(Continuing from interview 1) Actor Park Hae-soo revealed the efforts he made to portray the Kang Tae-Ju character in Scarecrow.
On the 26th at the BH Entertainment building in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, a wrap-up interview was held with Park Hae-soo, the lead actor of the ENA Monday-Tuesday drama Scarecrow.
Scarecrow is a crime investigation thriller set in 1988 in Gangseong about a detective who was investigating the real culprit of a serial murder case and unexpectedly forms a cooperative relationship with the man he loathed. In the work, Park Hae-soo played Kang Tae-Ju, a detective at the Gangseong Police Station who pursues the truth behind the serial murders.
The Gangseong serial murder case portrayed in the work is modeled on the real-life serial murders by Lee Chun-jae that occurred in places such as Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, from 1980 through the early 1990s. For that reason, Park Hae-soo, who said he "seriously considered" approaching the role, confessed, "Because it is based on real events, and because of the characters and situations that had to go through that, and Kang Tae-Ju's trauma from the past and expressing a life 30 years later, I thought a lot about whether I could not just portray it but also empathize with it."
He said, "There are so many facets and so much suffering, and he causes pain to others and must act through the time he endured, which as an actor was frightening and made me very nervous, but I had a strong sense of challenge. Fortunately, at that time Hyujun (Lee) was there, Sun-young (Kwak) was there, Munsung (Jung) was there, Ji-hye (Seo) was there, and Geon-hee (Song) was there, so as we filmed I gradually felt more at ease than I did at first. When we first did the reading it was very scary. Maybe Hyujun felt the same, because he told the actors not to 'pose.' I felt we had to approach him as a real human being, not just express the character in the drama. We talked a lot to avoid that. Because the director and the writer had thought about this work for so long, I asked many questions as I took part," he explained.
Park Hae-soo confessed, "Meeting the character Kang Tae-Ju was a major turning point in my acting life. It was truly a big opportunity and a challenge. I wondered if I would ever meet such a character or life again, and whether such a human being could exist even in an unimaginable future. I learned a lot and felt ashamed as a human. If a person named Kang Tae-Ju were beside me, I think I'd be very ashamed." When asked what made it a challenge, he replied, "because he is an imperfect human."
He said, "He is not a perfected detective or Sherlock Holmes who can solve every case. I worried about what things would hold me back when I felt like I might falter at any moment, and whether I could do it. I also wondered how I could truly feel pain over all the cases and sufferings. I worried whether, as an actor, I could bear the losses and fully feel them. Could I portray the adult Tae-Ju, a time I have not experienced and could not handle? On the other hand, I thought that if I had been that age, it would have been difficult to portray such an idealized adult. He lived for 30 years enduring hardship and loneliness, and that loneliness was naturally like his task, so because I could imagine a person who acknowledges regret and can go back out to people, I was able to portray him," he explained.
He, who usually is quick to detach from characters after each work, said, "When Scarecrow finished filming I honestly felt relieved. But at some point it kept coming back to me. It felt like it wouldn't leave, like someone was in my room; when the broadcast started I found myself entering that emotion again. This morning when I left I thought it's the final episode and I have to send off Kang Tae-Ju, and I nostalgically put on BB cream and dressed a baby in pants by myself," he joked. He added, "It lingers heavily. I wonder if I'll be okay after it ends today. I met a good character after a long time, so it's bittersweet to send him off," conveying his lingering feelings.
Park Hae-soo said of Scarecrow, "It was truly a major turning point in my life. As an actor, I had many acting-related worries before Scarecrow. It was a fairly significant period. A frightening time had come, and meeting this work made me very grateful to the actors, the director and the writer. It was a truly difficult time for me. I even thought it would be dangerous if I couldn't overcome it, but the director let me meet this work and the character Kang Tae-Ju, and I received so much consolation that this work is very thankful to me. I am grateful because I could not have imagined receiving so much love. I hope this work stays long in people's memories," he said.
When asked about his concerns at the time, he said, "I wondered whether I was failing to look deeply enough at the more humane aspects when portraying a character. I could do well at functional elements required by a drama, but I feared I couldn't create that person — a human being — or someone who unexpectedly stands out. I felt I was still very lacking. I wanted to create a character that felt alive, but I worried about what that meant. So I did studies and received a lot of coaching," and added, "For this work I just let myself tremble. Instead I left a will to try. I often thought that a person seems human not because of results but because an intention emerges or actions follow. Even if it's unsettling or incomplete and not cool, it's not mere boasting," he said, sharing his realization.
He continued, "I'm still very lacking. I'm still trying to find it. In Scarecrow many characters all acted that way, and because the work moves that way it seems to have been loved by viewers. So I hope this work remains memorable for a long time. I don't mind if the actors are forgotten, but if people remember the story this work tells about the people left behind, I would have no further wishes for life," he said. (Continued in interview 3.)<
[Photo] BH Entertainment
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