Interview - Kang Sora and I were the ‘Masters’ Of Mushy Love Scenes (20131210)

Source: Mydaily

Translator: Cookingdramas

(*) = unsure of translation

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Isn’t this person Korea’s “Ivan the Fool?”

In the recently ended SBS drama ‘Ugly Alert, Im Joo Hwan takes on the character of Gong Joon Soo who can be described as someone like ‘Ivan’ in Leo Tolstoy’s short story “Ivan the Fool”.  Amongst the many makjang daily dramas out there, ‘Ugly Alert’ stood out alone as a ‘nice drama’ and the character Gong Joon Soo remained true to himself from start to finish. Like Ivan, in “Ivan the Fool” who is optimistic in everything he does, Joon Soo turned out to be just the same.

"There were many times where I felt quite suffocated about the character Gong Joon Soo."

Like Joon Soo who was always filled with laughter, for my latest interview I met up with Im Joo Hwan who was also filled with that same great atmosphere. Then, is that what ‘Ugly Alert’s’ director Shin Yoon Sub saw in Im Joo Hwan? He personally met with Im Joo Hwan in spite of many people’s objection. It’s not hard to see why director Shin Yoon Sub wanted him to take the lead role. He’s a person with great genuineness, therefore Im Joo Hwan definitely had the qualifications to play Joon Soo.  

“The director gave me a lot of support. Everybody else objected to my participation in ‘Ugly Alert’ and it was only the director that fully supported me. I’m not sure one what made him have so much confidence in me, but he looked at all my previous magazine interviews, and things like my fan-meetings and videos. From me, he found that Joon Soo he was looking for.”

(*) Not only Joon Soo himself, he was also kind to every character in ‘Ugly Alert’. Although like everyone, he also criticized the foolishness and ‘excessive kindness’ of Gong Joon Soo in the beginning, he later started to understand him and like Gong Joon Soo, also changed. He, who used to think his nice character was suffocating, now has spread Gong Joon Soo’s innocence to other people.

“Actually, there were a lot of times where I felt quite suffocated. Joon Soo’s actions were outdated; they are ideas and thoughts people don’t think of these days. So that’s why in the beginning there were a lot of scenes where I did not understand him. Although I was slow to warm up to him, I eventually understood his thinking. Because his basic starting point was to protect his family, and because he had a strong will to protect the siblings his mother loved, I quickly felt closer to understanding him.”

Im Joo Hwan thinks that Joon Soo is ‘ a person society needs in this age’. Because  although he is foolish and slow, or literally ‘ugly’, Joon Soo always puts others ahead of him and in this cruel heartless world, this warmth can be transmitted like an echo. For a fact, because of ‘Ugly Alert’ and ‘Joon Soo’, viewers commented that they have more time to think about things like what the meaning of society and ‘family love’ means to them.

“There was a scene in the drama where Joon Soo visits the patient who claims to have gotten atopic dermatitis after wearing the company’s clothing. Joon Soo treats that man with a genuine heart helping him clean his house, and even washes his feet. There was such a scene where the man lies because he needed money but because of Joon Soo’s words he felt ashamed.Because of Joon Soo, he changed one’s  ‘wrong thought’ to a ‘right thought’ and so because of this, I think Joon Soo is a person society needs.”

"Kang Sora and I were the ‘masters’ of mushy love scenes."

Of course, Joon Soo also had a loveline. In the later half of the drama, while Im Joo Hwan and Kang Sora’s loveline started to develop, they also gave off a sweet feeling. From the rooftop at Dongdaemun, to their story before marriage, right up until their newlywed life, both of their love scenes made people feel warmhearted.

“Kang Sora and I are like the ‘masters’ of mushy love scenes (laughs). The director advised us to not to make it look bad or sappy but to make it plain and subtle. However there might have been a bit too many mushy scenes. Actually, the ‘hand umbrella’ scene was considered ‘cheesy’, but luckily it came out seeming natural.  In order to act well, I think both people need to be good at matching each other’s reactions and I think me and Kang Sora worked really well together at that.”

After acting out these love scenes, there were questions about love and relationships. We asked Im Joo Hwan “Are you going to date?” and he bluntly replied “who doesn’t want to date?” Because he committed to filming the drama right after getting out of the army in February, he complained that he did not have time to date.

Instead, he shared that loneliness with his other celebrity friends. Actor Jo In Sung, entertainer Lee Gwang Soo and the recently enlisted Song Joong Ki, these four people frequently hang out and are really close with each other. Jo In Sung in particular, who helped Im Joo Hwan choose ‘Ugly Alert’ as his comeback project after getting discharged, also monitored the drama while it was airing, sincerely looking out for Im Joo Hwan.

“While the drama was airing, In Sung hyung would watch two or three times a week.  Because he watched occasionally, he would send me messages telling me to ‘keep fighting’ (korean: hwaiting!) Surprisingly, Hyung would also know all about the scenes I didn’t perform too well in. Seems like he was secretly checking up on me. (laughs) The scenes where I felt troubled about, he would see through all that and would give me a lot of advice. To me, he is a really good sunbae and hyung.” 

“I don’t want to be a nice character anymore, I want to try being a villain.”

To Im Joo Hwan, ‘Ugly Alert’ was like a second start for him. If the first starting point was when he stepped onto the road of becoming an actor, the second starting point would be when he came out of the army and made his name more known to the public through ‘Ugly Alert’. After this drama ended, as he has given off a feeling of maturity, in his next project he revealed he wants to try taking on the role of a villain.

“If you ask me what the first character I want to play the most, it would be a villain. From all the works I have done, they were all ‘nice’ characters, so it’s hard to break out from that, that’s why I want to try portraying a villain. I also want to film a sageuk again. In the drama “Deep Rooted Tree”, when I saw the scenes with (Song) Joong Ki and Han Sung Gyu sunbae-nim, I felt envious (laughs).”

While Im Joo Hwan slowly prepares for his next project, he also originally had many plans for himself.

“Originally, I planned to go on a vacation this month. I wanted to rent a car and drive around Jejudo, and I also wanted to go to Mokpo but now because of my schedule I don’t think it’s possible. However, because I couldn’t go on vacation due to schedule conflicts, I feel it also turned out being a good thing.”

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