[INTERVIEW] Bae Yong-joon At 10asia

OCT. 16, 2009

Sources:
http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2009100917073135089
http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2009101318223057073

Editor in Chief : Beck Una one@10asia.co.kr
2009.10.15 00:28

Korean actor and author Bae Yong-joon at the publication event for his book "Discovering the Beauty of Korea" held at Tokyo Dome on September 30, 2009 [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

Since some time ago, we started to think of Bae Yong-joon as a set face. During the two years after MBC TV series “The Story of the First King's Four Gods” aired, what reminded us of his presence were a few commercials and the frequent tourists who visited from across the ocean.

Therefore, the opportunity to have a conversation face-to-face with Bae Yong-joon, the guy with the exact same smile on panels in the streets of Myungdong, was all the more interesting and rare.

This is a record of the interview held after the event celebrating the publication of his photo essay "Discovering the Beauty of Korea" at Tokyo Dome on September 30. What was originally a short tea-time talk turned into an interview that lasted much longer than an hour.

The whole time, Bae created moments of "actual communication” -- those which cannot be written down but only expressed through either a smile, question, joke or a serious look. We hope this record becomes the first key to opening the door to the “human Bae Yong-joon” that we all thought we knew but, in fact, did not.

10: There are people who expect you to expand your career into the global market and everything in our generation is flowing toward digital. But when we look at you, we get a feeling that you are rather going against such currents. Why are you more interested in Korean things rather than global ones, and in working on a book which is, in nature, closer to analog than digital?
Bae: I always felt bad when my family [meaning his fans] would visit Korea to see me and all they would see is the set. And after I finished shooting “The Story of the First King's Four Gods”, I was lying in the hospital when I started to wonder about several things including 'What is it that surrounds me that got me where I am today?' The present is a sum of the past and I reflected back upon that past because I wanted to learn how I had spent that time and what got me where I am now. Also, I don't think there is anyone who is not interested in their own culture, but I thought, if we expand just a little bit more on that interest, we can enjoy our culture and even improve on it too. Ultimately, I think looking back on the past is the answer to creating something new.

10: What I realized here in Japan is that your presence is so much greater than it is in Korea.
Bae:Honestly in Korea, (pointing to journalists) people here don’t give me the credit. (laugh) I think the public can only react to how the press makes them react. The reason I started to ask that the word "Hallyu" not be used is that I think it’s better to go in the direction where it seems we are exchanging our cultures rather than using a one-sided word like that. The articles written in Korea are all read and written in Japan also. So if we think a little more about what’s best for our country, and for ourselves, I think we'll be much happier.

Hallyu star Bae Yong-joon [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

10: But there seems to be some difference in your popularity in Korea and Japan.
Bae: You mean to say that I'm not popular in Korea, right? (laugh) But I have enough family [fans] in Korea too. In fact, I teared up because I felt so sorry and heartbroken for people who came to the Tokyo Dome event from Korea.

10: You wrote postcards for your fans at the Tokyo Dome event celebrating the publication of “Discovering”. Are such events your own ideas?
Bae: Yes, I can’t dance or sing for them even though my heart wants to because I don’t have the ability to deliver [my feelings] in such ways. And I can’t show them my acting. So the postcard was one of the tools I used to deliver my feelings and express my thoughts. I actually wanted to talk to them in Japanese, but when I got sick with a fever running as high as 40 degrees, I forgot everything I had studied.

10: Besides the fact that you published a book, it was impressive how you set traditional Korean performances on stage at the event, like the haegeum, samulnori and traditional dances. But you probably need to have some sense of duty or responsibility in order to promote traditional Korean culture and encourage cultural exchange in such ways.
Bae: Without a doubt, I think someone may be leading me on to do this in some parts. And the funny thing is, it’s my families that make me think those thoughts and have those feelings. When I hear people say, “You are really incredible because you did such and such”, I feel like I both want to and have to do more. When I first came to Japan a few years ago, a Korean-Japanese person started crying and thanked me, and at that moment I thought, “There must be something I can do, however meager it may be. There’s going to be stuff that I need to do and do more of.” I know I actually don’t have to feel that way, but I do and I can’t help it. Nobody is making me -- I think it's just in my nature.

10: Even so, you couldn't have written what you wrote in “Discovering” if you didn't have a close interest and affection for traditional culture. What was most difficult for you while writing it?
Bae: If you count the time I studied, it took about a year and a half to complete the book. I started with buying all the books in every field that were out in stores and studied them. I had to research everything and wonder whether it was all accurate information and whether the information was told differently elsewhere. So for those parts, I met with the masters from each field and wrote what I learned from them, based on the trust that what they said is accurate. I always carried a recorder with me to record their ideas and thoughts, and I would listen to them again when I got home. But since I am not a writer, it was very hard to express my feelings and thoughts. I didn't get much sleep for about three months, and the publisher ended up having to proofread and revise it in three days because I was holding onto it until the very last minute. So there are some typos in the book.

Korean actor Bae Yong-joon [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

10: Despite all that trouble you went through, did you feel a different sort of joy from writing compared to when you act or take pictures?
Bae: When I’m acting, there definitely are times that I really feel something is there, although it’s not very often. I think it’s the same with writing. There are times when I look at what I wrote and go, “Wow, how did I think up something like that?” (laugh)

10: Which part, for example?
Bae: The passage I recited at the Tokyo Dome event about the random thoughts that came to mind at Miruksa Temple. And the part where I wrote that the emotion of “human affection” is deeply penetrated into our food, clothing and shelter. I actually said to myself, “Wow, did I really think that!” (laugh) But I don’t think I'll be able to write another book in the future. It's so hard. That's why I said I'd focus on photographs if I publish another book but it's also because with this book, I’m quite disappointed with the photos. I took the photos first and wrote later while working on the book. But when I started writing, I realized I needed certain photos. So I wrote down which photos I needed, but I stayed up night after night writing and couldn't go back to take those pictures.

10: You included a lot of photographs that you took yourself in the book but it's necessary to do a certain amount of studying to reach the level of becoming a photographer with professionalism.
Bae: The technical aspect of photography isn't actually that difficult. What I feel is important, is the sensibility. I use the camera to take pictures, but it’s my really heart and not my fingers that press down on the shutter. When my heart allows that moment to be captured, that brief moment is when I click on the shutter so I think sensibility is more important than technique. And I don’t do much digital work. I use film because when I use a digital camera (pointing to a photographer in front of him), I press away on the shutter like that. Thinking that one of them would turn out alright. (laugh)

10: You usually don’t really expose yourself but in the book, there are many pictures of you joking and goofing around with people.
Bae:I could never write this book without exposing myself. I’m not a professional writer, so I couldn't make that stuff up. So who I am on the inside came out just as it is. After I had stayed up all night, I would send a text message to my staff and colleagues saying, “I’m going to sleep now. Feel like throwing up.” Or sometimes I would just text, “Barf!” (laugh)

10: What kind of person are you seen as in every day life by people around you and your acquaintances?
Bae: I’m a straightforward person. If someone makes a mistake, I talk about it right way and that’s it. But if the mistake is repeated, I get angry and scold them. So they're scared of me, but still I think they trust me and rely on me a lot.

10: I heard you’re planning to publish an English edition of “Discovering”.
Bae: I’m planning on printing an English version and I want to make one in braille too. The braille version would be produced for charity, not for sale. But the trickiest thing about printing braille is figuring out how to express the photographs.

Hallyu star Bae Yong-joon [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

10: Can you tell us the reason your agency and BOF International, the Japan subsidiary of KIST where you are the biggest shareholder, merged with Digital Adventure? And how that is going to affect the tourism business in Japan?
Bae: To be honest, I’m really not interested in business. There was a period when I was, but I think there are too many limits in what I can do so I don’t think it’s my kind of work. Now -- I don’t know how long I’ll be an actor -- but I want to be a farmer, a lacquer artist and sculptor.

10: Do you really have a detailed plan about becoming a farmer?
Bae: I don’t have a detailed plan but when you say it out loud and dream about it, I think it comes true. So I constantly talk about it if there is something I want to do. This is the first time that I’ve made it public in front of reporters about wanting to become a farmer, but it’s been about five years since I started talking about it. And I’m very interested in the environment too. I’m reading books to learn about farming, but you don't achieve anything in your life on your own. It also doesn't happen overnight so sometime in the future, I believe I am going to be surrounded by people who share my dreams.

10: You don’t seem all that interested in business, yet you keep presenting a variety of ideas. What personally inspires you?
Bae: I think everything comes from books. When I was a kid, I was very shy so I read a lot of books. And for a while, I didn’t have any time to read. But then I started staying home almost all the time, so I started reading again. And like I wrote in my book that you can learn a lot of things at museums, I get a lot of ideas from past cultural heritage, or what we call traditional culture.

Bae in front of animation illustration for "Winter Sonata" [BeckUna/10Asia]

10: What is your average day like?
Bae: It's not fun. (laugh) If I went to bed early the previous night, I wake up around 7 or 8 in the morning. If I was up working late, then I would get up around 10 or 11 a.m. and have a cup of tea. Then I would work out for about an hour, take a shower, read books... Sometimes I make pottery and lacquer too.

10: You shot a commercial with the famous tagline “You are a man who has everything”. Can you tell us about the things that you think you lack in or need, and what kind of life that you want in the long run?
Bae: What I need -- a wife? (laugh) In the book, I wrote about “The Gateless Gate” which is tended to by Zen monks. In order to enter the Gate, you have to fill yourself with a lot of things to rid yourself of them. When I thought about that while I was sitting at home, I realized the owner of that space was the furniture, not me. So I thought, some day I will get rid of all this and have less and less of everything. That time may come sooner than expected, and I think I may be much happier living with the feeling that I lack in some things rather than having a lot of things and living the high life. So I’m thinking about cutting down and getting rid of a lot of things.

10: You were already a star before “Winter Sonata” became a hit in 2002, but you became a top star throughout all of Asia after it. Does your current life sometimes still seem surreal to you?
Bae: Not really. To tell you the truth, it’s been that way ever since I debuted so there is nothing that I'm not used to. The difference is that now when I go somewhere, people from the travel agency bring people to where I am. Oh, but that doesn’t mean that I go to strange places. (laugh) So it doesn’t matter, but I am a little disappointed about the lack of freedom.

10: You’ve been through some changes during the past seven years. So even acting for the same role in dubbing for the animation version of “Winter Sonata” must have felt different.
Bae:I actually was a bit hesitant at first when I heard about the animation. I was convinced that doing the same work was -- I’m sorry to say this -- not going to be interesting or exciting for me. But when I got home and read the script from the beginning, I suddenly felt like I wanted to be in love. It’s embarrassing to talk about your own work like this, but I realized once again that “Winter Sonata” was a really good drama. How can anyone take over someone’s heart like this, so completely? I wanted to re-live those emotions and act again. So I said I would do it right away, but it has been seven years and there are some things, like my voice, that have changed. But I try to just go back to that same moment. I also believe I can.

Korean actor Bae Yong-joon [BeckUna/10Asia]

10: For some time, when choosing your work, it looked like you were trying to avoid roles that gave off a sweet or soft feeling, like the role you played in “Winter Sonata”. What sort of changes made you feel like you wanted to be in love again?
Bae: I had never traveled on a trip after making my debut and started shooting dramas. I was always on set. When people asked me what I did in 2002, I would say “Winter Sonata”. When they asked what I did in 1999, I would answer “Did We Really Love?“. So those dramas weren’t just work for me, they were a part of my life. I think my heart opened up a little when I went on this trip and felt a lot of things. I had planned to go to Chuncheon by myself to take pictures before I got sick. I had never felt this way before, but I think I started thinking those things and gained the will to do so from working on the book.

10: A lot of people are probably wondering what your next work or next step will be. As an actor, is there something specific that you desire?
Bae: Actually no, not “as an actor”. I have no plans about becoming a certain kind of actor or going to Hollywood. I just want to do my best every moment with what I am given.

10: Having been to cultural heritage sites like Miruksa Temple, you must feel that time, such as a thousand years, is fleeting. Have you ever thought about what you would be if you were born a thousand years ago?
Bae: Umm… I thought more about the different kind of life that our ancestors would have lived. The reason I thought about it is because I heard that it took over a year of planning and then over two years to restore Miruksa Temple. Which means it is that difficult to restore even with all the modern science technology that we have. So I thought a lot about how they could have built such architectural structures back in those days. And how much time they had in discovering themselves having just books and nature around them -- no TVs or newspapers. And I think that could be the reason a human’s abilities improved. So then I thought, if we keep trying ourselves, we could leave behind an improved culture for out future generations as well.

10: Then in thousand years, if people were to write about a person named Bae Yong-joon, what would you want written about you?
Bae: (After contemplation) Seriously, I haven’t thought about that yet. I don’t know if people would write about me, but I’ll think about it and let you know over the phone.

Editor in Chief : Beck Una one@10asia.co.kr
Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@10asia.co.kr
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr, Lee Ji-Hye seven@10asia.co.kr
<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>