Actor Lee Minho discussed his acting transformation through "Assassin(s)" and his plans for new challenges to be presented in the future.
On the morning of the 11th, an interview with lead actor Lee Minho for the film "Assassin(s)" was held at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
The film "Assassin(s)" (director Heo Jin-ho, produced by Hive media corp, distributed by Hive media corp) is about tracing the suspicions and backers behind the assassination attempt on the first lady that shocked Korea on Aug. 15, 1974. The work adds some imagination to the facts surrounding the assassination of the late Yuk Young-soo.
In the film, Lee Minho plays the role of Yeong-il, a rookie reporter for Dongsung Ilbo who went to cover the Liberation Day commemorative ceremony, vividly portraying the passionate struggle of a novice reporter who witnesses up close the assassination of the first lady and innocent victims and boldly dives into the questions surrounding the incident.
Through this work, taking on a role different from his usual image, he joked about Park Hae-il's praise that he "let everything go and acted" by saying, "Actually, I always live my life letting things go." He said, "Honestly, my biggest challenge on this set was wondering whether I myself could blend in as a person of that era between those two senior actors, and that was also what I focused on studying and acting. Rather than forcing effort, I stayed comfortably as I am, and I think someone who doesn't know me would describe it as if I had let go."
He continued, "I thought the reporter's role starts with conveying information without distortion by minimizing my own subjectivity. In that sense, when you form many relationships in society, aren't there many points where things get distorted regardless of your intentions? I felt fatigue about that and personally was thirsty for unvarnished communication. You could say that a nation experienced an enormously tumultuous incident and there were victims who did not receive attention, but I thought the minimization of articles or mentions about those victims felt unfair. Pursuing humane journalism is what I imagined Yeong-il to be," he said, describing his efforts for the character.
However, despite being a rookie reporter, his distinctive image led some to liken him to the youngest son of a chaebol family. In response, Lee Minho honestly said, "I get told a lot in private that I look refined," drawing laughter. He said, "That might be a kind of prejudice, but I think there's a vibe of not trying to stand out no matter the situation. I think that aspect of me, when expressed in the film, works to make excessive settings or situations feel restrained. When I first read the script, I thought it might be a bit much, so I thought a lot about how to present it most convincingly. I thought that would require someone who can proactively use their background, so I thought portraying Yeong-il as a bit freer worked better," he pointed out.
When asked if there are characters he wants to try next, Lee Minho said, "Next year I'll be fully in my 40s. I have a desire to emphasize 'mature sexiness.' I want to research what sexiness means in this era starting next year. I think I'll take on more characters like weeds rather than flowers in a better place," he said.
When choosing recent projects, he said he set a rule of "no rom-coms for five years," and added, "I looked for works where the story of the whole project takes precedence over highlighting a single character. Because of that, I think I ended up doing works that have big stories encompassing various actors, from 'Pachinko' to 'Omniscient Reader: The Prophet' to 'Assassin(s).'"
He said, "When I asked director Heo Jin-ho what story he would want to tell if he did one last work, he said he wanted to do a melodrama, a love story. I also think love stories are something to carry to the end. What I mean is that a rom-com where someone falls in love at first sight like in their twenties wouldn't suit Lee Minho at this stage. I thought it's time to do a different kind of love. In that sense, rather than simply representing youth and doing a fiery rom-com, I think it should be a romance suited to this age, or a rom-com that can include the sensibility of this age. Doing the rom-coms I did in my twenties at my current age wouldn't bring new energy. Of course, I think I'll keep telling love stories because they are the most important, most intuitive and powerful subject in life," he said.
He said he plans to meet audiences more through the screen going forward. Lee Minho hinted, "I'm reading many film scripts. I think I can show you film, drama, film, drama like that." When asked what led him to take on more projects recently, he admitted with a laugh, "Because I'm getting older. I think I want to leave a lot before I get older," giving a practical reason. (Interview part 2 to follow.)<
[Photo] Hive media corp
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