A contrast from Collin in ‘A Gentlemen’s Dignity’, whose mind is difficult to be figured out, Lee Jonghyun on the other hand never hesitates when he speaks. He disclosed the genuine reason he started music, and responded with smile on his face concerning the recent topic of his ‘foot acting’ (translator: which means poor acting in Korean). But he never reveal about Collin’s real father until the end of the interview
Vogue Girl (VG): Did you see Minhyuk’s interview on last month’s ?
JongHyun( JH): I only saw the photos. I just read in the article that he mentioned we, CNBLUE members do monitoring for each others.
VG: He said badly about your tam-o’ shanter. Why do you like it?
JH: Caps doesn’t look good on me. So when I have to wear caps or hats, I always wear beanies or tam-o’ shanter. But actually, I wear it after I saw Kimura Takuya wearing that in Japanese drama ‘Sora Kara Furu Ichioku No Moshi (A Hundred Million Stars Raining From the Sky)’. He was extremely handsome.
VG: I see. Do you like Kimura Takuya?
JH: Who won’t like him? He is handsome even from a male’s point of view. So I wear it once after him, and found it was better than I expected. Although the reactions from people around me were not good.
VG: Do you take those reactions seriously but act like you don’t mind? Or are you really not bothered with what other people would say?
JH: I do mind about it but then I just ignore it. (laugh)
VG: Do the members monitor you closely when watching ‘A Gentlemen’s Dignity’?
JH: Quite frankly, yes (members give honest reviews). (VG: Doesn’t it hurt you?) It can’t be helped anyway, because it’s only recently that I started acting. And, in my opinion, Minhyuk is really doing well in acting.
VG: By any chance, but do you still remember the interview with two years ago? When we asked ‘What do you imagine you’ll be doing after ten years?’ You answered that you will do music without any changing, and “possibly at the same time I may act.” Didn’t you expect at that time such thing will come?
JH: I didn’t. At that time, I was really determined not to act. Musicians are commonly stubborn. Even more so for guitarists. But as time goes by, I could finally accept acting while doing music at the same time.
VG: How did you feel when you acted in ?
JH: At first, I thought I could do well because the character was around my age and he wanted to do music. I’ve always believed that both music and acting are forms of art with some feelings and other ‘languages’. So I rushed into it, and got hurt. The gap in the ‘languages’ was so big.
VG: Every shoot for today included flowers. What comes into your mind when you see flowers? Do you think it’s a thing loved by all girls? Or is it just for decorations on your name?
JH: First, I have never ever given flowers to girls. Because back in the day, my elder sister said to me after she got flower as present from someone, ‘JongHyun, do not give flowers to girls.’
VG: Didn’t your girlfriend felt displeased about that?
JH: No, not at all. I’m not the kind of guy that celebrates special days. I’m a blunt person, it’s not my style. (VG: You are the typical Busan guy?) That’s it!
VG: You were selected as ‘Ul-Zzang’ before you debuted. Have you been receiving women’s attention since young?
JH: Just slightly? It wasn’t that great. Because I graduated from an all-boy’s middle school, and for high school even though it’s a co-ed school, but each class was separated according to genders.” (VG: But, surely on Valentines’ Day, chocolates would cover your desk, and on your way from school to home, female juniors would follow you.) Yes, I think so. I spent very exciting school days. That’s it in a word!
‘Ul-Zzang’ (translator: which means the best looking face in Korean)
VG: You were a Judo athelete when you were in middle school. How did you start being active as a Judo athelete?
JH: When I was in first grade, the school’s Judo club was re-organized and they started to gather players. At that time, my body was rather “unique” so it was outstanding. I was thin and very tall. My current height is same as when I was 16. Anyway, the teacher suggested me to do that for fun, so I started and soon found it interesting. I’ve always liked exercising. I do not tell this often, but anyway I got 3rd or 4th degrees in Taekwondo when I was young. Then in Judo, it was not that long after I started Judo when I got the gold medal in the city’s competition. And I found it fascinating then.
VG: Do you think that you are naturally gifted in Judo?
JH: That was only my illusion. Soon after I realized that I’m not going far in it, to the extent of becoming the country’s number one Judo athlete, so I thought it would be better for me to do other things rather than being among other athletes who definitely have better skills than me. So I went to an academic high school to study. When I was in middle school, my academic results was okay even though I was active in sports, but when it comes to concentrate on studying, it did not go well. Hasty preparation on studying didn’t work any more. Therefore I concluded not to continue, so I asked my parents what I should do from then on, and they replied ‘Do as you please.
VG: How are your parents like?
JH: They are both open-minded people. I didn’t have to leave home. I felt pity when I saw friends choking and feeling discontented under their conservative parents. My parents said “Live as you want to live, but we will keep you just until you become twenty.”
VG: Then you must not have memories of breaking your parents’ hearts?
JH: Of course I have. It happened too but when they see me now they say that I grew up well by myself. Well, there is one thing and another that I cannot tell. But anyway I spent an enjoyable school life back then.
VG: Then, why did you have so much worry in your career?
JH: It’s the same now, but I really hate uncertain things. I absolutely have to do what I can do best. But every time after I reached to a certain extent, I always found out there are people who are doing better than me. Other than exercising/sports, there seems to be nothing that I can do well, so I thought hard of what I like to do. After that, I realized I like singing in the singing room (karaoke), and listening to music. So I tried doing music and started to go to the academy. While learning to sing and playing piano, I got to know musicians like Eric Clapton, and I found it attractive and challenging to sing while playing the guitar.
VG: Quincy Jones have mentioned that the reason why he started music, “I started this to get attention from women. I don’t know exactly what will others say, but anyway they are the same.”
JH: It’s true! I think regardless of sex, everyone’s object of the behavior is eventually the opposite sex. It can be explained through the fact that men want to be a master at something or women try to make themselves look pretty, it’s all the same. If I try to make the reason (of why I started music) sounds great, I can describe with romance but that is the truth. Why do you think I liked singing in the singing room?
VG: Is there any song that you want to recommend, to make girls flutter?
JH: It’s not exactly for that reason only but there are my favorite songs like ‘Snow Flower’ byPark Hyo Shin. (VG: Aha, like the song ‘Confession’ by Lim Jae Bum?) I like ‘moist’ songs, like‘One Day’ by Position.
VG: So to sum up the stories so far, in school days, Lee Jong Hyun was good looking, exercised well, and studied quite well, and plus, you sang well?
JH: Hahaha. But I was very countrified, a man from the rural. I would just run by the seaside, and when it’s hot, I’d dive into the sea. A Marine Boy?
VG: Minhyuk said he had a camera phobia, but Jonghyun, seeing your pictures when you were an Ul-Zzang in the past, the atmosphere is like ‘Go ahead and shoot, if you are willing to!’
JH: I have no photo phobia at all. It’s funny and comfortable. But for video it’s a little bit different. I thought I don’t have any phobia but I realized it for the first time when I was acting in the drama. My nostril becomes big when I became tensed involuntarily. (laugh)
VG: Do you check reactions or responses from others after the drama episode has been broadcast?
JH: I don’t access to the internet. Of course I am curious. But whatever people say, I’ve tried my best, even if I cannot be good in the present, maybe I could do well in the future.
VG: What was your know-how to be casting on Collin?
JH: I think they paid attention on feelings. Of course my acting wasn’t that good, but the more I tried during the audition, it became better. By the way, by the look of it (sweeping faces up and down with palm) I think this appearance did a big role in that. And also “the boy from abroad” feel? When I don’t smile, it looks cold and they said it looks similar with Collin.
VG: When did you realize that your appearance/look is exotic?
JH: When I was young. My friends made fun of me, saying that I am a mixed blood child when I was an elementary school student. They said I couldn’t possibly be Korean. So I went home and asked my parents, “Am I a mixed child?” They said no. They said I am 100% Korean boy.
VG: What strikes you the most when acting? Dialect?
JH: Cold way of speaking? Because I have small mix of facial expressions. It’s hard to express various feelings like people using standard languages. And even more with the character who is warm-hearted inside, and cold-looking outside? It’s very hard. My appearance looks cold but my personality isn’t like that at all. (VG: Which character did you referred to (for Collin’s character)?) Senior Hyun Bin. He seems to talk bluntly, but when you pay attention to his word, there are some special accents separately.
VG: Have you ever thought that is Lee Jong Hyun, not Collin when you’re self monitoring?
JH: When I monitor myself, I don’t feel like he is me.
VG: That might be a good news! You became other person, not you in that moment.
JH: But the seniors said “Acting is not making you into some other person. You just have to be yourself.” “If you became another person, that man is you that you haven’t realized. He is not another person.” (VG: Acting is just hard. It shouldn’t be easy to make yourself into that.) That’s what I mean!
VG: You came here after filming some scenes of drama today. What was that scene?
JH: I gripped and released four gentlemen around Collin’s finger. Collin is an unpredictable guy, hard to figure what he would do next.
VG: What scene will you select as the best among broadcast episodes until now?
JH: (Pretending to kick) I think that was the best. (VG: Awesome kicking?) Yes. Once my friend told me that there is an exciting thing on internet, and the title was ‘Collin’s foot acting’. So I thought ‘Ah, people say bad about my acting.’, and checked it, and it was actually the kicking scene when I was trying to save Im Meahri in the club’s restroom. So I was relieved.
(Foot acting - translator: which means poor acting in Korean)
VG: “Kicking” is written as one of your special talents on the profile in portal sites. You flew and kicked in ‘I’m A Loner’ teaser on your own, without using any stuntman.
JH: Yes, I did. I’d surely love to take be in action movies in the future. I’m really confident in that. (VG: Like So Ji Sub’s role in “Movie is a Movie” (Rough Cut)) Oh, yes he’s so cool! But I want to try Bourne’s character.(Jason Bourne in the series) Bourne!
VG: That teaser of ‘I’m A Loner’ showed each of CNBLUE member’s character when you first debuted. Do you like your character – ‘Burning’?
JH: It was the best for me. How could they imagine ‘Burning’ from alphabet B? I really am burning, in my life and when doing what I want to do.
VG: Let’s get our conversation’s topic back to the drama. Which scene do you think that brings the most dissatisfaction to you?
JH: That would be the scene where I had a phone conversation with my mother and I was talking in Japanese in it. I really got disappointed for myself. I thought Japanese was my specialty so I was confident. But when I thought about it, it was not the matter of course. When foreigners speak fluently in Korean, it’s not always mean that they would act well in Korean.
VG: Personally, I liked your line after your mother hang up the call, “I’ll take it as a yes.” Fans also liked that scene.
JH: There was too much power on my nostrils. It was enlarged, flaring too big. (laugh)
VG: Did you have some changes in your everyday life after you started acting as Collin?
JH: I became calmer then before. I was always excited on usual days. (VG: Well, it may be. Collin listens to music alone.) Yes. But I like to listen to music altogether.
VG: How did you feel when you met the four candidates for your father?
JH: Of course I was wondering. ‘Who will be my father out of these four?’ (VG: Considering on similar figures/looks, maybe Jang Dong Gun?) Eh, how can I be compared with him. (VG: Then other seniors are okay to compare?) No, I don’t mean that. Amazingly, I can find some resemblance with all four seniors.
VG: What do you anticipate as the ending for this drama?
JH: I want everyone to be happy in the end. (VG: So exactly what would that ending be?) I suppose.. Oh, it’s very difficult? The writer must have trouble with that.
VG: I think every time when people meet you they will ask “Who is your father?”
JH: Yes, but I would never tell them.
VG: It’s a few days left until the weekends. Please write it on this paper. So Collin, who exactly is your dad?
JH: Eh, Just watch this weekend’s broadcast. Just wait for it. (laugh) (translator: He used Kim Do Jin’s way of speaking)
Translated by: BOICE @eternalfor_JH
Photos: http://planet-b.tistory.com/62
Posted + Edited by: AJ+Fizzy cnbluestorm