Actor Yeo Jin-goo, 17 going on 25

Actor Yeo Jin-goo poses before an interview at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Jan. 21. / Yonhap

By Kwon Ji-youn

Yeo Jin-goo is just 17, but he has all the makings of a fine actor ― a thirst for cinematic quality, an eye for detail and a genuine curiosity about a character’s psyche.

This time, he will take on the role of a 25-year-old patient who has been frequenting a dingy psychiatric facility atop a mountain for the past six years.

Yeo’s looks, deep voice and tact helped him enact a convincing 25-year-old in the film “Shoot Me in the Heart,” but he needed something more to play the part of a persuasive schizophrenic.

In an interview with The Korea Times, Yeo said he is rarely satisfied with his acting, but depicting a character suffering from a traumatic disorder made this even more demanding.

“The message that the film is trying to get across is great, as is the way the film looks on the screen,” he said. “But my acting at the beginning was shaky. Soo-myung has endured emotions that are not easily experienced.”

Mun Je-yong’s new film tells the story of Soo-myung whose peaceful life is thrown into disorder when he meets Seung-min, a walking time bomb. The film is based on award-winning novelist Jeong Yoo-jeong’s 2009 book of the same title.

“I realized about half way through that I was relying too heavily on the original book for tips on understanding Soo-myung,” Yeo said. “I was trapped inside the book, and that’s why my acting was so stiff.”

Particularly difficult was identifying with the character, he said. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder often characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to acknowledge what is real. In “Shoot Me,” Soo-myung attempts to escape reality, traumatized by his mother’s suicide.

“Depicting the transformation Soo-myung undergoes as he overcomes schizophrenia was tricky,” Yeo said. “In the end, I asked someone who used to treat such patients for advice.

“I also went to the original writer, and what she told me was that Soo-myung is actually a very smart kid,” he continued. “This came as a shock to me. When she said this, all the questions that I had evaporated, and I found myself deep in thought about why this kid could be deemed smart.”

Yeo knew this would be a challenging film for him, but this was what attracted him to it to begin with. His acting finally began to nail the character after several scenes with Seung-min, also 25, who is portrayed by 30-year-old Lee Min-ki.

“Lee’s lines definitely helped me find a focus,” Yeo said. “But I do feel that more research would have helped me maintain balance in earlier shoots.”

Yeo describes “Shoot Me in the Heart” as a movie for this generation’s youth who are in need of a pick-me-up.

“The drama Misaeng was dedicated to working men and women, while Ode to My Father was truly an ode to our fathers,” Yeo said. “While Shoot Me may not be as realistic, I think films dedicated to our youth don’t need to be so rational.”

Yeo, who debuted as a child actor in the 2005 film “Sad Movie,” said this film, rather than expanding his acting spectrum, gave him a chance to pull himself back together. And though he has now been an actor for 10 years, he feels he still has much to learn.

“I want to continue to challenge myself,” he said. “I hope to one day appear in musicals and plays, and perhaps star alongside actors like Ha Jung-woo and Hwang Jung-min. It still hasn’t sunken in that 10 years have gone by since I began acting. There’s still so much I have to do.”

In ten more years, Yeo hopes to grow into an actor with all sorts of metaphorical scars and dents.

“The kind who has undergone all sorts of experiences,” he said.

In the meantime, while he feels a strong connection to Soo-myung, Yeo stressed that he does not want to spend his youth escaping from his past and locked up in his own self.

“No offense, but Soo-myung can be stifling,” he said. “He’s the kind of person who sinks because he doesn’t face his issues head on, feeling relieved in a way that no other would find possible. I believe young people shouldn’t be afraid to charge forward because, well, they’re young.”

“Shoot Me in the Heart” opens today in local theaters.