(continuing from interview ①) Actor An Woo Yeon acknowledged that the character he played in "Doctor Shin" was "trash."
Recently, at the OSEN office in Mapo-gu, Seoul, a wrap-up interview with lead actor An Woo Yeon of TV CHOSUN's weekend drama "Doctor Shin" was held.
"Doctor Shin" is a medical thriller drama about a genius doctor who challenges the realm of God and a woman whose brain collapses overnight and who loses her soul. In the drama, An Woo Yeon played successful game developer Ha Yong-jung. Ha Yong-jung is someone who has an unrequited love for Momo (played by Baek Seora), who is engaged to Shin Ju-shin (played by Jung Yi-chan). At the same time, he drew criticism for giving mixed signals to Geum Bara (played by Joo Se bin), who has a crush on him, calling her his "younger sister" while still leaving room for more. Moreover, Ha Yong-jung impulsively spent a night with Geum Bara and afterwards showed vacillating behavior between Momo and Geum Bara.
Regarding Ha Yong-jung's attitude toward Bara, An Woo Yeon said frankly, "Even I think he's trash. I was watching the broadcast and thought, 'Wow, are there people like that?'" He said, "We actors have a group chat. Watching recent scenes, everyone said, 'Seeing it like this, it's really too much.' Even I think Ha Yong-jung is really not good. Saying she's your sister while ambiguously keeping her on the side, doesn't it feel like that? Until then it was fine when acting, but reading the scripts from episodes 12 to 14, I found myself saying, 'Ugh, damn!' Even though I'm Ha Yong-jung, I thought, 'This guy is really bad.'"
When asked exactly what Ha Yong-jung's feelings for Bara were, he said, "Honestly, I didn't know. He calls Bara his sister in words, but he keeps thinking about her and taking care of her, so it seemed like he liked her. I was confused too. He's marrying Momo, but strangely I kept feeling that (Ha Yong-jung) liked Bara," and added, "When we went to set, the staff said, 'the bad guy is here.' Hearing women's perspectives, they said this kind of older brother could exist, so they disliked him more. If he were my friend, I think I would have really cursed him out. I would have said, 'That's really not okay. I wouldn't want a friend like you.' Everyone would agree, right?" showing strong empathy.
He said he put a lot of effort into the line "I love you" directed at Bara, saying, "I kept thinking, 'What do I do about this?' So I kept thinking, 'Bara grew up in an orphanage, still hasn't found her mother and father, lived steadfastly on her own, graduated from a four-year university and even became a reporter. There was nobody around her, but I was there like a real older brother, reliably by her side. Let's act like it's to family,' and I tried. But viewers probably don't know. Isn't the problem the 'I love you' itself? I know that. I also have an older sister, and I wouldn't say that to my real sister. I also have a very close younger friend of 14 years whom I see 300 times a year, but I would never say 'I love you.' Why hold hands? Never," he drew the line and made people laugh.
When asked what writer Im Sung-han's intention was, An Woo Yeon recalled, "Originally in that part the writer only said, 'Just treat her like a real older brother.' But thinking back, the writer once called me aside. Very early on, without the other actors knowing, he called me to a coffee shop. The writer and the director were there, and the writer told me, 'Keep staring at Bara. During practice and during filming. And buy her meals and take good care of Bara.' When the director asked, 'Not Momo?' he said Bara. When I asked 'Why?' he said, 'Do it like that. Just take care of Bara, okay?' I said, 'Yes.' But then the script also said, 'He likes Momo, he's a brother to Bara,' so I acted that way. After experiencing the ending, it seemed to have meaning," recalling the writer Im Sung-han's secretive instructions.
On the reactions around him to seeing the drama, An Woo Yeon said, "I watch the drama and look at the comment section, and recently Yong-jung has been getting a lot of curses. What I remember are all the same insults, but I recalled early comments like, 'Are those two hair bangs like two chopsticks?' You can't tell, but he stuck his bangs to his eyebrows. They don't even flutter in the wind. I think of it as invincible clumsiness. There are a few moments when he was sleeping or missed cues, but fortunately people seemed to like his past hairstyle and when he let his hair down. But I think everyone will just dislike Yong-jung," he said with a laugh.
He continued, "My older sister said she didn't like waiting for episode 16 and would watch when it's all out, and my parents liked that their son appeared a lot. And recently I went to our cafe, and the owner of the restaurant next door chatted privately and at the end said, 'But Bara was kind.' He said, 'You should treat Bara well. You should marry someone like Bara.' That restaurant is expensive and he said, 'Bring Bara and eat; I'll give it to you for free.' I wondered what that was about. It turned out he liked me and couldn't directly insult me, so he said things like, 'Marry Bara,' 'You should marry someone like Bara,' indirectly. It was so funny," he recounted the episode.
He also mentioned the web variety show "Couch Potato Club," which he appeared on to promote the work, saying, "When the two (Park Moon-chi, Patricia) asked which between Ju-shin and Yong-jung you would choose, they said Yong-jung. At that time the broadcast hadn't fully aired, so I said, 'I hope he doesn't change until the end.' Now I think opinions have changed," he predicted the collapsed public sentiment and added a laugh.
[photo] KX Innovation
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