INTERVIEW 'My lonely life in US helped me portray my character'
Idol singer-turned-actress Ahn Sohee poses at a cafe in Samcheongdong, Seoul, last Thursday, before the interview with the Korea Times. / Courtesy of Warner Brothers Korea
By Kim Jae-heun
Idol singer-turned-actress Ahn Sohee has returned to the big screen with the new film “Single Rider” (2017) starring Lee Byung-hun and Kong Hyo-jin.
Critics and audiences praised her acting in this film, comparing it to her role as high school student Jin-hee in last year’s box office hit “Train to Busan” (2016).
This time, she plays Ji-na, a young backpacker who has traveled to Australia on a working holiday and meets Jae-hoon (played by Lee) there.
Sohee explained it was easy for her to get into her solitary character as she experienced living abroad in the U.S. during her time with the K-pop band Wonder Girls to pursue her career there.
“Many people predicted it would be difficult for me to understand the character Ji-na, an ordinary teenage girl, while I lived an extraordinary life as an idol singer,” Sohee said to The Korea Times. “But we share a commonness in that Ji-na spent two years in Australia alone and I left my family and friends to pursue my dream in the U.S. performing with a K-pop group.
“I was able to put myself in Ji-na’s shoes ― how lonely she’d have felt living overseas. I felt pity and sadness for her.”
Sohee debuted as a member of JYP Entertainment’s popular K-pop girl group in 2007 and rose to stardom with the band’s megahit “Tell Me” that year. However, the singer left the band in 2013 when her contract expired, and went on to pursue an acting career with BH Entertainment headed by her co-star Lee. Now, Sohee is signed with KeyEast Entertainment.
“Single Rider” is about fund manager Kang Jae-hoon who faces bankruptcy and travels to Australia to visit his wife Soo-jin (played by Kong) and son Jin-woo. However, he realizes his wife is in an intimate relationship with her neighbor Kris and is taken aback by overlapping misfortunes. Kang only watches his wife from a distance.
Q. It has been eight months since you last appeared on the screen in “Train to Busan.” How do you feel?
A. It is still amazing when I watch the final version of the movie. We all worked hard in Australia, all actors and crew. And I am happy the movie came out well.
Q. Did you worry about your considerable part in the film?
A. I was thrilled to work with Lee and Kong and I was worried and nervous at the same time. I also spent much time talking with the director and went over my lines several times. One day, we would go over the whole script together and the next day we would focus on one scene and the next day we only talked about my character Ji-na.
Q. What advice did the director give you?
A. She told me the script begins from her own experience. The story is based on her life as an employee at an advertising agency and her thoughts after she resigned. She told me the story of Ji-na is about her friend too.
Q. Do you know how you were cast in this movie?
A. I read an interview of the director. She said she wrote the script about Ji-na thinking about me for the role of Sohee. I was surprised when I read it and thought I really have to do my best and take responsibility for my role.
Q. What was the hardest scene for you?
A. The scene where I ask for help from Jae-hoon on the beach was the most important one because my character’s story begins there. I shot the scene on the second or third day and it took me several takes to receive an okay sign from the director. Lee does not appear at one sequence, but he stood behind the camera so I could get immersed better. He advised me to shout out for help with sincerity so that he would actually turn back to look at her.
Then, I really shouted to Lee for help with desperation and hoped that I passed this sequence.
Q. Your fans from Wonder Girls find that you appear awkward with different roles on the screen as you were much loved for your cute but chic image in the band.
A. I think people feel a separation between Sohee of Wonder Girls and Sohee as an actress as I am better known for the former. I do not want to erase that image but I want to show different sides of myself in many roles through the films. I can compare it to painting over different colors and that process has to be natural.
Q. You left Wonder Girls in 2013 and became a full-time actress. Did you have to leave the band?
A. I wanted to focus on one sector. I loved being on the stage and working in an act so I prioritized Wonder Girls when pursuing my singing career. But after we returned from the U.S. and had a year hiatus, I thought it was time to move on to focus on acting.
It was all planned from long ago. When I auditioned for JYP, I told the agency I wanted to dance, I want to sing and I want to act. After participating in my first commercial film “Hellcats,” I knew I had to become an actress. But I was busy with Wonder Girls then, so when my contract with JYP expired, I left the group with the blessings of the other members.
Q. What other roles do you wish to portray in future films?
A. I want to play as many characters as possible. I still lack a career here. Maybe I want to play a role in an action film.