[INTERVIEW] Actress Shin Se Kyung

source: http://www.tenasia.com/archives/60934  part 1

http://www.tenasia.com/archives/61011  part 2

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PART 1

Actress Shin Se-gyeong poses during an interview with TenAsia. [TenAsia/Gue Hye Jung]

MBC’s Wednesday and Thursday drama “When a Man Falls in Love” was an eventful experience for actress Shin Se-gyeong who played the show’s main female character Seo Mi-do. She received harsh criticism for her acting and many wrote malicious comments about her on the Internet. But she was all smiles when she said that she believes in “fatalistic attraction.” It’s almost difficult to tell whether she is just that composed or indifferent. But you understand the moment that you realize the peculiar sense of balance you feel between those emotions is due to her positivity. Maybe this is why her personality, slightly different from her coy appearance, seems attractive? Shin’s solidness on the inside wrapped by her positivity and unexpectedness on the outside will probably serve her well.

Q. What a long journey the show has been for you. How does it feel to end “When a Man Falls in Love”?

Shin Se-gyeong: Extremely relieving. I didn’t read too many of the articles online but I heard about the response. And there was a time I was upset for a bit because the response was quite fierce but I forgot about it quickly (laughs). I think this drama helped me grow another level on the inside.

Q. I think it must’ve not been easy to ignore such response though because the ratings for the show weren’t that good either.

Shin: It would’ve helped a lot if the ratings were good. I do try not to be influenced by the response that comes from around me. Maybe it’s because I’m young but I remember my experiences based on the memory I have from working with people on set, not the results shown by numbers. Of course, I did have all sorts of thoughts when I first started getting criticized. I wondered, ‘Should I tone down my character?’ But I think I would’ve had a lot of regrets if I changed my character’s personality. I feel good about the fact that I did all I could although I got criticized.

Q. Isn’t it good to get lots of criticism if you’re playing an evil role? (laugh) Of course, not that your character Mi-do was necessarily an evil person.

Shin: Of course it’s better (laughs). One of the things I was drawn to the most about this drama was that I felt it could draw a variety of very different responses from viewers. That’s why I think it’s only natural that people sympathized with her in some ways but criticized her in other ways. The fact that she wasn’t all that perfect is what made her more human. And I think that’s how this drama differentiated itself from others.

Q. Like you said though, different viewers sympathized with different things so I think it must’ve made it difficult to play your character. 

Shin: I never tried to make my character seem nice on purpose. Reality is complicated and Mi-do’s life was one of the many types of lives that exist in this world. What I paid the most attention to was calculating the intensity of feelings she has for each character since there were several she was involved with emotionally. Because her feelings for them came about in the beginning of the show, I figured everything would get messed up in the end if I didn’t start it right. So I wrote down the level her emotions were at in numbers. I started by writing them as whole numbers, such as 2, 3, 5 but I ended up going as far as 3.2 and 4.6 because the situations she was in and her emotions got increasingly complex (laughs). I had no choice but to because we didn’t shoot the drama in the order it went in but back and forth.

Actress Shin Se-gyeong poses during an interview with TenAsia. [TenAsia/Gue Hye Jung]

Q. But it seemed that the more the show headed to the end, the more it focused more on the inner growth Mi-do experienced, rather than depicting on her relationship with Tae-sang (Song Seung-heon) and Jae-hee (Yeon Woo-jin).

Shin: And that’s what I felt was most important. A lot of people may have looked forward to seeing more romance but I personally focused more on her inner growth.

Q. Then I don’t think it would have been easy to connect the story of her worldly desires that was in the beginning of the show, to the story of her inner growth that was in the latter half of the show. 

Shin: Mi-do was a girl with a duplicity. She had materialistic desires, yet also wanted to just settle with reality when Tae-sang helps her. And she tried to pretend she was extremely rational but she occasionally experienced emotional turmoil. I knew this about her so I put in a lot of effort to prepare for the role. I wanted to do so well. And of course there were difficulties. She may have not lived an ordinary life but I tried to tell her story in my own way by regarding her life as the one of many that exist in this world. I tried to show that she didn’t readily accept the wave of emotions she feels but rather tried to look at them calmly. That’s why she never told either men that she loved them.

Q. Well, maybe it was because you expressed highly complex emotions through inner feelings but a lot of people said your acting was a bit dry. 

Shin: I did feel sort of this pressure to not respond excessively to any situation because the emotions Mi-do felt went not in a single direction but many directions. And in that sense, viewers may have felt that my acting was dry. My character had ambiguous emotions to start with and knowing the incidents that would follow, it was difficult to pour forth the emotions. I know I didn’t show a wide range of emotions but I tried to express even the slightest changes she felt.

Q. It must’ve been really difficult to play your character. How was your chemistry with the two male actors?

Shin: It was great. The two of them had different styles of acting. My character’s relationship with Tae-sang was complicated but the emotions that Jae-hee felt were more complex so I think I spoke more with Yeon Woo-jin.

Q. If you were Mi-do, who would you have chosen?

Shin: Neither. I would’ve just chased my dreams (laughs).

Reporter. Kim G

wang Kuk realjuki@tenasia.co.kr

Photographer. Gue Hye Jung photonine@tenasia.co.kr

Editor. Hong Ji You jiyou@tenasia.co.kr

PART 2

Actress Shin Se-gyeong poses during an interview with TenAsia. [TenAsia/Gue Hye Jung]

Q. Is there anything you put extra effort into to prepare for your role?

Shin: I couldn’t find anything to refer to. No matter how hard I looked, there weren’t any characters like Mi-do (laughs). And the show dealt less with her worldly desires in the latter half of its showing to tell about the male-female relationships. But what I had focused on most was showing how she comes to be greedy of material things. Now that I think about it, it’s a bit of a shame that the story of the relationships stood out more.

Q. I think you’d be able to say this now that the show is over but what do you think is the meaning that lies behind “When a Man Falls in Love”?

Shin: Just like its title, I think it’s about showing what men are like when they fall in love (laughs). But love is not just about the affection that exists between a man and woman. The title may suggest that it’s about what happens when Tae-sang falls in love with Mi-do but I actually think this drama talks about various kinds of human love. Love is so complicated. It’s hard to define (laughs). I think it would be most correct to say the show is about human affection.

Q. Your character in this show and as Lee Ga-young in SBS drama “Fashion King” last year have the similarity that they were both sort of the tragic main female character. Is there a story to how you got cast as Seo Mi-do?

Shin: All dramas contain conflicts and they’re all similar because they tell about how the main character grows through that conflict. But I think the characters I play end up seeming more tragic when I play them (laughs). As for how I got cast to this drama, I heard that producer Kim Sang-ho decided on me as soon as he watched my film “Hindsight” (laughs).

Actress Shin Se-gyeong poses during an interview with TenAsia. [TenAsia/Gue Hye Jung]

Q. What is your criteria for choosing a role?

Shin: I usually just get a vibe when I choose a role. Sort of a fatalistic vibe? And it could come from a single line or a scene but for this show, I got it from the first and second episodes. I liked Mi-do in how she went to Tae-sang and asked how he would feel about buying her, and I’m personally attached to those episodes. I believe in fate. That’s why I think the project I get to work on and the actors that I get to work with, are all just meant to be. And my opinion is important but I listen carefully to what others say as well. It’s my way of trying to distribute the pressure (laughs).

Q. What sort of actor do you want to become? You have played different roles but recently, it feels like you’ve played characters with similar images. 

Shin: I’m not trying to maintain a certain image so I don’t feel uncomfortable about taking on a different image. It’s just that I want to do acting that’ll help me gradually improve in the areas I lack in.

Q. Have there been any moments during your acting career that have been difficult for you?

Shin: It’s been several years since I’ve discovered my shortcomings but at first, it was difficult to see myself from an objective standpoint. I had zero confidence when I was doing SBS’s “Deep Rooted Tree” (2011). That’s why I focused just on the process of correcting my shortcomings when I took on roles. Of course, I could’ve thought of just giving up completely because I had no confidence but I had a goal so it made me keep trying. And by working on this drama, I learned that there’s a greater sense of achievement you gain when you approach those shortcomings actively.

Q. So you must know your strengths and weaknesses by now.

Shin: My strength is that I work hard (laughs). And of course, I do think I’m good at certain things but regardless, I come across obstacles every time. As for my weaknesses, I have too many (laughs). And it’s actually not about the ratings or number of audiences my projects score. They’re regarding the things I felt I lacked in. But I usually don’t tell people my shortcomings because the public might focus on just that. In a way, it’s my strategy (laughs).

Q. You must have thought about your next project. And I’m curious to what your plan is.

Shin: I have no plans (laughs). I realized that I don’t rest well when I have a new project set. I’m going to rest, meet my friends, and travel with my family for the time being. Of course, if I’m handed a good project, whether it’s a film or drama, I’ll do it. I’ve recently been thinking that movies are shot in better environments than dramas but I don’t think I’m good enough to do well at that genre yet. So I think I’ll go for movies again when I have a wider realm of emotions I can express and can express them well. Nothing comes easy (laughs).

Reproter. Kim Gwang Kuk realjuki@tenasia.co.kr

Photographer. Gu Hye Jung photonine@tenasia.co.kr

Editor. Hong Ji You jiyou@tenasia.co.kr