took on the role of Somin, a producer filming a Homeless World Cup documentary. Hongdae and Somin added to the fun of the movie with their straightforward and unpretentious tiki-taka.
Park Seo-joon had high expectations as he worked with IU, a fan of his. “I was such a fan. Not only did he achieve great success as an actor, but also as a singer, and he made really good music. He also wrote lyrics. I thought his acting was very deep, and I was very curious about what it would be like if we worked together.”
Regarding IU's acting, he commented that it was 'not light'. He added, "When I watched 'Broker' and other movies, there was depth. I felt like it would be serious, and even if I expressed the same thing, I didn't think it would be expressed lightly. I had that image." “But this time, it was a bit of a light acting, and I liked the tone. I think reaction is more important than action in acting, and while acting with IU, it was great to work with IU to the point where I thought, ‘It would have been great if I had focused only on reaction.’ "
When asked, 'Have you become very close with IU?', Park Seo-joon said, "I think we have become very close in our own way, but everyone has different standards for intimacy. I think it would be difficult to say to what extent," and "It was not easy to get close to IU because I was a fan." He laughed awkwardly.
Park Seo-joon, who has a reputation as a soccer lover, did his best to prepare the Hongdae character. Details were also carefully taken care of. Efforts were made to look like real players, such as wearing shorts more than long pants and tanning tailored to the short sleeve line. Because it was a soccer player role that I was very interested in, I also put a lot of effort into building my body.
As a result, a body closer to that of an actual athlete was created. Thanks to this, questions arose as to whether CG was used in the Hongdae soccer scene in the movie. Park Seo-joon laughed, saying, "I was grateful for the CG story. I didn't expect such a story, but I guess I did a good job."
“Thank you so much for your positive comments. I think everything works best when there are no expectations. Haha! I think I got a lot of help with camera work. I don’t think it would have looked so good if it had been a fragmentary angle taken by an actual game broadcast camera. “The team worked really hard. Thank you.”
Park Seo-joon, known as a close friend of world-class soccer player Son Heung-min, shook his head when asked about his actual soccer skills. He laughed, saying, “It’s at the level of neighborhood soccer. My skills are not on the evaluation line. It’s at a level that cannot be measured.”
As a soccer player, Hongdae is someone who has an inferiority complex and is considered to be 'second best for 10,000 years.' He viewed Hongdae as "a person with an inferiority complex, lack of affection, and who needed a lot of love from his parents."
I asked Park Seo-joon if there was an actor like him and what kind of actor he takes inspiration from. He answered without hesitation, “Among my peers, I am most inspired by Choi Woo-sik.” Park Seo-joon previously collaborated with Choi Woo-shik through a special appearance in the movie 'Parasite' (directed by Bong Joon-ho). Additionally, Choi Woo-sik made a special appearance in the movie 'Lion' (directed by Kim Joo-hwan) starring Park Seo-joon.
“We have different personalities. We know that very well. There are also points where we envy each other. I often get a lot of inspiration from watching (Choi) Woo-sik.”
We also talked about senior actors. Park Seo-joon said, "The people I get a lot of stimulation from are my seniors. 'Will I be able to have that much depth when I get to that age?' There are points that I worry about. Also, 'Am I still acting at that age?' I also think, ‘What will happen to me in the process?’ When I look at senior Song Kang-ho or Lee Byung-hun, I wonder if I can express those depths.”
Park Seo-joon, who has grown and established himself as a leading actor, has also stepped onto the global stage, such as acting as Prince Jan in the American Marvel Studios film 'The Marvels' (directed by Nia DaCosta). He also said there were times when he was anxious in the past.
When asked what kind of actor he wanted to become, he expressed his determination quite seriously. “I want to be a person who doesn’t make stable choices. I want to be a person who has the passion to take on challenges. I think I have a future only if I protect myself and my soul by making challenging choices even though I may be harshly criticized.”
‘Dream’ will be released on April 26th.
Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr