Interview - Im Joo Hwan: “Both ‘Ugly Alert’ And ‘Princess Aurora’ Had Their Own Strengths”

Source: star.mt.co.kr

Translated by Cookingdramas

—2013-12-09—

Actor Im Joo Hwan chose SBS’s daily drama ‘Ugly Alert’ as his comeback project after getting discharged from the army and as an actor, he gained a significant amount of experience from it. Meanwhile, from not being able to land a lead role, to eventually leading the drama, to filming under the ‘live-shoot’ system compared to a pre filmed production, he was able to safely complete filming.  Shin PD’s continuous support also gave him great strength.

However Im Joo Hwan said “After the show ended, I still couldn’t relax.”

Seeing how he has successfully completed such arduous filming, it seems as if he will be able easily handle any circumstance in his future projects.

On the morning of this month on the 6th, we met up with Im Joo Hwan who shared a lot about ‘Ugly Alert’.

◆ “Although Gong Joon Soo’s character is unrealistic, his charm lies in his sincerity.”

At the time, Im Joo Hwan’s casting was made at the very end. His appearance was all thanks to Shin Yoon Sub PD who never hesitated and pushed for Im Joo Hwan to be the main lead. In the process, most of the production team was against Im Joo Hwan’s casting. The reason they gave was because he was not ‘well-known’.  For the first time, Im Joo Hwan also wondered about his own casting.

“When I received the offer for the casting from the director, I thought “do they have the right person?” I later heard the director say that when he saw me, he somehow had a good feeling. I heard during that time, the director searched for information about me through videos of the projects I’ve been in and things like magazine interviews.  The director that worked with me in MBC’s drama “Tamna the Island” also looked after me and gave me strength. I am really grateful (for them).”

After many setbacks, in the end Im Joo Hwan was casted in ‘Ugly Alert’ and took the role of Gong Joon Soo. Shortly after his character started taking care of his family, for his brother, he took the blame for a crime he did not commit. While he lived a turbulent life, he never gave up his positive attitude; he was a young man with a pure image.

Im Joo Hwan talked about Gong Joon Soo’s charm. “(His charm lies in) that image of him who does something and does not expect anything in return and his positive personality.”   

“No matter how you look at it, Gong Joon Soo is a person you won’t find in real life, but I think he has his own charm. Gong Joon Soo is someone that thinks that what he’s doing appears to be right and goes right ahead with it. Although in the beginning Gong Joon Soo’s every action had one scratching their head, but now when you look back at it, when he became a ‘parent’ at such a young age he immediately had the instinct to take care of his siblings, and it was that ‘headfirst’ personality of his that defined his actions.

When Im Joo Hwan thought back to what he considered as the drama’s most memorable scene, it was the moment where he could understand and empathize with Gong Joon Soo.

“There was a scene where Gong Joon Soo leaves prison and heads to his siblings place only to get kicked out. At that time, the youngest sibling (Nari) gives him 10 000 won and tells him never to find them again and it’s this scene where I felt a whole rush of emotions. I empathized with that Gong Joon Soo who felt no resentment to his siblings that refused to accept him. To act that, the emotions were extremely complex and subtle.”

Im Joo Hwan talked about his compatibility with the female lead Kang Sora who played Na Do Hee.

“Gong Joon Soo showed a particular affection to someone who had an unusual ability for business and a strong maternal feel, Na Do Hee was someone with that ‘daring’ image and through Kang Sora, it was portrayed really well.”

He also mentioned Kang Sora’s special charm.

“I couldn’t help but to think she was highly intellectual. When we had breaks in between filming I’d see her reading a book or an English newspaper, and her ability to quickly memorize the script is really amazing. I also heard she personally has experience in writing wuxia short-stories on the internet. She was also very into her performance.” 

Along with this he said, “through this drama, I happily filmed and worked hard together with actors of different ages” and also commented, “in the near future I’d like to meet up with them again to catch up.”

◆“To ‘Princess Aurora’ that aired at the same time, it was probably the ‘unexpected’ storyline that captured viewers’ attention.”

Before ‘Ugly Alert’s broadcast, it was promoted with the concept of being a ‘healing drama’ and a ‘nice drama’. It was a story that embodied how the young people of our time live a hard life but possess a positive mind that enable them to overcome obstacles and also how they work hard to find their happiness and the growth that comes with it.

However, in the end it didn’t capture most of the general public’s interest. MBC’s daily drama “Princess Aurora”, also being broadcast at the same time, had a unexpected storyline that took a proportion of viewers. Repeating the makjang formula, ‘Princess Aurora’ captured most of the audience’s attention and even recorded 20% in ratings.  

Being the main character of the ‘competitor drama’, what was Im Joo Hwan’s view on ‘Princess Aurora’? Indeed, he was modest about it.

“I think because ‘Princess Aurora’ had elements such as unexpected lines and stories that viewers felt more curious and kept on watching. Actually both shows each had their own strengths. (In Ugly Alert), such story-lines as the nice stepmother appearing from (Gong Joon Soo’s) childhood or how the main character’s first love became his love’s step mother and other settings are all controversial. Nevertheless, as the story unfolds, we get closer to the important ‘elements’ such as reconciliation and forgiveness.”

Following, he expressed his honest opinion on the topic of ratings.

“(When I look at the ratings) , I sometimes have a lot of thoughts. As an actor, I don’t think you should be concerned about numbers. Ratings nowadays are a type of ‘survey’,and since those figures represent many different standards and perspectives, aren’t ratings then, only a measure of a drama’s popularity? That’s what I think.”

◆ “I want to try being a villain like Lee Jeong Jae in “The Face Reader””

Im Joo Hwan first started his acting career in 2004 with SBS’s drama ‘Magic’. Afterwards, he accumulated more acting experience playing important supporting characters such as in “A Love to Kill” and “The Snow Queen”, “Boys over Flowers and MBC’s *‘Tamna the Island’. However, in all his works he has never played a villain before.

(*note: he was lead in ‘Tamna the Island!’)

To Im Joo Hwan, ‘Ugly Alert’ left him a reward.  “Compared to my previous works, ‘Ugly Alert’ increased my recognition even more.”

“However, I have never thought that I spent my time in vain with my other projects. Through ‘Ugly Alert’  I was able to perform better as an actor and I also created more confidence for myself. Before, I personally thought ‘my life as an actor will start when I’m 35’, but now it is more like this is the ‘second act’ (or 2nd starting point) of my career as an actor.”

On Im Joo Hwan’s future goals he revealed “I want to challenge being a villain.” He also said he really wishes to break free from the ‘nice guy’ image.

“I really want to create more different images for myself.  Take an older movie for example, I’ve always wanted to have the same image as Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs”.  For a more recent work, Lee Jung Jae sunbae-nim’s portrayal of Soo Yang Daegun (Sejo of Joseon)  in ‘The Face Reader’ also left a deep impression on me.”

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Cookingdramas: 

"I could not help but feel disheartened to learn ‘the staff’ that were objected to Im Joo Hwan’s casting felt he was not ‘well-known’ enough. PFFTTT….Just goes to show that the industry values popularity over talent. In the end, that idol who has zero or lack of acting experience can be given a lead role over someone who is much more worthy. In the end, it’s all down to money. Although it’s something to feel deterred about, it’s good to know there are some people like Shin PD who at least can see through that! I don’t know how many times I’m going to say how grateful I feel towards him T_T~~~ 

I agree with what Im Joo Hwan said on ratings. Most of the times it’s just a popularity measure. Ratings are not everything, at least to the viewer, but to the production company, the actors, and the TV station that may not always be the case. Sad, but true. 

Anyway, I could rant on forever on these two topics, so I shall end it here… "