Actor Park Jung-min talks about his real personality

Actor Park Jung-min poses before the interview held at Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Thursday./ Courtesy of NEW

By Jung Hae-myoung

Thirty-two year-old actor Park Jung-min has come back to play a rebellious teenage troublemaker in the new film “Start-up.”

At a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Thursday, Park met with journalists to talk about the film before its release.

As a hard-working actor, Park is never settled. He has taken various roles such as an independence movement fighter in “Dong-ju: The Portriat of the Poet,” a servant with Downs Syndrome in “That's Only My World,” and a mysterious technician in “Svaha: The Sixth Finger.”

“I usually doubt myself. When I get feedback from people, I only take on negative comments, because that's what helps me improve,” he said.

When asked what he liked best about this film, he said: “I think on the set it was great that I worked well with various people. For the film, I focused on showing the relationship with the mother, and thought that went well.”

“Like Taek-il, I myself am a son who cannot really say 'I love you' to my parents,” he said. “I don't know, but it feels so embarrassing when I try to say those words,” he said.

Playing a teenager as a 32-year-old actor, he had to study what teenagers these days are interested in and what they look like. He was enthusiastic about creating the right visual appearance for his character.

“At first I thought of dying my hair red or other colors, but in the end rebellious students in Korea always seem to dye their hair yellow,” Park said. “We also decided that I should wear colorful clothing because the film itself is very vivid.”

He tried to observe how teenagers interacted with each other but found it to be of limited help. “Copying real teenagers would make it seem like I was trying too hard to be young. In the end, I thought it was more important to deliver the message and atmosphere of the film rather than to try to look young,” he said.

However, he did spot one thing on YouTube ― that a lot of teenagers wear grey Nike pants. He came across one video clip where rebellious Korean teenagers were being scolded by an adult. He noticed that they were all wearing the same piece of clothing. He searched for other references where rebellious teenagers were wearing grey Nike pants. “I figured that was the thing for teenagers,” he said.

Since the film is based on a web comic that young students see, the cast expected that their audience will also be around that age. When asked if he thought teenagers might copy the things they see in the film, he said the cast members were also aware of that.

“There were some parts that we were concerned about. Even though we were portraying troublemakers and rebellious kids, we tried to focus on their journey of improvement. For example at first we showed a lot of smoking scenes and took them out, and we added scenes where the kids get scolded by adults for drinking underage”

Actor Park Jung-min/ Courtesy of NEW

Since the film delivers the message that people should do what they want, Park said he himself feels cautious giving advice.

“Since I am doing the things I love, I don't know what people feel or think when they are not. I have never lived that life, so I don't have a say in that,” Park said. Instead he ― seriously ― recommended people watch Pengsoo, a penguin character that is currently popular in Korea.

“I think Pengsoo can give advice because he is not human and he's very young. I was especially impressed when he advised people to say 'I love you' rather than 'cheer up,'” he said.

In his free time he watches YouTube. “I feel most happy when I lie down in my bed and watch YouTube. I just go where the algorithm takes me,” he said. “Recently I have been watching Dingo Freestyle. Sometimes I just play a long video clip and go to sleep.”

On Thursday, he appeared on the television reality show “I Live Alone,” which shows several celebrities who live alone and their daily lives.

“It was very hard, being on a reality show for the first time,” he said. “Usually I am acting while hiding the real Park Jung-min. I think the same happens with the television personality too, but I didn't have any characters prepared,” he added. “I basically don't do anything in that show.”

“Start-Up” is a film where Taek-il (Park Jung-min) and Sang-pil (Jung Hae-in), who do not know what to do or study, run away from home to earn money instead. The film depicts the story of the two as they work at a Chinese restaurant and face challenges as teenagers. This is based on a 2014 web comic that had rating of 9.8 out of 10 on portal site Daum.

“Start-Up” will be released Dec. 18.