[INTERVIEW] Actor Zo In-sung
Posted on 2013/07/01 by Jessica Kim in CELEBS
He had not fussed over nothing. The Zo In-sung that met with reporters had somewhat let go of his lonely character Oh Soo but the six months during which he carried the depth and weight of “That Winter, the Wind Blows” was not an easy time for the actor. TenAsia met with Zo and looked back on the drama that was so harsh and painful to him.
Q. I heard you cried a lot after shooting the last scene.
Zo In-sung : I held onto [Kim] Bum and cried a lot. I thought, ‘This is crazy’ after shooting the last scene, for which I did the scene where my character records a video message for Young. But it was hard to say my lines that were two pages long because helicopters kept flying nearby every five minutes. I think it was harder to control my emotions because I ended it also feeling so nervous.
Q. It took you a long time to choose a project following your discharge from the military.
Zo : I don’t know why. It’s not like I’m trying to become a millionaire (laughs). There was no particular reason to it but I think I rested for longer than I expected to because filming for my movie “Kwon Beob” (translated title) kept getting pushed back. And I didn’t know what I should do because I was ready to do a movie but filming continued to get delayed. There also weren’t that many other choices because by then, they’d finished casting.
Q. How did you feel when you first started filming “The Winter, The Wind Blows”?
Zo : I really wanted to die. I thought it’d be doable at first but once I actually read the script, I was at a loss. I couldn’t even figure out at which moments I should breathe. I was just so unfamiliar with everything. So I went to an acting teacher and practiced drawing forth each emotion. That’s when I naturally came to think that I shouldn’t ead into this script one dimensionally. The emotions my character had for the dead Hee-joo, the pressure he had to commit a fraud, the guilt he felt to Young after he falls in love with her, then the tension from being chased by Mu-cheol… . He was a character that felt so many different layers of emotions that I ended up thinking, ‘Why is the writer doing this to me?’ (laughs). But actress Bae Jong-ok said I probably wouldn’t get another chance to play this sort of character and consoled me by saying that she wanted to die when she did KBS drama “Lies” (translated title) but didn’t. And I really didn’t die (laughs).
Q. You’re a male actor but many have said you’re as strong as actresses when it comes to crying.
Zo : Acting out crying scenes are still the most pressure for me because people end up talking about them for a long time and do parodies of them as well. Nonetheless, I tried to do the crying scenes differently [from in the past] because the writer told me, “You’re older and you’ve changed so viewers will see you differently even with the same acting.” So I thought that as long as I’ve convinced viewers of my emotions, it wouldn’t matter how I cry. I think it was around episode nine that the writer finally told us to stop crying although there were still a lot of crying scenes afterwards as well (laughs).
Q. Is there a particular scene that even you think you looked cool in?
Zo : I think the scene in episode nine where my character saves Young and smothers a gangster’s face across a brick wall is the type of scene that every male actor would want to try out at least once during their career.
Q. And which scene do you think was the most romantic?
Zo : There was a scene where Oh Soo puts on Young’s socks for her, as if he was her father. I think it showed him as both a boyfriend and father. When looking at the part of the script that mentioned that scene, I thought of how fathers so affectionately help their children put on their socks. I wouldn’t have been able to understand that scene when I was younger but it made me proud to think that I do now.
Q. What do you think is the reason Oh Soo, who hadn’t placed much significance in life, wanted to live till the very end?
Zo : The whole time I thought, ‘Why does he want to live? Does he want to meet his mother?’ I don’t know for sure. But I do think that he wanted to say that his mother may have abandoned him, his girlfriend died, and lives every day of his life pointlessly, but he still wanted to live. That he is living so we should as well. Our country has the highest suicide rate amongst OECD countries so I think that’s what the drama may have wanted to say. Live and through love, find your reason to live.
Q. I heard that you had to reshoot the scene where Oh Soo gets stabbed by Jin-sung (Kim Beom).
Zo : He had a bit of a hard time filming that scene because Beom’s emotions didn’t explode. He sobbed when I told him, “You did good” afterwards. So I remember giving him a hug.
Q. Have you managed to let go of your character?
Zo : I felt really strange while at home the day after we had our wrap-up party. So I called the writer but I started crying. And I cried for over two hours, for no particular reason, while asking her for just a few more scenes and that I’d do a much better job with them. She listened to me the whole time and told me not to put too much into my roles, that it’d shorten my lifespan. So I don’t know why but I just cried then.
Q. There were different opinions regarding the show’s ending.
Zo : We had already shared the fact that it would be a happy ending so I think producers made it look like Oh Soo had died to just add tension. Like a story from a fairytale. On the other hand, I also think they made the ending seem dreamy because Soo and Young had such a hard time loving each other.
Q. I think you must have higher expectations of projects you take on from now on because of “The Winter, the Wind Blows.”
Zo : That’s why this is also a dangerous time for me. Because I’ll want to have the desire to feel what I did with this show. I’m trying to enjoy this moment because it may never come again, although I’d be very grateful if it did.
Q. You must also feel like you won’t be able to do another drama for the time being.
Zo : That’s actually want to ask [of people]. If I did a new drama in a few months, I don’t know if it would be a gain or loss for me. They’ve told me to hurry and do a new drama again but I don’t know if it would be right to do another romantic drama after such an intense drama. I think I should give time for viewers to forget [about Oh Soo]. I tend to bring out what’s within me for my acting so I won’t be able to get rid of what’s me. I think that’ll be my justification to wait (laughs).
Q. How do you want to age as a male actor?
Zo : The word ‘anti-aging’ is a scary word. Ceasing to age could mean you’re dead. I think I’d be lucky if people saw that I age naturally.
Q. If you had to score your acting right now, what would it be?
Zo : I’d give it 70 points. I’ll fill the remaining 30 by improving on my acting 10 points every 10 years.
Photographer. Lee Jin Hyuk
Translator. Jessica Kim
He had not fussed over nothing. The Zo In-sung that met with reporters had somewhat let go of his lonely character Oh Soo but the six months during which he carried the depth and weight of “That Winter, the Wind Blows” was not an easy time for the actor. TenAsia met with Zo and looked back on the drama that was so harsh and painful to him.
Q. I heard you cried a lot after shooting the last scene.
Zo In-sung : I held onto [Kim] Bum and cried a lot. I thought, ‘This is crazy’ after shooting the last scene, for which I did the scene where my character records a video message for Young. But it was hard to say my lines that were two pages long because helicopters kept flying nearby every five minutes. I think it was harder to control my emotions because I ended it also feeling so nervous.
Q. It took you a long time to choose a project following your discharge from the military.
Zo : I don’t know why. It’s not like I’m trying to become a millionaire (laughs). There was no particular reason to it but I think I rested for longer than I expected to because filming for my movie “Kwon Beob” (translated title) kept getting pushed back. And I didn’t know what I should do because I was ready to do a movie but filming continued to get delayed. There also weren’t that many other choices because by then, they’d finished casting.
Q. How did you feel when you first started filming “The Winter, The Wind Blows”?
Zo : I really wanted to die. I thought it’d be doable at first but once I actually read the script, I was at a loss. I couldn’t even figure out at which moments I should breathe. I was just so unfamiliar with everything. So I went to an acting teacher and practiced drawing forth each emotion. That’s when I naturally came to think that I shouldn’t ead into this script one dimensionally. The emotions my character had for the dead Hee-joo, the pressure he had to commit a fraud, the guilt he felt to Young after he falls in love with her, then the tension from being chased by Mu-cheol… . He was a character that felt so many different layers of emotions that I ended up thinking, ‘Why is the writer doing this to me?’ (laughs). But actress Bae Jong-ok said I probably wouldn’t get another chance to play this sort of character and consoled me by saying that she wanted to die when she did KBS drama “Lies” (translated title) but didn’t. And I really didn’t die (laughs).
Q. You’re a male actor but many have said you’re as strong as actresses when it comes to crying.
Zo : Acting out crying scenes are still the most pressure for me because people end up talking about them for a long time and do parodies of them as well. Nonetheless, I tried to do the crying scenes differently [from in the past] because the writer told me, “You’re older and you’ve changed so viewers will see you differently even with the same acting.” So I thought that as long as I’ve convinced viewers of my emotions, it wouldn’t matter how I cry. I think it was around episode nine that the writer finally told us to stop crying although there were still a lot of crying scenes afterwards as well (laughs).
Q. Is there a particular scene that even you think you looked cool in?
Zo : I think the scene in episode nine where my character saves Young and smothers a gangster’s face across a brick wall is the type of scene that every male actor would want to try out at least once during their career.
Q. And which scene do you think was the most romantic?
Zo : There was a scene where Oh Soo puts on Young’s socks for her, as if he was her father. I think it showed him as both a boyfriend and father. When looking at the part of the script that mentioned that scene, I thought of how fathers so affectionately help their children put on their socks. I wouldn’t have been able to understand that scene when I was younger but it made me proud to think that I do now.
Q. What do you think is the reason Oh Soo, who hadn’t placed much significance in life, wanted to live till the very end?
Zo : The whole time I thought, ‘Why does he want to live? Does he want to meet his mother?’ I don’t know for sure. But I do think that he wanted to say that his mother may have abandoned him, his girlfriend died, and lives every day of his life pointlessly, but he still wanted to live. That he is living so we should as well. Our country has the highest suicide rate amongst OECD countries so I think that’s what the drama may have wanted to say. Live and through love, find your reason to live.
Q. I heard that you had to reshoot the scene where Oh Soo gets stabbed by Jin-sung (Kim Beom).
Zo : He had a bit of a hard time filming that scene because Beom’s emotions didn’t explode. He sobbed when I told him, “You did good” afterwards. So I remember giving him a hug.
Q. Have you managed to let go of your character?
Zo : I felt really strange while at home the day after we had our wrap-up party. So I called the writer but I started crying. And I cried for over two hours, for no particular reason, while asking her for just a few more scenes and that I’d do a much better job with them. She listened to me the whole time and told me not to put too much into my roles, that it’d shorten my lifespan. So I don’t know why but I just cried then.
Q. There were different opinions regarding the show’s ending.
Zo : We had already shared the fact that it would be a happy ending so I think producers made it look like Oh Soo had died to just add tension. Like a story from a fairytale. On the other hand, I also think they made the ending seem dreamy because Soo and Young had such a hard time loving each other.
Q. I think you must have higher expectations of projects you take on from now on because of “The Winter, the Wind Blows.”
Zo : That’s why this is also a dangerous time for me. Because I’ll want to have the desire to feel what I did with this show. I’m trying to enjoy this moment because it may never come again, although I’d be very grateful if it did.
Q. You must also feel like you won’t be able to do another drama for the time being.
Zo : That’s actually want to ask [of people]. If I did a new drama in a few months, I don’t know if it would be a gain or loss for me. They’ve told me to hurry and do a new drama again but I don’t know if it would be right to do another romantic drama after such an intense drama. I think I should give time for viewers to forget [about Oh Soo]. I tend to bring out what’s within me for my acting so I won’t be able to get rid of what’s me. I think that’ll be my justification to wait (laughs).
Q. How do you want to age as a male actor?
Zo : The word ‘anti-aging’ is a scary word. Ceasing to age could mean you’re dead. I think I’d be lucky if people saw that I age naturally.
Q. If you had to score your acting right now, what would it be?
Zo : I’d give it 70 points. I’ll fill the remaining 30 by improving on my acting 10 points every 10 years.
Photographer. Lee Jin Hyuk
Translator. Jessica Kim