Yoo Yeon-seok "I'm not afraid of acting, I want to destroy my dandy image"

“‘Puppy’ has a dog as the main actor and is a work with important meaning.”

Actor Yoo Yeon-seok opened his mouth with a somewhat awkward smile in a recent interview for the movie 'Puppy' (director Kim Joo-hwan). It was because of the memory of I couldn't control my emotions and shed hot tears at the recent screening of 'Puppy'.

“I was embarrassed because it was the first time I cried in public. The meaning and message of this movie remained in my heart, so I think I burst out in emotion when asked how I watched it. I often cry after watching my movies. This was my first time, and tears came to my eyes at an unexpected point.

He recalled the memory of interacting with his dog Rooney while filming ‘Puppy’. He said, "The dog wasn't acting. The camera captured his interaction with me. I remember interacting with Rooney. When I cried and when I held him, I felt the sound of his breathing change. “I’ve never actually seen Rooney’s face hugging me, but it was touching to see that,” he said.

Yoo Yeon-seok, a famous pet owner, also mentioned tvN's 'Canada Check-in'. He said, "Lee Hyo-ri only met the dog, but it's sad. I'm sure many people felt the same way. It's not a provocative situation, and I don't need to cry, but I cry."

"I took children who were looking for adoption, and tried to send them to a better place for adoption, and then I found a good family. I ended up going there, and I was touched that the child remembered me. The journey to get to that place was also touching. "I don't know if it was because it felt similar to our movie for a moment, but it was great to go through the journey together."

Yoo Yeon-seok also chose the scene where he went into an empty house without Rooney and touched Rooney's sofa and fur ball as the scene that made him the most sad while watching 'Puppy'. He smiled and said, "I cried the most the moment I felt the empty space while touching Rooney's fur ball. I feel sad when I see that empty space after sending my child away. Those who have experience will sympathize."

When asked by a reporter that Yoo Yeon-seok's guarantee for appearing in 'Puppy' was cut, he said, "Money was not an important part of this work. Not only me, but everyone else said that," and added, "This story is not a masterpiece and may not readily reach out to the audience, but “I thought the work itself would have meaning, so we all started with similar thoughts,” he said. "Oh, that's right? But it didn't really matter to me. What does it matter if I get more or less? In fact, it doesn't really matter how many viewers there are left in numerical terms. Before the release of 'Puppy', it was the closing film of the Seoul Animal Film Festival. “I was worried about opening it as well because the meaning was more important.”

After finishing filming ‘Puppy’, Yoo Yeon-seok adopted an abandoned dog, Rita. A direct implementation of the message in the movie. He said, "Coincidentally, the CEO of KARA at the time was director Lim Sun-rye. While filming 'Informer,' (Park) Hae-il got to know director Lim Sun-rye through his older brother, and we had a relationship that led to him adopting Rita through director Lim Sun-rye." “There were small things I was doing for , and I heard there was an animal film festival, and ‘Puppy’ was introduced at that time,” he said with a smile.

To that extent, Yoo Yeon-seok thought that the main actors of ‘Puppy’ were the eight dogs that appeared. “We have to film the main actors first. And we filmed in our spare time. It was a natural process. I just hoped that these people (8 puppy dogs) would not give up on our film. We are not important. "Dogs are important. We worked hard to get the best acting out of these people's short attention spans. We prepared catering, prepared trailers, gave them private rooms, and let them rest while filming. It was the Hollywood system."

He also shared his impressions of meeting the members of tvN's 'Reply 1994' in the new year of 2023. Yoo Yeon-seok received a lot of love for his role as ‘Chilbong’ at the time. “We always said, ‘Let’s meet,’ and it was great to see each other this New Year. Everyone was still working hard in their respective positions. We talked about filming 10 years ago. We went to the ‘Flower Youth’ variety show with our friends and went on a trip together. Since I had been there and done that, I said, ‘If I get the chance in the future, it would be nice to go on a trip or do a program together.’”

Regarding appearing on entertainment shows, Yoo Yeon-seok said, "I've been to 'Flower Youth' as well. I think I can do it comfortably in a format where my real self is filmed, not something that's made up." “If not, I can approach it comfortably,” he said with a laugh. He added, “In the past, people said that I should refrain from doing variety shows and maintain my character as an actor, but now it seems that people also view my appearance in entertainment shows as attractive.”

Yoo Yeon-seok also filmed the entertainment program 'Fifteen Nights on a Business Trip' with his colleagues from tvN's 'Wise Doctor Life'.

He said, "After 'Sweet Life 1', I asked the people I became close friends to hang out together, and then I called Youngseok and said, 'Let's just set up a few cameras and give it a try.' I didn't know that it would turn into a program. We decided to go camping together. He said, “I asked to just play a few games, and that became ‘Fifteen Nights on a Business Trip.’ From then on, I’ve been doing ‘Fifteen Nights on a Business Trip.’” He added, “Don’t I have a bit of a stake? Our ‘Sului Saeng’ team started this content. “I think it played a part in the content of ‘Fifteen Nights on a Business Trip,’” he claimed, drawing laughter.

It has already been 20 years since he debuted in 2003 with the movie ‘Old Boy’ (directed by Park Chan-wook). While 'Puppy' was waiting for release for about two years, Yoo Yeon-seok met the public through various characters. He played various characters in the Netflix series 'Suriname' and the recently concluded JTBC drama 'Love and Understanding'. Regarding the role of David Park in 'Suriname', Yoo Yeon-seok said, "It was so much fun, and it was an opportunity to show a different side of myself while I was filming 'Suriname' at the time. I think it was good to be able to show a different genre, and fans have continued to do so since then. “I think people really like that character,” he said.

Next, regarding the acting evaluation of the role as 'somewhat shocking', he replied, "I didn't care. It doesn't bother me that much because it depends on the people who see it."

“Acting is about showing what I have prepared. There are always judgments about acting. Sometimes you say you did well, sometimes you say you don’t. I think people feel a little more comfortable with characters they are a little familiar with. But I want to break that. Dandy and I want to shatter my soft image, and I don't want to judge my acting. It may come across as awkward, but I don't want to imprison actors. I don't know what kind of evaluation they'll get. There are times when I feel sad about that, but I shouldn't be afraid of that. “I think I do.”

Yoo Yeon-seok said, "I want to become an actor who is not confined to a genre or character and has a variety of faces. I want to show a variety of sides in movies, dramas, performances, stage shows, entertainment, etc." and "So that you don't get tired of me. Every time. "I don't want people to remember me with a certain image. If you look at my filmography over the past 20 years, you'll see that. What steps I take and what thoughts I have. I think it will be similar in the future."

‘Puppy’, written with sincerity by Yoo Yeon-seok, tells the story of cousins Min-su (played by Yoo Yeon-seok) and Jin-guk (played by Cha Tae-hyun) who unexpectedly meet each other on their journey to find the perfect owner for their beloved dog Rooney. I put it in.

Released on March 1st.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr