Lee Sun-Kyun 이선균

[sadiesmith]

Finally found part 2 of the Golden Fishery Interview from 2011.  Lots of good stuff.

 

Golden Fishery: Episode 231 (Guest: Lee Seon Kyun, Part 2)

Variety Shows

September 21, 2011

by blue

Continuing from where we left off in Part 1, Lee Seon Kyun (a.k.a. “The Voice”) shares about his three hit dramas and his beautiful wife in Part 2 of his guest appearance on Golden Fishery.

 

EPISODE 231: Broadcast on May 11, 2011. 

 

In White Tower, Lee Seon Kyun left an impression on the viewers playing the role of Dr. Choi Do-young, opposite the acting giant, Kim Myung Min. Kang Ho Dong cautiously asks whether there had been any initial criticisms that Lee Seon Kyun may have been too weak (of an actor) to go against Kim Myung Min. And of course, he’s asking that question in the first place because he knows that the answer is in the affirmative.



Lee Seon Kyun: The issue was not on whether the public showed concern on whether I was weak or not to go against Kim Myung Min… I was weak! I went to the first script reading, and Myung Min hyung and other senior actors were there. I thought I was watching a radio drama. They were putting 100% of their emotions into their acting. And in fact, Myung Min hyung seemed to have come as his character, Jang Jun-hyuk, from the start.

Lee Seon Kyun felt intimidated and felt a great sense of pressure. To add to the pressure, the original White Towerwas a very famous drama in Japan, and many people took interest that it was being remade in Korea. Since the original work has many loyal fans, he felt a great deal of pressure that those fans would criticize and be disappointed with his portrayal of the character.

So great was his stress of taking on this role that he once had a dream where an old Japanese woman dressed in a kimono appeared and rebuked him (speaking in Korean) that his take on Satomi (the Japanese name of the original character Lee Seon Kyun played) was all wrong. She scolded him in Korean, but he found himself repeating “sumimasen” to her (Japanese for “I’m sorry”).

Until then, he thought the original novel was written by a man, not knowing that the original author of the novel was in fact a woman. So Lee Seon Kyun felt like the author really appeared in his dream to get him to act straight. Since then, he felt determined to do a good job. Early mornings when they did not have filming or when he had some extra time left, Lee Seon Kyun used to jog to the house where his on-screen character lived in his desire to become more like his character.

As for Kim Myung Min, Lee Seon Kyun didn’t get a chance to talk to him much on set. Kim Myung Min is a perfectionist who practices a lot by himself. Moreover, even though Kim Myung Min is only two years older than him, he feels much older to Lee Seon Kyun, like a big hyung… or perhaps even an uncle.

Whereas Kim Myung Min completely immerses himself to become the character he plays, Lee Seon Kyun’s style of acting in the past was to pull his characters to fit him. But in White Tower, he had to become 100% Choi Do-young. Since they were so unlike each other, he found it especially difficult and uncomfortable to play this role.

Lee Seon Kyun recounts how when the cast was filming the scene where Jang Jun-hyuk’s character dies, the atmosphere on set was like attending a funeral. In fact, he has never attended a wake in real life that was as solemn as it was on set that day.

When filming the scene of Jang Jun-hyuk in his death bed, everyone surrounded Kim Myung Min and wept. The director filmed the entire group as they cried and then he filmed a solo shot for each actor. In his desire to do a good job, Lee Seon Kyun started sobbing from the first group shot, and his acting was so… ON! Unfortunately, the director filmed the solo shots from the left, opposite of where Lee Seon Kyun was sitting. Lee Seon Kyun continued to weep, but by the time the director was two actors away from Lee Seon Kyun, he started to struggle to continue crying, having cried for over an hour. And so Lee Seon Kyun’s best performance in that scene was when his back was facing the camera.

When he was done filming for White Tower, Lee Seon Kyun continued to have regrets that he didn’t do a better job. In fact, he wrote a letter on his fan site addressed to his character, Choi Do-young, apologizing to him for not having done better justice to the character.

And now moving on to his next drama, Coffee Prince…

 

Through Coffee Prince, Lee Seon Kyun earned the image as the romantic leading man. In fact, the entire cast ofCoffee Prince received a lot of love. When they showed up to film in Hongdae (where the coffee shop is located), hundreds of fans showed up and surrounded the cast as if they were rock stars. Unfortunately, Lee Seon Kyun often filmed alone in Buam-dong and was not able to relish in the fame.

Playing a composer, Lee Seon Kyun sang a song “Ocean Travel” in the drama, and the song ended up becoming a hit. But originally, the script was written for him to sing a children’s song in a rock version. He consulted with the director that this didn’t sound right to him, and she just merely told him to sing whatever he wants to sing.

Lee Seon Kyun called the drama’s music director for a song that he could sing. The music director offered a song that he had composed, and Lee Seon Kyun ended up singing it. While filming that scene, improvisations were made – Lee Seon Kyun stepped out to the balcony and grabbed a mop as a microphone – but the scene turned out to be beautiful and many viewers liked it. Even so, no one expected the song to become a big hit as it turned out to be.

Of course, Kang Ho Dong won’t miss this chance to have Lee Seon Kyun sing the song on the show. After some hesitation, Lee Seon Kyun starts singing “Ocean Travel,” except it’s off tune and off beat. Lee Seon Kyun quickly stops and gives up.

Kang Ho Dong carefully asks about the scandal between Lee Seon Kyun and his co-star, Chae Jung Ahn, afterCoffee Prince ended and before he got married. A news article came out using initials, but anyone would have been able to guess that the article was referring to Lee Seon Kyun and Chae Jung Ahn.

Lee Seon Kyun explains that the cast became very close and continued to meet up for months after the drama ended. For Yoon Eun Hye’s birthday, a party was held at a hotel restaurant. Lee Seon Kyun, Chae Jung Ahn, andCoffee Prince’s director, Lee Yoon Jung, drove to the hotel together. But when average people saw them, they would not have recognized the director. And so when the three took the elevator together, people assumed that Chae Jung Ahn and Lee Seon Kyun were alone… at a hotel… going up in the elevator. People stared at the two, and as expected, a few days later, a news about them broke out in the gossip column. Even though the corrected news was reported soon after, people’s tendency is to pay attention to the initial scandal and not the latter correction.

 

His then-girlfriend (now wife), Jeon Hye Jin, was upset after seeing the news article and they ended up getting into an argument. She wanted to know how he was behaving for others to misinterpret the situation, insisting that Lee Seon Kyun was the cause of the problem.

In Coffee Prince, there is a scene where Lee Seon Kyun’s character gets into an argument with Chae Jung Ahn’s character. Since they’re in the middle of a major road, he screams loudly over the passing cars. As he argued with Jeon Hye Jin, his real-life girlfriend, he found himself speaking in the same tone with her as he did in the drama. She responded, “Are you acting right now?”

Kang Ho Dong has heard rumors that Jeon Hye Jin has quite a strong personality. Lee Seon Kyun agrees with it. Lee Seon Kyun gives an example of how after drinking all night and at 8 in the morning the next day, Lee Seon Kyun suggested that that was enough drinking for the night (umm, the day). Jeon Hye Jin responded, “What? We’re stopping already?!”

Lee Seon Kyun is a big drinker. And whereas his wife doesn’t drink often, she’s the type who when she does, she goes all out.

Although Jeon Hye Jin is now more widely known as Lee Seon Kyun’s wife, she was his favorite actress back then. He first saw Jeon Hye Jin in her debut movie in 1998, and became mesmerized by her. But afterwards, he became curious when he didn’t see her again anywhere on television or in films.

A few years later, he went to Daehak-ro, an area in Seoul known for having many theaters and performance halls, and saw her name listed on a poster for a play. He went to watch the play, and once again, he fell in love with her acting and became her fan.

When they started dating, Jeon Hye Jin was regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Daehak-ro and Lee Seon Kyun was merely known as “Hye Jin’s boyfriend.” And so Lee Seon Kyun’s fame then was for being Jang Dong Gun’s classmate and Jeon Hye Jin’s boyfriend.

To many people’s surprise, Jeon Hye Jin was a contestant in the Miss Korea pageant. When they first started dating, Lee Seon Kyun looked her up online to find out more about her. But when he saw her profile listing her experience in the Miss Korea pageant, he assumed it was a mistake, thinking that it didn’t suit her personality to participate in a beauty pageant. Perhaps more like the anti-Miss Korea pageant?

He told her about the “misinformation,” but she didn’t bother correcting him. He didn’t learn the truth until later when he went over her house and saw the photo showing that she was the first runner-up for Miss Gyeongnam.

As soon as Lee Seon Kyun finishes the story, he starts to worry. His wife hates it when he talks about her Miss Korea past. Lee Seon Kyun was surprised himself when he first read the script for Golden Fishery and learned that they were going to ask him about his wife’s Miss Korea past.

After marriage, Lee Seon Kyun starred in the drama Pasta. Just like all the dramas that he has ever starred in, he was not the production’s first choice for that role. Lee Seon Kyun admits that he has heard the role has been offered to bigger stars initially, but after they declined, it was finally offered to him. He laughs, “It’s not important that I wasn’t the first choice. What is important is that I was the one who did it!”

The production offered him the role, and gave him two days to decide on whether or not to take it. Since the role was a bigger role than he has ever had in his previous dramas and he would not have had  a lot of time to prepare in advance, he did not feel confident about accepting the offer. Moreover, his wife was pregnant and due for labor soon.

As Lee Seon Kyun was reluctant to take the role, his wife stepped in. She had him explain what was going on, and he did explain and asked her for her thoughts. She simply told him, “Do it. Why do you always try to do roles that are easy for you?”

She told him that this could be the turning point of his career, so of course he should take the role. She comforted him, telling him that she would return from giving birth to the baby by herself just fine. From her encouragement, Lee Seon Kyun decided to go ahead and accept the role. This was a rare opportunity; what was he so afraid of?

Pasta turned out to be a success, and Lee Seon Kyun showed a transformation as an actor.

 

When Jeon Hye Jin was pregnant with the first child, she kept a pregnancy journal. Because it was an unexpected pregnancy, they got married earlier than they planned while he was in the middle of filming the drama Triple. They went on their honeymoon after the drama wrapped up, when his wife was five months along.

They went to an island in Thailand for their honeymoon. Since he was having some neck pain, they went to a low-cost massage parlor to receive a massage. But after receiving the massage, the neck pain became worse and the next day, he couldn’t get up.

Their trip was for 10 days and 9 nights, but they couldn’t move around the entire stay. During their honeymoon, they did nothing more than watching 30 movies indoors.

During that time, Lee Seon Kyun noticed that his wife was keeping a journal. One day the journal was laid out in the open, and he secretly took a peek. One-third of the journal was her bad-mouthing her husband. Since Lee Seon Kyun becomes very sensitive when filming, she had let out her steam on her journal while he was filming Triple. That became their “pregnancy journal.”

 

When Lee Seon Kyun appeared as a guest on the talk show Come to Play, he had compared marriage to love and war. He jokingly said that at times, his marriage becomes like the relationship between North Korea and South Korea. (Wait, he was joking, right?)

Jeon Hye Jin watched the episode when it later aired, and immediately sent a text message to her husband. She demanded to know who was North Korea in the relationship. He texted back, “Me,” and she became appeased.

 

The couple filmed a soy sauce commercial together. In the commercial, they happily shop down the soy sauce aisle together.

In reality, Jeon Hye Jin doesn’t like going shopping with her husband. She doesn’t like it when other people look at her. When they go shopping, she tells him not to speak because as long as others don’t hear his voice, they won’t recognize them. But from his perspective, it makes him mad because she’s forbidding him from speaking. So in defiance, he shouts even louder, “I’m going to talk with my mouth if I want to!”

 

In the soy sauce commercial, Lee Seon Kyun opens the soy sauce bottle to smell it and his wife says, “Honey, why are you opening the bottle before purchasing it?” Of course, since it was a commercial, she was supposed to say it warmly and prettily. But when filming for the commercial, as soon as he opened the bottle, she kept scowling and saying in her normal annoyed tone, “Why are you opening the bottle?!” After making many NGs, Lee Seon Kyun pulled her aside and reminded her that this was acting.

Lee Seon Kyun describes himself and his wife as temperamental because they stay true to their emotions. It is his wife’s greatest strength, as well as her weakness. And although many people describe her as having a strong personality, she’s very cute and lovable to him.

Perhaps she’s too cute and lovable for Lee Seon Kyun to handle, for just a year after giving birth, she became pregnant again. Jeon Hye Jin is currently five months pregnant (as of the time this episode was filmed).

Initially, after their first child turned one, Lee Seon Kyun encouraged Jeon Hye Jin to return to stage because that’s where she shines the brightest.

They both agreed upon it in a great mood as they discussed the matter. But then Lee Seon Kyun pauses, “Maybe it was that day…!” (And for those over 18 or older, yes, he means the day when their second child was conceived!)

The boys burst into laughter at this subject matter, and in particular, Kang Ho Dong becomes so excited that Yu Se Yoon has to tell him to restrain himself for he makes even the most trivial gestures look erotic.

But not long after, Lee Seon Kyun and his wife were out drinking with their sunbaes. Jeon Hye Jin told him that something did not feel right, and the next day she learned that she was indeed pregnant.

Kang Ho Dong asks Lee Seon Kyun what he anticipates from Jeon Hye Jin as an actress. Lee Seon Kyun replies that he doesn’t anticipate anything because to him, she is already the best actress there is. (Awww!)

Kang Ho Dong then asks what Lee Seon Kyun considers to be his own strength as an actor. Lee Seon Kyun answers, “Approachability.” Whereas people hold fantasy about drama characters because they’re so well-packaged, when an ordinary guy like Lee Seon Kyun plays such a character, it makes people believe that there really can be such characters in existence somewhere out there.

Lee Seon Kyun has not taken any major breaks in his acting career, and has always continued to act in projects one after another. He ponders over how he wishes to take a step forward with each role he takes on, and that until he becomes a great actor, he is always a work in progress.

In response to Kang Ho Dong’s question on what is his dream in life, Lee Seon Kyun answers that it is to become a great actor and a great dad….

… and a just about right (?) husband!

The male MCs laugh in understanding, but Kang Ho Dong predicts that Lee Seon Kyun may receive another text from his wife the night this episode airs on TV. Heh!

It’s finally time for Knee Drop Guru to solve Lee Seon Kyun’s problem. And to refresh your memory, Lee Seon Kyun’s concern was the question as to how to live out his upcoming 40s to say that he lived it well.

Kang Ho Dong’s advice: “The remaining three years of your 30s will determine your 40s. For now, just worry about living your 30s well~!”

Lee Seon Kyun laughs that he does not find the answer satisfactory.

But what can he do? His problem is declared… solved!

[sadiesmith]

A Christmas concert performance with Eugene:

http://programs.sbs.co.kr/enter/chocolate/clip/51419/22000290407

 

A hilarious subbed interview promoting All About My Wife:

 

Appearance on Guerrilla Date (subbed) to promote The Advocate: A Missing Body:

 

[sadiesmith]

No subs, but still can feel the cute chemistry with Lee Yeon Hee: Miss Korea BTS

 

 

[widala]

Thanks for sharing the Golden Fishery show...

Yes, lots of good stuff that make me falling in love more with... Jeon Hye Jin! I love her!

She's my Eonni now 

[sadiesmith]

2 hours ago, widala said:

Thanks for sharing the Golden Fishery show...

Yes, lots of good stuff that make me falling in love more with... Jeon Hye Jin! I love her!

She's my Eonni now 

 

I have not actually seen any of her work, but I've heard that she is an excellent actor.  Even LSK admitted that she is a far better actor than he.  

 

I hope you'll take the MA writing challenge. 

[sadiesmith]

Lee Sang Yeob on working with Lee Seon Kyun in This Week My Wife Will Have an Affair:

 

Source

Translation by "fan" in the Open Thread dated 12/9/2016:

 

22 fan December 9th, 2016 at 7:01 AM

 

...

He also had many funny scenes with Lee Sun-kyun. The scene where their chemistry shined was Hotel scene when Hyun-woo went to Hotel with Jun-young to confirm his wife’s affair. While doing that, they tried to get a room, which caused misunderstanding for people around them. “I was sweating because I kept holding his hands. They filmed many versions for the ending – whining, sulking, etc but PD-nim used the clean cut, so I felt relieved. That time the looks from people were so funny, and people who worked with us were so good. There were times Sun-kyun Hyung’s expression was caught on the screen and I was moved thinking “He makes the scene come alive like this.” I often watch video clip of the show, and when I see a scene where I appear with Sun-kyun hyung, I just see hyung and notice how the scene was saved. When I see just myself without hyung in the picture, I see an awful acting, so I wonder all were Sun-kyun hyung’s made.”

 

Lee said his heart fluttered when he first met Lee Sun-kyun. “I joined Lee Sun-kyun Gyo(Gyo=faith, like hero worship). I reported “I am doing an interview today.” to him. I used to imitate him in ‘Pasta’. I was so anxious when PD-nim arranged a meeting with Boa ssi and Sun-kyun hyung. I was stuck on the traffic on a way to meet him, and I felt like I was going to meet my love. He was easy-going and felt like my real brother. I think I became to like him as a person. It might have been his consideration too. I didn’t know at first, but when I watched the scene where we acted together later, I realized he tried to match me in acting. Usually I behave flippantly, but he always smiled at me and told me good stories while we ate or drank together. We also shared complaints which was really great.”

[sadiesmith]

Cine21 photo shoot promoting The King's Case Note, one of the best I've seen:

 

 

 

[widala]

Thanks @sadiesmith for the photos...

It's better than the Arena ones in my opinion, because LSK looks younger here.

 

It's the moustache, I think. He looks younger if he's cleanshaven. 

Maybe that's why he's sporting a moustache as PDH in MA, to make him looked more like an Ahjussi...

[sadiesmith]

1 hour ago, widala said:

Thanks @sadiesmith for the photos...

It's better than the Arena ones in my opinion, because LSK looks younger here.

 

It's the moustache, I think. He looks younger if he's cleanshaven. 

Maybe that's why he's sporting a moustache as PDH in MA, to make him looked more like an Ahjussi...

 

We think alike.  I have always liked Cine21 pictures even in the past.

Yeah, they totally aged him up in MA. 

[sadiesmith]

[widala]

Found this on IG

 

[Guest]

@sadiesmith is that an old pic, the hoodie one? 

 

Im sad cos they made him (gradually) looked old on MA, and put more weight?

[sadiesmith]

2 hours ago, dotonly said:

@sadiesmith is that an old pic, the hoody one? 

 

Im sad cos they made him (gradually) looked old on MA, and put more weight?

It's an old picture.  I put it here because I had never seen it; it's a rare one.  He hasn't appeared in anything official since MA, which is frustrating.

 

Agreed, intentionally or not, they did successfully make him look old in MA.  haha....

[widala]

On 9/16/2018 at 10:44 PM, sadiesmith said:

It's an old picture.  I put it here because I had never seen it; it's a rare one.  He hasn't appeared in anything official since MA, which is frustrating.

 

Agreed, intentionally or not, they did successfully make him look old in MA.  haha....

 

Yes, very frustrating.

I'm glad to see the other casts on their projects (Park Ho San is everywhere ), but no news from our Ahjussi...

 

Edit:

@sadiesmith, did you find the hoodie pic in here http://m.dcinside.com/view.php?id=leesk&no=120640 ?

There are other nice pics there...

Dcinside is really a treasure chest 

[sadiesmith]

On 9/16/2018 at 5:12 PM, widala said:

 

Yes, very frustrating.

I'm glad to see the other casts on their projects (Park Ho San is everywhere ), but no news from our Ahjussi...

 

Edit:

@sadiesmith, did you find the hoodie pic in here http://m.dcinside.com/view.php?id=leesk&no=120640 ?

There are other nice pics there...

Dcinside is really a treasure chest 

 

Yes, that's where I found the hoodie picture.  The others are pictures from his dramas and I'd seen all of them before. 

[sadiesmith]

Too many to post here, but many thanks to this DC Inside poster who put up so many of LSK pictures from MA press conference.

http://gall.dcinside.com/board/view/?id=leesk&no=120668&page=1

 

@widala, would love to see you make an instagram post from this.

[widala]

Thanks @sadiesmith for the link!

Cute pics 

Maybe I could make them into a slideshow or something to post on the Instagram 

[Guest]

@sadiesmith what kind of activity LSG usually do which he doesnt do lately after MA ended?

[sadiesmith]

16 hours ago, dotonly said:

@sadiesmith what kind of activity LSG usually do which he doesnt do lately after MA ended?

 

Very good question.  I was thinking of things like magazine interviews, attending movie premieres, and appearing in TV programs.  I forgot that he did release a CF promoting gum health.  I suspect he's been very busy shooting his big name movie Parasite opposite Song Kang Ho.  They just recently wrapped up shooting.  That's four months of shooting!!  Let's hope he makes an appearance in the APAN Awards tomorrow.

[widala]

PMC trailer

 

Yay, a movie release!

I hope that means interviews, photoshoots, movie premieres... Lots and lots of Lee Sun Kyun