Because there are so many news and interviews about Ji Chang Wook today, I'll give translations in a few parts. Here's part 1 of his interviews from Seoul Daily and Hancinema.
Translation of the Seoul Daily article
Ji Chang Wook "Vulnerability...pure love...to an insane emperor. Two versions had to be filmed for one scene."
“Empress Ki”, which aired
its final episode on the 29th last month, continuously raked in viewership
ratings of more than 20%, and its popularity is testament to its success. However,
it was not able to break free from its label as a historically distorted story
packaged as a “faction sageuk”. “Empress
Ki” owes its mass popularity to Ha Ji Won, who plays the titular character, and
Ji Chang Wook (27 years old) who plays the Yuan emperor Ta Hwan. From the vulnerability
of a young prince and a man deeply in love to the insanity of a violent emperor,
these dramatic character changes and the undulating emotions were excellently portrayed
and he has earned praises for his widening range of acting. Having acted in dramas
such as “Smile Donghae” and musicals, he has deeply etched his name in the
minds of the public through “Empress Ki”.
Q: You had to act out a wide range of changes in your character.
Was it difficult?
Ta Hwan was a child who had never been loved and experienced
friendship during his exile, and from friendship, he got to know about love. He
tried many ways to obtain that love, but did not know that that was a wrong
kind of love. I was very troubled over
how I should portray such a dramatic transformation.
Q: The changes in emotion were like polar opposites.
I had to shift between laughter, crying, fear and craziness in
every episode. It was difficult to maintain a balance. It is not easy to gauge
whether a sudden change in emotions should be full of impact, or whether a subplot
is to be introduced and then built up slowly. If the script for the next
episode isn’t out yet, I have to decide by myself what kind of emotions I should
end the episode with, since I do not know how the plot is going to develop
later. There were instances where I had
to film two versions of the last scene of an episode.
Q: Are you satisfied with your acting?
I’m always filled with regrets. I always think I should’ve
tried harder. For example, in the scene
where I had to act crazy, I think I should have really given my all. As an
actor, this was a show that allowed me to try out various kinds of acting.
Q: What was the most memorable scene?
That would be the first scene five years after the war. It
was the scene where I had to use a sword to kill a defeated general while in a
drunken state. That scene was filmed in a long take. Because I had to film all
at once, my whole body was drenched with sweat. That scene alone took eight
hours to film.
Q: What were your thoughts about the debate regarding the
show’s historical distortion while filming?
As an actor, I was very troubled by the kinds of responsibility
I should bear regarding the problem of history. “Empress Ki” was a story about
one woman surrounded by the love of two men, which would be interesting, so I
had no other words to say besides asking people to pay attention to our show. During filming, the
only thought I had each time was to take responsibility for my character Ta
Hwan and complete the show successfully.
Q: After “Empress Ki”, you will probably be receiving many
offers.
I’m thankful that more people are coming to look for me than
before. With that, the number of offers that I have to reject has also
increased, and I apologize for that. Jo Jin Woong hyung said that “when you
reject a show, the pain you feel is akin to slicing a piece of your flesh”. I
can really relate to those words these days.
Translated by daegorr
Source: JCW soompi
Hancinema article
Ji Chang-wook, "Ha Ji-won is quiet and afraid of strangers"
Actor Ji Chang-wook spoke about actress Ha Ji-won whom he co-starred in the MBC drama "Empress Qi" with. He starred in the drama as Ta Hwan and had an interview with TV Daily. Chang-wook said, "I am afraid of strangers but it seemed like she was too", when he was asked how Ha Ji-won was.
"Thankfully the first few scenes of the drama was of Ta Hwan and Ki Seung-nyang (Ha Ji-won) playing around with each other so we naturally got close".
"She's a very good listener and she gave me a lot of advices or
suggested that I do something another way. She's very responsive too.
She laughs a lot, so the filming site was always cheerful".
Source: TV daily
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