2020.09.25 | Interview
It's the first time you meet Dazed for the two of you, right?
Dong Wook: Yes. It also surprises me. I've done a lot of magazine photoshoots all this time, but this is my first time with Dazed.
Bo Ah: Yes, it is also my first time.
How are you two? Do you both meet for the first time in "Tale of the Nine Tailed"?
Dong Wook: Yes. Previously, there was no chance for us to meet, so I met her for the first time while working on this drama. I realized that Bo Ah is very mature and she is a deep thinker. She's very trustworthy, so I end up trusting her on set, so much so that there are times when I look like the youngest.
Bo Ah: Even though she is much more senior than me, she is very friendly with me as an oppa, and she also adapts well to me in conversations and in the way we work. Not only today, but also during filming, I trust him a lot.
Instead of Bo Ah, Dong Wook is the one who plays the role of the Gumiho, right?
Dong Wook: Yes, I play the Gumiho who has lived over 1000 years. He used to be a mountain spirit who ruled over Baekdudaegan, but now he plays the role of a judge who captures the dead and sends them to the afterlife.
Bo Ah: I'm playing the character Nam Ji Ah, who is a PD from a TV show called "Unveiling Urban Legends." Determined to spend her entire life searching for her parents who disappeared when she was little, she studied hard and became a PD. She always had the certainty that there is something non-human, and they end up getting to know each other while she was looking for the unknown being that she took her parents.
How did Bo Ah play Nam Ji Ah's character? Are there similarities between Cho Bo Ah and Nam Ji Ah?
Bo Ah: I worked hard to bridge the gap between me and Nam Ji Ah as much as possible. Nam Ji Ah has quite a different feel to all the characters I've done so far. So I have been arguing a lot with the director and my superiors to do a good job.
How is Nam Ji Ah different from the other characters Bo Ah has played before?
Bo Ah: How should I put it? My previous characters were mostly delicate and passive, my character this time is extremely independent, strong and courageous.
Dong Wook: That is correct. I think that's Nam Ji Ah's greatest charm. Most typical dramas are written in such a way that the male character steps forward to solve the problem while the female character feels satisfied, but Nam Ji Ah is different. She will actively come forward to solve the case and take charge of the situation.
What about the Gumiho that Dong Wook is acting in? Dong Wook is just as suitable as Gumiho, to the point that he doesn't seem strange at all.
Dong Wook: That is correct. No one has probably seen a male Gumiho before.
Bo Ah (laughs): That's really true, now that we think about it.
Dong Wook: But if people heard "Lee Dong Wook" and the expected reaction of him was "Oh, he's very suitable as a gumiho", I think it's a good base to start with and this can be advantageous for our drama. But as for how much I can live up to those expectations, that will become my personal task.
We are curious about his relationship with the other cast members.
Dong Wook: Kim Bum, you will appear in the role of my younger brother. Bummie is in the same management agency as me. He is very enthusiastic and works very hard as this is his return to post-army enlistment project after a long time. Our relationship is good too, of course. There is also actor Hwang Hee, who appears as the vet Shinju. He is an actor with very good qualities such as vocalization and physical condition.
Bo Ah: Actress Kim Yong Ji will be playing the role of Yuri, and I think her performance is really mysterious and charming even though I am a woman myself. The character that Yong Ji plays is also a Gumiho, and I think she fits the role very well. Like Dong Wook he oppa he matches the vibe of a Gumiho.
We've heard that Dong Wook will read the script over and over before acting until it no longer looks like a script. You once said that you need to do that to extract some "answers" about the character.
Dong Wook: I stopped doing that even since "Strangers From Hell". Whether it's my role as the Grim Reaper in "Goblin", Seo Moon Jo in "Strangers From Hell", or Lee Yeon in "Tale of Nine Tailed" now, they are all characters that don't exist in reality. So it wouldn't work if you just mindlessly poked around the script. I felt like I was trapped within a frame the more I immersed myself in the script. I needed to give myself more freedom, but I was in danger of not being able to get out of the frame that the scriptwriter had set. I think there is more freedom and appeal in the emotions and actions that I get while working on the film set. Similarly, the character Lee Yeon in "Tale of Nine Tailed" is not a character who is limited to nothing at all.
Bo Ah: When I look at Dong Wook oppa on the film set, he is familiar with all the lines and directions in the script, and he doesn't look at the script other than to verify simple things like the end of the dialogues. He seems really carefree on set so I'm envious of that and he looks great.
But we hear that Bo Ah doesn't pale in comparison either. You also delve into the script and your role.
Bo Ah: It seems kind of a habit, I need to have the script in my hands all the time, or it must be somewhere within my line of sight to make me feel comfortable.
Dong Wook: I thought it was a magnet. I will just glue the script to the hand.
Bo Ah (laughs): Because I still find it difficult to move freely beyond the script, so I need to carry the script in my hand to feel comfortable.
Dong Wook: That's how hardworking she is. Filming is not done sequentially based on the plot, but is done individually. So, for example, if we were filming the seventh scene of a certain act, I would ask, "What is the situation just before this scene?" Then Bo Ah will say, "Hey, you know that very well yourself, so now you're testing me, right?" and review the events of the story in depth.
Although I am having this brief conversation with you for the first time in my life, I can feel that Dong Wook has his own unique way of expressing himself. Regardless of whether you are talking to Bo Ah or your fans, you are very sincere and comfortable, but you also show traces of affection here and there in the way you speak the more we talk.
Dong Wook: That's my personality and I think those friends will know it. Because they are friends who have known me for a long time. Even when I speak as if I am criticizing, that is not what I really meant. I always joke with that sweetie. There was a day when fans came to the airport early in the morning to take pictures of me and I said, "Yeah, don't you need to work?" and the fans also replied annoyed: "Oh, I took half the day off before coming!" So don't you think we are very alike? (Laughs)
Bo Ah: It's literally a tsundere, totally. He seems indifferent but he speaks very lovingly.
Earlier in the waiting room, we saw that Bo Ah fans decorated the room very nicely with balloons and things to celebrate Bo Ah's birthday. What was that all about?
Bo Ah: That was done not only by my fans, but also by the staff members who work with me. There was supposed to be an arranged birthday party but it was canceled due to the virus situation so the plans could not be carried out, but they came to the filming set at dawn to celebrate for me like this. I'm really blessed to be able to meet such great people and a great team.
Dong Wook (jokes again with his team leader standing aside): Team leader Nim, did you text me on my birthday? Didn't you get it right?
Bo Ah (laughs): Isn't it because he doesn't know your phone number?
Dong Wook: Although I think he knows my number… but I didn't even get a text message (laughs).
Even before we met and spoke to you like this today, we have an image of Bo Ah as a natural and easygoing person imprinted on our minds based on the various variety shows that Bo Ah has appeared on. The real Bo Ah isn't much different from that, right?
Bo Ah: Yes, I think that's exactly how I am (laughs). Actually, you can't fake your personality on a variety show, even if you wanted to. In “Baek Jong Won's Alley Restaurant”, for example, the cameras are on all day since it is an observation reality show, so it is natural for my personality to be revealed.
Dong Wook: From what I've seen from the side, Bo Ah is basically a bright and nice person. His calm and bright personality brings great energy to the set, to the point that I wonder "Does he ever get mad?" The atmosphere on set is quite different on the days that she is on set compared to the days that she is not.
Now we will ask each of you a final question. For the diligent Dong Wook who seems to set a quota for what he must read and study each day, we would like to hear his thoughts on being an actor in an era where there is no face-to-face contact. He seems like he will have a different thought on this. How will he prepare for this in the future?
Dong Wook: I once got a question in a different session about how the field I am in now will change in the age of AI, but this question is also new. My work as an actor has always been "contactless" from the beginning. Actually, "untact" is not even a proper term in English, it is konglish. In English, it is known as "no contact". The performance culture seems to be gradually weakening, so it's a bit of a concern. Because those are the things that really drive creativity in movies and television.
Bo Ah is turning 30, so we'd like to ask you about your thirty. Since you are now 30 years old, what do you think awaits actress Cho Bo Ah in the future?
Dong Wook: Why is the difficulty level of the question so different? You asked Bo Ah a personal question, while you asked me about "untact".
Bo Ah (laughs): When I was in my twenties, I thought that she would hate growing old, but as she grew older each year, those thoughts started to disappear. I am also proud of the path I have traveled so far. The types of roles that I can take on will change, and the range of emotions that I have as a person and an actor will also change, so I'm excited and looking forward to my thirties. (laughs)
Source: Dazed Korea Magazine
Translation: Latin Fan Community
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