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| yna@yna.co.kr 2023-02-10 11:34:52
SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean actor Yoo Yeon-seok, who made himself known by starring in numerous films and drama series, now has made another so-called “all-time favorite character” in his filmography whose emotional ups and downs the actor had delicately portrayed.
During an interview held at a cafe in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on Thursday in celebration of the wrap-up of his latest JTBC drama “Interest of Love,” the actor said, “I tried to seem less like a typical dandy male protagonist who usually appears in romance dramas but rather more like one of those we may encounter in real life.”
The drama sees Yoo as Ha Sang-soo, the epitome of an upright man who graduated from a prestigious university and became a banker. He excels in his share of work without making any excuses. Not only is he excellent in his work but also in his manners: The banker is also characterized as a well-mannered man who fills his colleague’s empty cups without one noticing and carefully examines the side dishes others like and chooses to eat the rest.
Ha Sang-soo, who seems close to a typical ideal type, yet turns into an extremely realistic character as he falls in love – he not only acts selfishly as he fails to control his emotions but also hurts people around him with indecision.
Yoo said with a smile, “I think viewers were watching Ha Sang-soo from various perspectives as they were putting themselves in his shoes,” adding, “I have received some amazing reviews, which made me monitor their reviews in real-time during the airtime.”
“Ha Sang-soo’s behaviors may seem pathetic to some but to some others, he may seem to be attempting to finally be honest with his feelings,” the 38-year-old actor said. “I tried to not make any judgments of the character myself and express Ha Sang-soo’s feelings as fairly and genuinely as possible.”
In the drama, Ha Sang-soo played by Yoo falls in love with his co-worker Ahn Soo-young, played by Mun Ga-young, who keeps herself calm whenever she faces challenges, making him want to cheer for her.
Due to his personality, Ha Sang-soo carefully approaches Ahn; however, Ahn, who needed assurance more than anything, eventually distances herself from him as Ha hesitates to put his thoughts into action. The relationship between the two then enters a troubling stage.
Yoo pointed out that the discrepancy between the social positions of these two characters also made Ha Sang-soo hesitate so badly. Unlike Ha who joined the bank as a university graduate, Ahn was recruited as a high school graduate.
The drama also realistically portrays the rampant job discrepancies between college and high school graduates, raising concerns on the bitter side of class society that cannot be disregarded even for those in love.
The actor recalled, “Ha Sang-soo always says that he thinkings about the ending first whenever he takes an action, which I think may be the reason why he seemed to hesitate even at the moment before his first date with Ahn Soo-young. I think he pondered on how their relationship may end if they take it seriously.”
He went on to say, “Our drama was set in the background of a bank where money is dealt and customers are evaluated based on statistics, which made other factors that affect relationships other than love be more featured and emphasized.”
The multi-faceted actor, who has recently celebrated his 21st debut anniversary and has credits in an array of movies, dramas, and even musicals, is best known for his roles in which he portrayed pure love, especially those that break one’s heart.
He played Chil-bong, a youthful and genial baseball player, in the smash hit drama “Reply 1994” (2013), and Goo Dong-mae, a ruthless samurai who admires a woman who treats him as himself not as a son of a butcher, in another mega-hit drama “Mr. Sunshine” (2018).
Meanwhile, in “Interest of Love,” Yoo falls into despair and sheds tears as his love for Moon Ga-young faces challenges and he constantly fails to put his thoughts into action.
The actor said, “I think I intended to choose this role in the first place as it is more exciting and also challenging to express and act the role who undergoes hardship and adversity of love than just passionately falling in love.”
“I also believe viewers of our drama were able to relate to the ways I acted out Ha Sang-soo based on the comments I read. I think this work will remain a good memory for a long time as I think I was able to show some reliable sides of actor Yoo Yeon-seok taking a lead role in a romance drama,” the actor added.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
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