Jang Dong-yoon, “Concerned with ‘straight image’”

When you think of actor Jang Dong-yoon, the first image that comes to mind is 'upright'. Before his debut, he received a plaque of appreciation after catching a convenience store robber while studying economics and finance at Hanyang University. He then appeared on public broadcast news and conducted an interview. However, Jang Dong-yoon was worried about his image as an actor being ‘straight’.

Jang Dong-yoon received a police commendation for contributing to the arrest of a convenience store robber with his college classmates in 2015. His image spread to online communities and became a hot topic. After much discussion, he debuted as an actor and has an unusual career. As a faithful Christian, he is also called ‘church brother’. It was said that actor Jang Dong-yoon's worries sometimes deepened due to his unusual career before debut.

"I worry when that image affects the actor's role. I think the external image is separate from acting as a role. But the public thinks about the external image. That's the job of an actor, and the external part is also “Because you can’t change your mask.”

Jang Dong-yoon, who has a straight and gentle face, revealed that he got into a lot of fights when he was young. He said, "I look nice, so when I drink on the street, people start picking fights with me. Even though I have a bigger brother next to me. That could be my complex. The image of being 'straight' has both good and bad points. The public “I want to break my image through various roles and a good image of myself,” he said.

He continued, "I look wealthy, upright, straight, and flawless, but it's far from my actual personality. I'm an easy-going and easy-going person. I also want to appeal with my natural appearance through acting. Movie 'Long D' (Director Lim Jae-wan) He added, “The character of Ui Do-ha’s geological appearance was also partially derived from my usual self.”

Jang Dong-yoon, who went through a powerful transformation last year with the movie 'Wolf Hunt' (directed by Kim Hong-seon), which is not suitable for teenagers, has changed 180 degrees. He, who speaks with his eyes, appears in the movie 'Long D' as a grumpy yet lovable boyfriend with the face of someone just starting out in society. 'Long D' tells the untact love story of Do-ha (played by Jang Dong-yoon) and Tae-in (played by Park Yu-na), a couple of the same age who have been in a long-distance relationship for five years before turning 30.

'Long D' is the first Korean film to showcase the screen life of the romantic comedy genre. Screen life is a genre of movies that consists only of SNS windows, webcams, and YouTube screens through the screens of digital devices such as PC, mobile, and CCTV. Regarding this, Jang Dong-yoon said, "I thought I could elicit sympathy from the youth. I haven't done a long D, but there were quite a few long D couples around me. Isn't a long D usually a man who goes to the military and just makes phone calls and waits for the rubber shoes? Many people think of it as a long D. “I thought I could sympathize,” he explained.

He also said, "I thought it would be a fun way to breathe while working while there are relatively many heavy and bloody works. I had never experienced the format of screen life itself, so it was a new challenge and one of the reasons I chose it, but I was more attracted to the story. “He said.

Jang Dong-yoon uses all kinds of SNS during the movie awards. In real life, Jang Dong-yoon does not engage in casual dating or social media. Jang Dong-yoon, who prefers to distinguish between 'public' and 'private', said, "Of course, SNS will have its pros and cons." He added, "I have no choice but to expose a certain part of my private life rather than my strengths. If I choose to upload the private part rather than work, it shows my intention. I have to choose among the photos I took and write a post about them, but I'm not confident I can do that well."

In 'Long D', Jang Dong-yoon has an indispensable relationship with YouTube. Jang Dong-yoon recited his history of the Internet. He said, "I think a lot about smartphone addiction. There is a lot of exposure to digital devices, dopamine is not distributed normally, and it erupts easily. I think about smartphone addiction a lot. Exposure to digital devices “There is a lot of this, dopamine is not distributed normally, and it erupts easily,” he confessed.

Jang Dong-yoon said, "I am also a digital addict and easily exposed person, so I watch too much YouTube. I even paid for premium. Recently, I was really worried that I was becoming a fool. Because of my awareness, I canceled my YouTube premium payment. And YouTube. “I deleted the application. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s that I like it so much that I thought I should quit,” he said.

The movie Jang Dong-yoon recently watched is ‘Ride the Summer Film!’ It is a movie with the setting that the movie disappears, but eventually the movie disappears and 10 seconds of footage remain, making the movie extinct. I sympathized with this movie. I am actually working (in this field) and am a person who loves movies. I also thought to myself, ‘I should be a person who can watch movies.’ I really like that movie. I decided that I would rather watch one episode at that time. However, since I am watching content, I subscribe to OTT. I watch movies and documentaries. I got in big trouble because I was addicted to media. But I quit YouTube,” he said, causing laughter.

Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr