This is the Moment
Lee Dong Wook is new every time. He plays a new role in every piece of work, and just like how he became an MC of his own talk show, he is enthusiastic about new experiences. And that experience becomes energy for him to jump into yet another different challenge. Like that, Lee Dong Wook’s grand footprints are the result of the present moment being newly filled each time.
You took on an unexpected role in “Strangers From Hell” so we were curious to see what your next piece of work will be. “Tale of the Nine Tailed” also seems like a new challenge that won’t be easy, we are curious to know why you chose to star in this.
The premise of a male gumiho was very unique, and it was refreshing that this isn’t just simply a fantasy melodrama, but it also contains elements of the thriller and action genres. The director also persuaded me with nice words so I ended up starting on this while putting my trust in the director and writer.
Although you hosted “Strong Heart”, the host carries heavier weight in “Because Lee Dong Wook Wants to Talk” so you must have had a different mindset. How was it?
To me, talk shows are a different kind of challenge from acting. I did “Strong Heart” barely a year after my discharge from the army, so I began by thinking that it will be interesting, but I found it very difficult once I started on it. Dong Yeop hyung and Boom helped me out a lot so I did well somehow, but I realised “This is not an easy thing after all, this is difficult.”
When I received the offer to be an independent host, I thought to myself that although there is something to gain from this, I may also lose something if I do this. Because this is an age where words are sensitive, I may make a mistake while hosting or the show may become less interesting also. Despite that, hosting a talk show with my own name is a very cool thing to do so I decided to give it a go. An opportunity to host a talk show with my name had appeared in front of my eyes, it was also a chance to have conversations with various people from all walks of life, and being able to work with people from the cultural department of a TV station instead of the variety department was also an attractive point. So even though it was definitely a new challenge and risk, I thought that this job will become a new kind of nourishment for me (to grow).
Although I can’t say that the show enjoyed very good success in terms of viewership ratings, it was a meaningful work that will remain in my memory for a long time. While hosting the talk show, I had many meetings with the production team. We would think together about the guest and decide on what kinds of questions to ask. Being deeply involved in the production process was also a good experience for me. The talk show production team also sent a coffee truck to the film set of my drama this time, and they contacted me to say that they enjoyed watching the first episode. Being able to forge a good relationship while working is also very meaningful.
There must be many requests for a season 2. We are curious as to what kind of hosting you will want to do then.
They need to come and look for me first right? (laughs) I appeared on “Amazing Saturday” not long ago and it seemed to have become more relaxed compared to variety shows in the past. I think you can see a bit of the overall flow now. I don’t know when I will be hosting a talk show, but if I’m given a chance, I will want to try a more mature approach using the life experiences that I have steadily accumulated all this while as a base.
After listening to the story of you hosting “Because Lee Dong Wook Wants to Talk”, it seems like Lee Dong Wook has a lot of interest in various fields.
That’s right. Because I think of my work as a job. How can I live with just my job alone? I think I need to have some degree of interest in the things that I did not know much of. I studied a lot about the guests when I was hosting the talk show too. I studied about the person and also about that person’s job. The production team gave me about 150 pages of reference materials in A4-sized papers (laughs). They contained almost every information from the person’s background to the interviews they did elsewhere. We did not fix the guests’ answers in advance so the talk show wouldn’t flow according to the questions we prepared. The guest would talk about things that they did not mention at the interview that was done with them beforehand, or I would also ask new questions that come up while listening to what they say.
Although I don’t read a lot of books usually, I do watch the news where possible to find out what’s happening around the world. I am not particular about the music I listen to, so I enjoy listening to the radio. I often listen to “Bae Cheol Soo’s Music Camp”. I get to listen to all kinds of music from those released long ago to the newest releases, and I like how he also explains about the singers and genres.
Is there anything else you are interested in besides music?
I like sports a lot. It’s the Major League post season these days, although I’m not able to see all the matches, I will definitely watch the highlights. I also watch the NBA whenever I have time. During the world cup, I will watch everything from the preliminary match to the finals. That’s why I’m very tired during World Cup season. (laughs)
The role that you play in “Tale of the Nine Tailed” is a character who not only has perfect visuals but also cherishes a personal story for a very long period of time. You are the representative “face genius”* so the visuals are already taken care of, but you must have thought hard about how to portray a character with a lot of backstory.
I have experience from acting in “Goblin”. It made me think that it is important to do a good job in portraying the worldview created by the writer when it comes to the fantasy genre. So I do according to what is written in the script (laughs). The gumiho that appears in folk tales is appearing for the first time as a male gumiho in this drama, so the script serves as the standard.
“Face genius” is a nickname commonly used in Korea to describe a very handsome person.
Is there any particular piece of work that you took reference from when preparing for this drama?
I’m afraid that I will end up following them unknowingly, so I usually try to create on my own rather than taking reference from other pieces of work. This time, I think of my role Lee Yeon as a character with an unstoppable personality. Since he is more than a 1000 years old, he must’ve found the human world very laughable. He probably finds it annoying to even talk to humans so it is also not a surprise that he speaks to them in informal language.
Your role this time can be considered as a kind of “troubleshooter”, he can be called a character who has “lived life to the highest level”. Is there such a side to Lee Dong Wook’s actual personality too?
I don’t have the supernatural powers of a gumiho and I need to live my life by adapting to society, so I try to get along well if I can. But I do that when I need to demonstrate responsibility befitting of the role that I’m given. In this drama also, I actively discuss with the director and share my opinions while working at the film set.
In “Because Lee Dong Wook Wants to Talk” and even in “Tale of the Nine Tailed”, we get the sense that you work together by actively sharing your opinions.
Even if one is not playing the main character, an actor becomes the main character of his own scene that he appears in, so I think anyone has the right to make their voice heard. When actors who work with me express their opinions, I will also actively accept their opinions if they are good. Because I think I need to be able to listen to opinions as much as I express them. When news articles about “Tale of the Nine Tailed” were published at first, I was very grateful for the reactions saying that “Lee Dong Wook is very suitable” and “we are looking forward to it”, but the pressure on me was not small either. Because a drama is made together with other actors and staff, not just me alone. That’s why I think I need to listen to the opinions of other actors and staff as much as I share my own opinions.
Maybe because you often play characters who do not age, we often forget that Lee Dong Wook has many juniors. At what moments during filming do you get the feeling that “I’m a senior after all”?
We film by splitting into team A and team B, the two camera directors in team B call me “sunbaenim” (laughs). At some point in time, I’ve already arrived at an age where I’m more senior than the camera director. Apart from two or three people, everyone working with me in this drama are my juniors so I got the feeling that a lot of time has really passed by (laughs).
*sunbae= senior
What kind of senior do you think you are?
I don’t know what kind of senior I am. But I try not to use words like “latte” which is popular these days (laughs). There is no meaning in saying such words, and I cannot judge how others will react to such words also. In the past, my hyungs used to say that as you get older and accumulate more experience, “you need to shut your mouth and open your wallet”, and I think those words are correct. So I want to become a senior who shuts his mouth and treats others to delicious food (laughs).
*Translation note: “Latte” is a popular Korean slang that means “back in my days” and used by older people when talking to younger people. The correct phrasing is 나때는 말이야 (na-ddae-neun-mal-liya), but often shortened to just na-ddae, which rhymes with the English word “latte”. 말이야 (mal-liya) literally means “horse”, so sometimes this phrase jokingly becomes “latte is horse”. You can read more here.
There was a memorable interview where you said your goal is to become a trustworthy actor to the audience.
I’m referring to the kind of trust whereby people will feel “I am looking forward to it” and “I want to watch it” when someone says that Lee Dong Wook is appearing in a show. It’s the same for “Tale of the Nine Tailed” this time. “Lee Dong Wook is a gumiho? Then I’m looking forward to it”or “I want to watch it”, there was a lot of this kind of reactions, and I think it’s thanks to that that the first episode got good viewership ratings. I ought to accumulate more of such trust in the future.
Focusing on one image can be one method to achieve that goal, but Lee Dong Wook doesn’t hesitate to take up challenges. There are moments where that will feel very tiring too right? We are curious to know what is your secret that allows you to continuously take on new challenges despite that.
I think it’s my personality. Because I personally can’t stand doing the same thing repeatedly. I had offers for fantasy genres after “Goblin”, and offers for psychopath characters after “Strangers From Hell”, but I rejected them all. I will act in a show of the same genre again after a period of at least 3 to 4 years.
You’ve been continuously active with different kinds of roles in the past few years without break. You must’ve felt tired too, how do you spend time to recharge yourself?
I don’t do anything at all when I rest. I’m at home almost all the time and I try to exercise everyday as much as possible. After doing this everyday for 3 to 4 years, my condition drops instead if I do not exercise. If I exercise hard in the day, then I come home and have an early dinner and go to bed, my condition will be very good when I wake up the next day. I will be overflowing with energy even if I head out for filming.
You said that the goal of actor Lee Dong Wook is to be “a trustworthy actor”. Then what is the goal of the human Lee Dong Wook?
My goal is to live healthily for a long time. I have a lot of action scenes in my drama this time so I feel even more keenly about this. Being healthy is the best. Because you can’t do anything at all if you are sick.
Translated from Korean to English by Gabby. Please credit if sharing.
Special thanks to Lily (Lee Dong Wook SEA) for providing the interview text from the hardcopy magazine.
Check out more behind-the-scene photos at King Kong Naver blog
Daegorr 