Jinju Park “I’m still an actor and entertainer”

“Senior Yoo Jae-seok is the person who turned my life upside down. But I’m still somewhere between an actor and an entertainer.”

Actress Jinju Park said this about her position.

Jinju Park was selected as a WSG Wannabe member on last year's MBC entertainment show 'What Do You Do When You Hang Out?' He then joined 'What Do You Do When You Play?' as a new member and is currently appearing as a regular guest. He revealed that his public position is somewhere between that of an actor and an entertainer.

Jinju Park said, "Recently, in 'What Do You Do When You Play?', I am playing the character Jincheol and wondering, 'How far can I go?' He shared his current situation by saying, “I am not the type to just run around in life, either.”

Jinju Park received the Rookie Award at the ‘2022 MBC Broadcast Entertainment Awards’ in December last year. After receiving the Rookie of the Year Award, he expressed his feelings, saying, "Senior Yoo Jae-seok, who pushed me off the cliff and said, 'You can fly,' thank you for pushing me. I'm so scared."

He said, "Suddenly, I was running around, and someone was pushing me. I kept pushing, but instead of saying, 'Wait a minute,' a good person was pushing me. So I said I would try 'What do you do when you hang out?' and even when I joined, I wasn't sure until the end. (Yoo Jae-seok) Lee) Min was right, and he said, ‘Okay, let’s jump in,’ so I did it,” he said, making people laugh.

He continued, "When I was at WSG Wannabe, I was immersed in being an idol. The reason I was able to do that was because I went all the way to the end with the mindset that I wanted to finish what I was doing and go back to my main job. Throughout the process, senior Yoo Jae-seok gradually said, 'Jinju, you are good at it, but you don't know that. “It’s the same. You’ll come to know parts of yourself that you don’t know,” he said, and kept talking in a way that I couldn’t understand.”

Jinju Park said, “I never had any plans for the Rookie of the Year Award.” He said, "Attending the 'Entertainment Awards' itself was not in my plans. Aside from the award itself, I was scared for a moment when I saw seniors who had been there for a long time, such as Lee Gyeong-gyu, Kim Gura, and Kim Kuk-jin, sitting there. 'Is this reality?' “I thought so. It felt incredibly weighty,” he confessed.

Regarding concerns about the image of entertainment, Jinju Park said, "Actually, I didn't do a lot of entertainment because of that. Once I appeared on a variety show, it became a hot topic. I only appeared on ‘Running Man’ once. I was extremely avoiding it. I was so nervous that when I went on entertainment shows, the MCs would be puzzled. “My motto in life was ‘let’s act well,’ and I’ve come this far.”

Regarding the show she is currently appearing on, 'What Do You Do When You Hang Out?', Jinju Park said, "Going to film every Thursday feels like going to an audition. I got to participate in a program that has such weight and is done at such a great time, so it doesn't make sense that I don't feel this much weight. It works. I have to carry the natural pain and weight, but I feel that I will be loved and develop. I don't necessarily do things that I think people won't like or that I'll get criticized for. So I think it's a challenge, and I think I'm constantly waking up and improving. Thursday “I pray sincerely on Wednesday, the day before we film ‘What Do You Do When You Hangout?’” he said.

He said, "There is no one who can't make a plan like me. Even if you look at other actors, they have plans and goals. There are days when they fail when the modifiers 'trend', 'rising', and 'hot' are added in the middle. I decided to do this for a long time. "All I could think about was living an ordinary but acting-like life. I think director Je-kyun Yoon and senior Jae-seok Yoo knew that I wasn't a kid with a goal and caught me," he added.

Park Jin-ju said, "I think Director Yoon Je-gyun and senior Yoo Jae-seok think I'm a waste. I've never thought of a line like this. In fact, I'm not the type of person who is good or good at communicating with directors or seniors. When I won the Rookie of the Year award at the 'Entertainment Awards', I “I was going to say that I was only surrounded by good people rather than that I did well, but I was so nervous that I forgot. No matter how much I think about it, it seems like that,” he said, making everyone laugh.

Also, “Senior Yoo Jae-seok and Director Yoon Je-gyun always say the same thing. The keywords are ‘You are better than you think’, ‘It is the world that determines your position, but you never know who will shine in the end’, ‘Always at that moment. He said, ‘You have to be sincere and do your best.’ In fact, there were many opinions on ‘What do you do when you play?’ Senior Yoo Jae-seok said, ‘Jinju, that’s natural,’ ‘We just have to work hard,’ and ‘There are other He said, ‘Don’t think about it.’ When I asked him if he thought I was scared, unhelpful, or not funny, he sincerely told me, ‘Just trust it and go.’”

Park Jin-joo said, "I have never been criticized like that in my life. I worked hard for my role in the drama. I was also scared because it was my first time receiving direct feedback. (Yoo Jae-seok) told me to trust us." “You are the person who turned my life upside down. What you say is important, but I think just seeing you as a person is someone who changes the lives of those around you,” he said with a laugh.

In addition, when asked whether he was closer to the title of actor or entertainer, he replied, "I think it's still closer to acting, but I think it's right to be in the middle." He said, "In the past, I only did acting my whole life, so I divided it into dramas and movies." “I was focused on it, but now I’m really doing my best here and there,” he said.

Lastly, Park Jin-joo said, "I think I would have been more free if I hadn't received the Rookie of the Year Award, but I received the award. Like senior Yoo Jae-seok said, I plan to burn myself by working harder and showing more than what I have. Isn't it true that a candle burns the body? Like that, it fuels me. “It will burn, and I can think of it as still a seed.”

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