Nikkan Sports Interview

Hi hi .... our dear cloudnine was busy at work again! She translated the interview that Yong Joon gave to Nikkan Sports while he was in Tokyo. As usual, he puts in a lot of thoughts and sincerity in his response. Furthermore, you can feel his regrets towards his fans for not being able to show us more acting. Obviously his health is still not 100% as before, hope you'll get there soon, Yong Joon! Thanks cloudnine for always thinking of us :) Here it is ........

Nikkan Sports September 13 ‘Exclusive Interview with BYJ’
Here’s an exclusive interview with a Korean actor Bae Yong Joon (39).

While he was in Japan for the drama ‘Dream High’ Dvd release event, the interview with Nikkan Sports took place in a staff room of Saitama Super Arena. It’s seven years since the big hit of ‘Winter Sonata’ in 2004. The actor, who laid the foundation of the prosperity of Korean entertainment and who has been a permanent top star himself, told us frankly about who he is now. ( Interviewer; Hayato Kubo)

Q: You must be tired after the event. It’s been a while since you met your family (fans) , how do you feel now?

A: I’m most grateful and at the same time I feel sorry. Due to my health problem I was very sorry for not appearing much in the drama. I’m deeply sorry even for today’s event, because if I could sing or dance like my juniors I would have shown it. I wish to show my work as an actor, but it has not been decided yet, I feel terribly sorry for this too.

Q: For ‘Dream High’ you joined not only as an actor but also as a producer, how did you find it?

A: It was my first attempt, which put me in a different position from acting. I think I could see the parts which I had missed while I was working only as an actor. Also about the drama I could acquire the broader understanding and which was very helpful for acting. What I had no chance to see as only an actor , this time from a viewpoint of a production company I was able to see, and that is for example how the direction was and how the staff were working. Actors tend to be quite selfish on the set inevitably. For them acting is above everything else and building up character’s emotions is very important. So actors really don’t notice other things. Now I can look over such parts, but this doesn’t mean I don’t focus on my character or acting. I had no idea how much it costs to produce a drama, however now I understand how much we need.

Q: If you have an another chance, would you like to work as a producer again?

A: If I do so, my family might say something to me (laughs). For the time being I will be a full-time actor, however as for ‘Dream High 2’ I wish to be involved in the project at least. Actually here (in the dressing room of Saitama Arena) JYP and I were having a kind of meeting about the story. The theme for the drama is ‘dream’. In the event being asked ‘What is a dream?’, I answered that for me it’s a high ideal which I can’t reach. In the true sense fulfilling dreams or saying that the dream came true are very serious matter and difficult to do. It’s something like reaching an unreachable state of mind, that is what we call in Buddhism ‘attaining an enlightened state of mind’ I think. In today’s event JYP suggested me to become a director, which I consider one of my dreams rather than a goal. I have no idea if it’s possible or not, but for me it’s my dream.

Q: We are living in a tough world, difficult times in many ways. For young people it’s getting harder to pursue their dreams. For those people what kind of advice would you give?

A: I suppose young people don’t know much about the world yet. They just have no idea about what kind of jobs are there or, what kind of jobs they can do, so at any rate I want them to try a lot of things. I want them to make efforts to try anything. This may be called curiosity and I want them to see various things and feel them. Above all the most important thing is to do their best at this moment. Doing their utmost efforts now will lead them to their future, and it will also bring their dreams into shape. It will be a process to understand what dreams are .

Q: Fans who came to the event and who didn’t both care about how you will appear in the next work. About your new work do you mind sharing as much as possible at this stage?

A: First I will work on the ‘Dream High 2’ project and in addition I will return to my day job. I’m making my utmost effort in order to start shooting at the earliest possible time. However as there is nothing concrete, I can’t tell you anything, but I think I will do a drama.

Q: While you were filming the drama TWSSG you broke the ligament of the index finger, injured the cervical spine and shoulder ligament. Early this year you were hospitalized due to a herniated disk. How are you feeling now?

A: Actually I haven’t fully recovered yet. From old times they say ‘Health is above everything else’ , or ‘If you are in good health, you can do anything.’
These words deeply pierced me to the heart now. I vaguely thought that I would get well with time, but then I found that I hardly recovered just with time. So in order to really get healthy I’m making various efforts now.

The whole interview will be carried on a Asian entertainment Magazine ‘Choa’, 4th issue to be out on September 20th.

Picture from BYJGallery - miemi, thanks!