– PART I –
Kim Jaejoong who is receiving much love as a famous idol star has activities as singer and actor simultaneously and has steadily built his realm as an actor little by little. Recently, he widened his field of activity to the big screens. Although he already had big screen experience with ,
is still a very special movie as it’s his first commercial film debut. is a comedy film telling the story between a killer and a top star. In this movie, the character he plays is Choi Hyun, a star who has ‘star disease’ (T/N: star with extreme narcissism). Kim Jaejoong in playing a Hallyu star that has extreme ‘star disease’? Actually, it doesn’t adequately paint the picture if you think about his previous dramas and . The roles he has played till now were much more matched to himself with word descriptions like ‘gentleness’ and ‘dignity’. This time, through this movie, Kim Jaejoong puts down the cool image he has built, to an extend that it makes the fans impressed. Choi Hyun and Kim Jaejoong have the same occupation but in terms of personality, they are very different. In order to play this role, not only has he loosened up his shoulder but he was also willing to show a shockingly messy image of himself. 
The prejudice toward idol stars still persists. There are still many people looking negatively at the screen debut of idol stars. Even if there were many successful cases, people look on their acting with jaundiced eye. Kim Jaejoong isn’t exempt from these preconceptions. In this movie, Kim Jaejoong’s effort remains intact. He gave his all to show diverse images that he has not shown before. Aside from acting, he also wrote lyrics for the ending song of the movie. We met Kim Jaejoong on the 13th in a coffee shop near Gwanghwa-mun and heard him talk about
.You had big screen experience with but this is your first commercial movie. How do you feel as the release date approaches?
Firstly, I am very nervous. I wonder how the movie fans will think about the movie and if they will give me judgments. I am nervous and also scared.
I think you are curious about the reaction because this is your first movie. How were your acquaintances’ reactions after the premiere?
They said that just by watching the movie, they could feel that I did try very hard. They said that I must have suffered a lot. Some also said that they didn’t know about that side of mine. (T/N: referring to the image Jaejoong has shown in the movie).
Like when was screened, this time, many women also came to watch. The number of men reserving tickets is relatively small although Song Jihyo also appears in the movie. Isn’t it called Kim Jaejoong’s effect?
Recently many women like Song Jihyo. (Laugh) I think it’s not because of my power that many women reserved tickets.
I’m curious about how you chose
.Actually, I had wanted to appear in a movie but I thought that it was not the right time. I thought that I would do it once the time came. At that time when I was thinking that it was still too early to be in a movie, the scenario of
came, which made my mind divided. However, I thought that the character in the movie would allow me to show a new image of myself. And also, above all, it’s not a heavy movie that gives priority to the artistic and cinematic quality. It’s a movie that means to elicit laughs. That’s why I was able to pluck up the courage [to take the role].Hallyu star Choi Hyun in the movie and Kim Jaejoong in real life overlap a lot. It just makes me want to ask if the director has taken Kim Jaejoong as model to build that character. I wonder if it affected your choice on this role.
Actually, I was also very surprised when I got to read the scenario. I also wondered if director-nim had me mind [while writing scenario] but it isn’t true. Before I participated in the movie, there was another person in the casting shortlist. (Laugh) Also, only the occupation is the same; our personalities are different. It isn’t a character which could be presented by ‘living acting’. I don’t use such tones and act in that manner towards my manager.
There are many messy scenes. Weren’t you worried or afraid of what people might think about your image transformation?
I didn’t feel burdened. I told myself to let go of all restrictions. In reality, the image that I carry till now brings a clean and arranged feeling, doesn’t it? In such condition, if I do it by halves, people might think that I only show what I already have. I want to show them a different image of mine.
I think not only you but your fans are also worried.
My fans said that they were looking forward to see how messy I would be. Of course they were divided pro and contra. Nevertheless, I hope that I can bring laughter to everyone.
You have revealed that you had life-threatening sasaeng fans. Was it at the same danger level as the situation you encountered with the sasaeng in the movie?
I’m not sure about the behavior but there is no sasaeng fan dressing up like a weirdo (like in the movie). I still haven’t seen a fan of such kind. Maybe there were such fans in the past.
Through , director Bae Hyungjoon has unearthed actor Kang Dongwon. What did he tell you when he first met you?
When we were talking about the movie, he said that he was worried if I could carry such a messy image. Our company’s CEO told him, “Jaejoong-ie can definitely do it. Please make sure that it will be messy.” Director-nim was at ease after hearing that. What could I do? Our CEO already foretold, so I must do it. (Laugh)
