티스토리 뷰
2022. 07. 23
☆ Minho in London
☆ magazine scan credit: deer_ming (on twitter)
☆ official: https://www.vogue.co.kr/?p=285642&utm_source=vogue_web&utm_medium=content_shared
VK Your skin got tanner. Is it because of golf?
M 90% yes.
VK Usually when you will be able to see one’s personality when you see their traveling style. I heard that you planned out a schedule with no free time in between at all and went around after you are done with your photoshoot in London. I heard that you walked for 20,000 steps a day.M I do have an overall outline but I am not the type to plan. I am the type to do things impromptu. Even with the same places, it will look different to me as I age, and with my thoughts changing. I tend to go to places I went before in the past to feel those emotions and I will find new places that I am curious about as well. The unique atmosphere when it rains in London after having a bright sky, the double-decker buses, all of them are as they were but I feel like I am the one who has changed. It makes me feel that I have grown up on my own over that period of time too.
VK You have been to a few galleries as well.
M I enjoy going to museums or galleries. I like the feeling of being able to feel new emotions and thoughts that only I can have when looking at the works. Thoughts that I have never had would come to my mind when I just still stay when I am there that’s why I can especially remember the ‘Summer Exhibition’ that was ongoing at the Royal Academy of Arts.
VK Movie <New Normal> has been chosen as the closing film at the BIFAN. What point attracts you to choose this work.
M I want to take up this challenge as it is a suspense movie and a genre that I have never done before. It might be a spoiler but because the mental state of fear that appears without knowing was very well portrayed by the director, so I was curious what kind of image it would be if I acted.
VK I watched the trailer with various actors eating alone while watching their phones in their own spaces. I was thinking that it would be a very realistic suspense genre, going close with some sort of human’s mental state.
M Even though you can feel the horror in it but it feels comfortable. I was able to easily be immersed in it because it was really the kind of thing that could really happen in my normal daily life. It’s a movie that you would be watching lightly and suddenly be caught by surprise.
VK It’s a suspense movie presented in the midst of summer. What’s your thought on the virtue of suspense movies?
M It’s like putting a funnel and directing (the attention) to a corner. You will start to think things like ‘It would be like that’ ‘Isn’t it something like that?’ and the charm is when the twist happens.
VK Just by looking at the words on its own, the word ‘New Normal’ represents the changes that happened over these recent years. If there’s a new normal that you have, what is it?
M Doing my home chores diligently (laughs)? I was living in the dorm in the past so there wasn’t much that I do. However, I started tidying things up after I came back from the military. I came to realize that I was able to do such things too after I started doing them and since I am living alone, the things I need to do on my own are increasing.
VK When you start to realize the value of housekeeping, the feeling of being responsible for yourself will come.
M That’s right. I didn’t feel that way in the past but after doing them, there’s a sense of pride, achievement, satisfaction, and healing. Even though it’s not difficult but it could be difficult to feel them too. When my mother drops by sometimes, she would ask just what exactly did I clean up, saying that it’s the same as it was an hour ago (laughs).
VK Netflix series <The Fabulous> is scheduled to be released too. You took on the role of Ji Woomin and is a ‘freelance retoucher that has everything other than passion’. Being someone who can’t be described without passion, does the slacking attitude stick well with your body?
M It’s enjoyable for me to express (the character) while thinking about the difference it has with me. Even though there’s a lack of passion but the character is one that hides the consciousness he has for his goal. Because there is that trait, the filming was able to be done easily. The teamwork between the director, the staffs and the actors were good too.
VK <The Fabulous> takes on the background of the fashion industry. You must have your own fashion style and philosophy after having to be active as a musician and an actor for so many years.
M This is something I always have in mind. Simple is definitely the best. People who can pull off clean clothes are the best. I think I came to this conclusion after putting on so many kinds of clothes.
VK I heard that the clothes you wear normally are majority black in color.
M I barely have any bright-colored clothes. Actually, if I wear bright-colored clothes, I would stand out too much (laughs). I can’t stand out when I go anywhere and those stand out too much. Also, I came to prefer darker colors more as I like classic styles. My stage outfits are already colorful so if my own clothes are colorful too, it would feel like I just got off stage and going for a meal (laughs)? It will feel like an extension of my work so it’s good to separate them too.
VK If you were to describe the view that can be seen upon opening your wardrobe?
M They could be jackets that look exactly the same to others but the details are different in my eyes (laughs). There are actually a lot of clothes that are similar. Firstly, 97% of it will be in black and white, and 70% of the 97% will be black. Apart from those, the other colors would be accessories. As I am into golf recently and there are a lot of clothes from golf brands that are colorful, there is no other way but to have a few clothes with colors.
VK It’s being said that to be able to know something new through a character is the virtue of acting. In that aspect, how is <The Fabulous> for you?
M Even though I am familiar with it but I got to know the details in the fashion industry that I didn’t get to know 100% so it was fun. I had to quickly pick up and get used to the system and the filming environment that was changing a lot to match the OTT generation. In the past, it was being done in a way that it was filmed today and will be aired tomorrow but right now, once the filming is done, it will be edited immediately and monitored, and additional filming will be done if needed. It’s a happy environment if you are in the shoes of the actors. It feels less burdensome.
VK In the past, you said that you would intentionally do daily life things in order to be good at acting.
M I have always wanted to fill up the limited environment with hard work but now it has naturally turned into a daily thing. I wanted to do everything but it’s no longer that way right now. Instead, it has changed into spending time with my family or the people who helped me, doing the things I want to do while resting.
VK If there’s something that you were being influenced by your occupation of being an actor, what is it?
M I am selecting a work (production) so I am reading a lot of books (scripts) recently. I got to know how to use the word relax. I was so stiff in the past but because I am having an occupation that needs me to discover a new me in my daily life, I am getting to know about myself one step at a time while relaxing. It's just enjoyable for me to learn things I didn't know and do things that lead me to be able to build new connections. Being an actor is a really good occupation. Also, I have gained the courage to stop. I felt uneasy when I am resting and not working but now, I realized that those times are helpful to me. Even though there are things that got different through acting, serving my military service helped too. I got to review myself, and practice and after having an image of the future, it definitely feels fresh when working on albums and works. I have gotten more comfortable and gotten the feeling of being more experienced, and the trust I have for myself became firmer.
VK Even though acting is not the kind of territory that the result shows just by doing it the way it’s being done, I can see that it’s approaching the way you want it to be.
M If I needed to think one more time of the things I wanted to express in the past, right now, I came to be able to express them a little more comfortably. I think it’s because I have gained experience. If I were to do a comparison, it would be like when you first get on a car that it feels difficult and awkward for you to turn on the engine, turn on the aircon or even adjust the seats, right? I have familiarized myself with things like that right now.
VK The kind of work that would catch your attention.
M I like warm-hearted stories. Rather than wondering if it will be a box office hit, I would prioritize it if it’s a kind of production that can bring comfort to others. I am the kind that gets influenced by those stories myself too so I hope that it will bring, even at the very least, a little help to someone as well.
VK If there’s a manual for Choi Minho, ‘A youth full of passion with a healthy mind’ will be written on it. What’s your reason for staying the same as how you are.
M I grew up like that ever since I was young. My parents’ influence is the biggest. People don’t change easily so because I was like that ever since I was young, I am definitely like that too right now.
VK The level of your winning desire is still the same.
M It got bigger as I grew up of course and it didn’t subside (laughs).
VK That side of you stands out when you were with your long-time member who is also your same-age friend Key for a variety program. If you were to define your relationship with Key in your own language, what would it be?
M We influenced each other the most. We have lived our lives thinking that we are right on our own and he is the friend that makes me realize that others can be right too. I think that’s the part where we helped each other the most in. Both of us are extremely stubborn and we are the ones who broke that stubbornness for the other.
VK There’s a point that you guys respect of from each other despite being extremely different.
M That’s a given but because we didn’t want to acknowledge it when we were young and if that was what led to us arguing then it would be because we have acknowledged and respected those differences now that we are able to maintain an even better relationship. Of course, we do fight too right now. I think we will be fighting for the whole of our lives(laughs).
VK Last December, you released a solo track ‘Heartbreak’ after a long while. Do talk about the identity that is included only in the solo track and not as a member of SHINee.
M It was actually a song that I released to prepare a stage for my fans. As an album that is able to show my identity is not out yet, I shall talk about it after such an album is out.
VK How do you want to expand the world as a musician?
M I intend to try a variety of genres. A color that I didn’t show in my team, a color that only I can present, that would be the kind of color I want to find. I am actually not the kind to stick to a particular thing. Even though one would be able to be good at it if they are fully into one particular thing, I am a person that I need to express a great variety of things. That’s why I try to keep myself open to various directions.
VK SHINee overcame the stereotype thinking of idols by firmly imprinting the possibility of being a group that will be promoting for a long time with the 7th album <Don’t Call Me> release promotion done last year. What kind of things do you talk about with the members in terms of SHINee’s future.
M What all of us always say in common is to ‘Take care of our health’. Only by doing so, we are able to continuously perform and release good music. We really like to perform and because we really like to gather together to release an album and sweat together so we are always talking about taking good care of our health.
VK SHINee’s music has both the appeal to the public and the innovation of KPOP.
M It’s the point we are always thinking about. On one hand, we would ponder about what would be the kind of music that is appealing to the public. In the end, when we expressed it in SHINee’s own colors and that is being well-liked, we will think of that as what’s appealing to the public too, that’s why always maintaining our color is what we deemed as the most important thing. Searching and working out the point that we can do well most and what only we can do is what we need to do.
VK The level of KPOP has changed as compared to when you debuted. What direction do you want to go in the midst of the change?
M I started my activities when it was changing from CD to digital releases. I can always feel the change in the market and I am feeling it even more right now too. As I know the various sides there are, I think I do have an advantage in it.
VK You are active in golf variety programs too. Do you think you would be able to become a golf king in the end?
M I am indeed chasing after it despite seeming like I will not able to grasp it but I can feel that it’s slowly approaching(laughs).
