Awan: Januari 2011

►►[Interview] What “You’re Beautiful” means in my life?~ A.N.Jell answers for High Cut!

The interview is somewhat long but I bet A.N.Jell or “You’re Beautiful” lovers will love it! It reveals a lot about the cast and how they think about the drama, its characters, and the cast themselves!

The following video clip and interview caught the cast of You’re Beautiful in a rare spare moment as they filmed busily — time is scarce and it looks like they’re in the thick of live-shooting by this point, with just three more weeks left till the series wraps. The cast also seems unusually close and always in good humor, based on the behind-the-scenes clips that have been released.

In the clip, Park Shin-hye starts by explaining the cast’s nicknames for each other (which are explained in more detail below), and then starts reciting one of her lines when Lee Hong-ki appears. Hong-ki takes over and imitates one of Mi-nam’s lines from the scene in Episode 1 where she’s drunk at the party, and Shin-hye acts Jeremy’s part. Jung Yong-hwa arrives and Shin-hye recites his line from the Towel Scene. And then everyone imitates Jang Geun-seok. They only sleep one to two hours a night and are wrestling with last-minute script pages, but the You’re Beautiful team was asked for a short interview. The clock read 1:30 am. The reason the interview went longer than asked is because of those unstoppable “pretty boys.” At times serious, at times playful, their moonlit chatter doesn’t stop. This is the unstoppable relay between Jang Geun-seok, Park Shin-hye, Lee Hong-ki, and Jung Yong-hwa.

How would it be having a girlfriend like Go Mi-nam?

Hong-ki: “Go Mi-nam is a really pure and kind girl, although her appearance is boyish.” Geun-seok: “I think I’d feel burdened. If we dated, I’d feel like she might get dirtier.” Hong-ki: “I’d feel too sorry to her to date. She’s so kind that even if I did something wrong, she’d keep forgiving me. I like fun girls. Someone where we build up a lot of memories and affection by going through a lot of problems and incidents together.” Geun-seok (in rapid interview mode): “Hong-ki, do you have an ideal woman among celebrities?” Hong-ki (very seriously): “I do. Song Hye-gyo. What about you, Geun-seok hyung?”

Yong-hwa: “I like good-hearted girls. Someone who doesn’t lie, who shows her emotions on her face… I like Go Mi-nam, too. Since I’m Shin-woo.” Geun-seok: “What if Park Shin-hye asked to date you?” Shin-hye (suddenly solemn): “That will not happen.” Yong-hwa (with a special smile): “I’d have to take care of her. Because I’m Shin-woo.” HIGH CUT:: “Shin-hye sshi, between the prickly Hwang Tae-kyung, gentle Kang Shin-woo, and quirky Jeremy, who is closest to your ideal man?” Shin-hye: “Choose between prickly, gentle, and quirky? Um… As a character, the most attractive is the prickly Hwang Tae-kyung?” Geun-seok: “Ah… so Shin-hye shows her feelings for me again.” Yong-hwa: “I’m telling you, no matter how much I cover her with that towel, it’s no use.” [Jung Yong-hwa earned the nickname of "Towel Guy" for the scene in the men's locker room for covering Go Mi-nam's eyes with a towel.] Shin-hye: “Hwang Tae-kyung is the one to fall for the more you see him, Kang Shin-woo is the one who draws you the moment you see him, and Jeremy’s always fun to be with. To be honest, if I had to pick one between them it would be the prickly Hwang Tae-kyung.”

HIGH CUT:: “Do you like bad boys?”

Shin-hye: “Not exactly… um…” Geun-seok: “If you ask women about liking bad boys, they will mostly deny it, but it’s true. They’d die before admitting it though.” Shin-hye: “I never said I’d die before admitting it.” [Using Go Mi-nam's speech pattern] “Yes, that is true. You are attractive.” Geun-seok (momentarily pausing): “I don’t. Um… Aside from Park Shin-hye, I don’t have anyone. Keke.”

Nicknames Renai-Jang, Avant-Hye, Hong-Star, Bolmae-Jung Shin-hye: “There are nicknames we have for each other on set. Renai-Jang, Bolmae-Jung, Hong-Star, Avant-Hye…” Geun-seok: “Shin-hye came up with Renai-jang, and I came up with Avant-Hye. Renai-jang comes from Renaissance Jang, because my ideal woman is a Renaissance type woman.” HIGH CUT:: “Renaissance style? @.@” Shin-hye: “Really feminine, very wifely and motherly. It’s like the style of women in the paintings drawn from the Renaissance to Rococo eras, when they wore dresses with small waists and large hips, and carried parasols.” Hong-ki: “A woman in body and spirit, whose every feature is womanly.” Geun-seok: “Shin-hye looks very boyish in the drama but in real life, she’s extremely feminine. At Chuseok time, the Mother Superior brought steamed chestnuts. Everyone was eating them by just biting into them, but Shin-hye had found a knife somewhere and was peeling them for us. It was such a feminine thing. Saying ‘You’re so Renaissance-like’ might make her feel nervous, so I called her ‘Avant-Garde Shin-hye’ instead, which is one step away from that, or ‘Avant-Hye.’” Shin-hye: “‘Bolmae-Jung’ means ‘Yong-hwa Who Is Attractive Just As He Is’ [그대로 볼수록 매력적인 용화]. He is incredibly talented in songwriting and music, and he wrote the rap on the OST song ‘Promise’ himself. ‘Hong-Star’ is because he shines on his own. When I asked, ‘Hong-ki, what should we call you?’ he said, ‘Hong-Star!’” Hong-ki: “I’ve been Hong-Star star since I was younger. It means I’d become a star, keke. That’s why Geun-seok hyung likes me a lot. Keke.”

A.N.JELL idols talk about idols

Geun-seok: “What is the concept of idols these days?” Hong-ki: “These days, idols are young singers in a group. If a young singer comes out solo, they’re not an idol, they’re just a solo singer.” Shin-hye: “In the past, it used to be that idols were 17 to 20 years old, but these days the range has broadened.” Hong-ki: “The word idol is actually a really good word. It means the victory of teenagers. But if you don’t want to be called an idol and you start to be called it anyway, it can be difficult, just because of that one descriptor. Of course, celebrities have to manage their private lives, but the moment you become an idol, the restrictions increase. There are incredible things you gain, but also things you lose.” Geun-seok: “There’s also the image that as an idol, you don’t live according to your personal life but that you’re a machine-like thing that moves according to the fans’ wishes. I haven’t tried being a singer so I don’t know for sure, but an actor absolutely cannot do that. To move according to the plans decided by the management company, like a flower in a greenhouse or a puppet, isn’t what an actor does. I’m a bit wild. If I go to the hair salon, I go alone. I really hate having a manager make an appointment for me or opening doors for me. Because this is my life. School, friends, that’s all on my own time, so I don’t understand why managers have to care about that and come into those areas.” Hong-ki: “Because I am an idol, I feel the same way as hyung. Everyone dislikes excessive meddling, but there are aspects that you can’t control, because you’re one team. You can’t help it because it’s not about you.” HIGH CUT:: “On the other hand, you get grand performances, hot popularity, and fans’ cheers and applause.” Hong-ki: “That’s something you can’t forget.” Shin-hye: “If you win some, you also lose some. Actors have our own lives too, but there are things like scandals and gossip that make people talk. You have to take responsibility for more things.”

HIGH CUT:: “As you act as A.N.JELL idols, do you ever get confused between reality and acting? Like you’re a four-member idol group yourselves.” Shin-hye: “For me, after being with all four of us, when I find myself alone I feel empty. I start feeling down.” Geun-seok: “Aside from an hour or two to shower, we’re together almost 24 hours a day. We’re really like an idol group.” Shin-hye: “Actually, our lives right now are a lot like idols’ lives.” Geun-seok: “Our shooting schedule is like an idol’s schedule. When we get the scripts, we barely have time to get familiar with them before we have to start shooting the next morning. Sometimes I feel sad about it, but finding your best within that is the skill of an actor. Everyone’s doing such a scary-good job that it’s startling.” Hong-ki: “As we act, we barely have enough time to find own selves, but in the middle of that whirlpool we joke around and chat with each other. That may be an idol-like thing. Geun-seok hyung is good friends with a lot of idols. Shin-hye is good friends with me, and I’m an idol too.” Shin-hye: “Of course! You’re the only idol I’m close to.” n between the cast’s friendship and passion HIGH CUT:: “Geun-seok sshi recently posted a message on the drama’s forum, which became widely talked about. The part about ‘It was my fault’ left an impression.” Geun-seok: “My dongsaengs [younger castmates] had already written messages on the forums asking people to tune in. But I’m the eldest. This is my first time being the oldest on set. I thought that as the lead, I could have an influence on my dongsaengs, and it made me think about things more than the others. Rather than asking for people to watch, I thought that it might click more with people to express my thoughts about how things were, leading to the halfway point. It also came from feeling the burden. In any case, I couldn’t not talk about the ratings… I’m always like that to my dongsaengs, saying let’s not focus on the percentages but let’s have fun amongst ourselves. But because these guys are doing so well, I sometimes wonder if it’s a problem with me. As we came to the halfway point, I thought a lot about this and that.” HIGH CUT:: “What’s your secret for gaining praise from viewers even while you’re wrestling with last-minute script pages and a killer schedule?” Geun-seok: “All of us are pretty smart. We all know what ground we have to cover, our roles, and what we have to clearly express in each scene. If we are lacking in anything, it’s that we talk honestly with each other without reservations. That’s not regarding the acting, though… Also, when actors are working off each other, it’s difficult to maintain the same tension among all four people, but Shin-hye, Hong-ki, Yong-hwa and I amazingly are in tune with each other.” Shin-hye: “Each of the four members has our own corner so the structure is like a rectangle, and a rectangle can’t roll. But it seems like we’re rolling along like a circle. We’re all similar in age, too…”

In between the cast’s friendship and passion

HIGH CUT:: “Geun-seok sshi recently posted a message on the drama’s forum, which became widely talked about. The part about ‘It was my fault’ left an impression.” Geun-seok: “My dongsaengs [younger castmates] had already written messages on the forums asking people to tune in. But I’m the eldest. This is my first time being the oldest on set. I thought that as the lead, I could have an influence on my dongsaengs, and it made me think about things more than the others. Rather than asking for people to watch, I thought that it might click more with people to express my thoughts about how things were, leading to the halfway point. It also came from feeling the burden. In any case, I couldn’t not talk about the ratings… I’m always like that to my dongsaengs, saying let’s not focus on the percentages but let’s have fun amongst ourselves. But because these guys are doing so well, I sometimes wonder if it’s a problem with me. As we came to the halfway point, I thought a lot about this and that.” HIGH CUT:: “What’s your secret for gaining praise from viewers even while you’re wrestling with last-minute script pages and a killer schedule?” Geun-seok: “All of us are pretty smart. We all know what ground we have to cover, our roles, and what we have to clearly express in each scene. If we are lacking in anything, it’s that we talk honestly with each other without reservations. That’s not regarding the acting, though… Also, when actors are working off each other, it’s difficult to maintain the same tension among all four people, but Shin-hye, Hong-ki, Yong-hwa and I amazingly are in tune with each other.” Shin-hye: “Each of the four members has our own corner so the structure is like a rectangle, and a rectangle can’t roll. But it seems like we’re rolling along like a circle. We’re all similar in age, too…”

HIGH CUT:: “Because you each have an abundance of your own individual characteristics, it can’t be easy to roll along…” Hong-ki: “I think we’re rolling along well because our personalities are pretty distinct.” Shin-hye: “We make up for the gaps with the others, like fitting pieces to a puzzle. If a script comes out today that we’ll start filming tomorrow, we don’t have time to memorize it properly but when we work, it comes together so well it’s almost unreal. It’s amazing teamwork.” Hong-ki: “When working with FT Island, when I get really tired, I can get bad-tempered. But here, when I get tired I joke around with Yong-hwa and Geun-seok hyung. When I arrive at the set in the mornings, Yong-hwa pounds on my car window. I’m a bit reserved, but we became friends right away. I’ve heard that people who are a little weird get along well. When I see Geun-seok hyung, he glares first. And I talk a lot with Shin-hye. I don’t have any time to feel depressed.” Geun-seok (suddenly): “If you want to know what it’s like [in a sudden booming voice], KOONG!” The three others (In perfect order, as though they were waiting for it): “JJAK!” Koong-jjak is a sort of onomatopoeic expression of rhythm, like bang-thump. Geun-seok (With Hwang Tae-kyung’s proud expression): “This is what our relationship is like.” Shin-hye: “When Geun-seok oppa says ‘koong,’ we immediately say ‘jjak.’ That’s our relationship.”

What “You’re Beautiful” means in my life?

Shin-hye: “It’s the best present to my 20-year-old self.” Hong-ki: “It’s my best work after acting again as an adult.” Yong-hwa: “It has a huge meaning that can’t be said in words. This is my first time on television, and I can’t forget it. There are the nicknames Towel Guy, even Milk Guy.” Hong-ki: “Geun-seok hyung must feel so honored to have met Hong-ki…” Geun-seok: “Um… It’s the fairy-tale-like story of young, beautiful kids. At some point, I’m sure I’ll change and go more macho, and my body will probably change. I want to pick out what the current, 23-year-old Jang Geun-seok looks like now, in this best time of life, the most beautiful time…” Hong-ki: “The most ‘flower-like’ time. We’re flower buds, and hyung, you’ve bloomed. Keke.” HIGH CUT:: “Shall we end this chat here for our flower-like young men?” All four members: “Yes, thank you. Please don’t watch IRIS. Keke.” (LOL!)