#interview ize magazine
(TRANS ) 170105 — interview with ize magazine (part two)
translated byfy!wdh+originally fromize magazine by im sooyeon
please do not repost translations on tumblr and always credit page 712, or fywdh when posting elsewhere. please obtain permission before translating into other languages.
click here for an alternate version with accompanying images.
Woo Dohwan. Family name Woo(禹), Do(棹) for ‘oar’, Hwan(煥) as in ‘to shine’. Born on July 12, 1992. I was born in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, and am still living there today with my dad, mom, and younger sister who is two years younger than me. I’m often asked why I don’t move out and live by myself, but the more I work, the more I want to show more of myself to my parents. I show them what I look like when I’m sleeping, and I get to see what my parents look like when they’re asleep. My father was an actor in theater. My parents were actually the first ones to recommend I take the path of an actor. So I began taking acting lessons when I was 19 years old and officially started preparing to become an actor. During my first year at Dankook University (Department of Film and Theater), I lived together with 2 of my classmates. Since it was the first time we were living away from home, after each of us went home for the weekend, we would always bring back a whole bag of side dishes. We even brought back frozen jjigae (stew). There was no need for us to cook - all we had to do was cook rice. I ate so much during my time away from home that I even gained weight. I’m currently taking a leave of absence from university, and have yet to serve in the army. I cut my hair short for the film [Operation Chromite], and auditioned for [Master] with the same hair. I actually went to the auditions and acted as a (police) detective, thinking it was for the role of one of the members of the detectives. Since I had to act as a detective, in order to overcome my young age, I read the lines that I was given as if I was interrogating someone, whilst mixing casual and formal speech. That day, I wrote in my diary “the worst audition of my life”. I really thought I was screwed then. Unlike who I usually am, I lost a lot of confidence in myself. Unexpectedly though, I passed the first and second round of auditions, and from the moment I was giving the role of ‘Snapback’ I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited. I had no idea I would be given such an important role. Each and every moment on set of [Master] was a continuous learning curve. My seniors were really professionals. Despite it almost being 40°C, the rain coming and going, and the weather changing at a moments notice, not once did their facial expressions change. Seeing that, I tried to learn from them. It was actually my first time overseas when filming on location in Manila, Philippines for [Master]. I thought duty-free was actually one large shop by the same name, but there were many large shops selling so many things. As I made my way to the boarding gate, I thought to myself “there’s so much stuff here, can they actually sell it all?” but everyone was buying heaps. (laughs) I went to a hotel for the first time too. While in Manila, I usually passed time by either swimming or working out in the hotel gym together with my manager hyung, (Kim) Woobin hyung, and (Park) Haesoo hyung who played the man in the kangol hat. Unlike the hyungs, I wasn’t allowed to tan. The director said that I still had to have aura [feeling] of a young boy. Otherwise I went to the cafe alone and wrote in my diary. Unless I have schedules until the early morning, going to the gym, writing in my diary, and drinking coffee at the coffee shop are things that I make sure to do every day. I started Instagram (@wdohwan) as I started filming KBS [The Man living in Our House]. Originally, I only followed my friends and even ended up deleting the app because I didn’t use it, but as people began to take an interest in me, I kept being asked why I’m not on social media. That’s when I thought that ‘if I can make even just one person happy by being on Instagram then I have to do it’. I’m actually still embarrassed about taking photos, but I’m posting selfies every now and then. Captions… I have absolutely no idea what I should write so I generally only just use emoticons. (laughs) After [Master] hit cinemas, I’m still in awe after seeing the reactions. I even saw a comment that was along the lines of “When that guy in [Master] shot his gun, I feel like he shot me in the heart too”…. I’m very embarrassed. (laughs) I definitely want to appear in a drama based on youth/adolescent or a school drama. I enjoyed watching KBS [School 2013] and KBS [Who Are You - School 2015] (from here on [Who Are You]). In particular, I really liked the rebellious characters Woobin hyung played in [School 2013] and Yook Sungjae in [Who Are You]. Gong Taekwang(Yook Sungjae) from [Who Are You] is crazy and rebellious, but is someone who is after genuine love and only has eyes for one girl, don’t you think that’s really charming? And the bromance that Woobin hyung showed off in [School 2013] as he had to overcome the pain of not being able to play soccer…. (laughs) Ah, if you just give me the chance, I definitely want to try it. Bromance!
(TRANS ) 170105 — interview with ize magazine (part one)
translated byfy!wdh+originally from ize magazine by im sooyeon
please do not repost translations on tumblr and always credit page 712, or fywdh when posting elsewhere. please obtain permission before translating into other languages.
click here for an alternate version with accompanying images.
There are faces that stimulate your sense of imagination. They have the power to go beyond the simple dichotomy of good looking and ugly. Like rookie actor Woo Dohwan who took on the role of ‘Snapback’ in the the film [Master]. The time that 'Snapback’ who stayed by Mother Kim’s (Jin Kyung) side had to show himself off to viewers was only 3 minutes at most. But just by the look in his eyes as he passed the gun over to Mother Kim, his slight smile, or the cold expression on his face as he pulled the trigger at the decisive moment, he had the power that gave viewers the general idea about the past history between the two characters as if they really existed. With a toned body that suits the wild image of wearing shabby clothes and eating with his hands; wide slit eyes that are capable of giving off a sexual nuance simply by staring intently at something - Woo Dohwan has been able to steal the attention of people just like that.
“I thought about the possibility of an alleged relationship between Snapback and Mother Kim, but purposefully left it as a relationship where they were brought together by money. Otherwise if I didn’t, even in the scenes where we were just sitting together I felt like I would have to express myself in overly direct ways.” If his distinct appearance [looks] that catches people’s attention from the first moment he appears on screen is an asset he was born with, then his knowing [and understanding of] the beauty of silence is a fruit of his endeavor [effort]. This actor who took into consideration and acted accordingly so that the eerie image that he had to show wouldn’t “stand out too much [in a negative sense] in the film” was able to flow seamlessly along with the movie, while at the same time succeeding in making a clear name for himself. He’s bright [intelligent], but that’s something that cannot be accomplished by that alone. “In the film I have to stand opposite Kim Woobin and Kang Dongwon sunbaenim, so I can’t have a weak [fragile looking] body.” That is the very reason he has been building up his body over the past 3 years by spending over 1 hour at the gym everyday - so he can make his body fit whatever role he is given within 2~3 weeks. Despite playing a similar character who threatens Go Nangil (Kim Youngkwang), and is in a similar category as Snapback in KBS [The Man Living in Our House] which he joined after the crank in for [Master], he turned down his sense of dominance with a less toned body, and put more emphasis on a cuter, more relatable [lit. human] feeling.
This rookie who is clearheaded and born with natural talent, most importantly knows how to enjoy what he is doing. Because of “the good sense of nervousness from being curious about which of the styles of acting I have prepared will be given the okay by the director” he was never able to sleep properly before each day [Master] filming took place. To him who used the comparison of it being like the day before going on a school outing when you were younger, the film set is still like a fun playground. I could hardly feel a sense of stiffness, often seen in beginners [rookie actors], from him whose face was clearly a lot brighter than Snapback’s. That’s why you can definitely look forward to the next move of this young man, who has appeared in front of viewers with a happy but careful attitude and is slowly attracting attention. Because next time, he’ll be holding onto people’s attention for a longer period of time.
