[Interview] Ye Soo-jung With 44 Years of Acting, "Acting Is Like a Vast Academy of Life for Me"

During the interview, the biggest characteristic of actress Ye Soo-jung (67) is her rich expression. Eighty percent of those expressions radiate from her eyes. Joy and sorrow are crossed in that formative box. It makes you feel deeply immersed in the story she wants to tell. The photographer, who was up-close with her face through a camera, confessed, "I almost shed tears because I empathized with the various emotional expressions shown in her eyes".

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She wears no makeup and her hair is white and undyed. "At some point, when I look at my face through the mirror, I feel comfortable with wrinkles and gray hair, so I only apply skincare and essence", she said. She also said, "I wonder what will happen in tomorrow's time which has not yet come". Rather, she gives off the feeling of vitality and the softness of a person who has lived a reflective life at the same time.

The actress debuted in 1979 with the drama "A Woman Named Solitude" directed by Han Tae-sook, a 44-year veteran. Having a lot of experience in stage acting, she has impressed the audience with her strong impression since 2001 by moving across movies and dramas.

The interview with Ye Soo-jung was held at Cafe Art & in Apgujeong-dong, Seoul on July 25th.

- You've been active lately. How do you manage your physical strength?

"I think regular life is the first thing in management. It's important to eat well and sleep well. The only exercise I do separately is walking for 30 minutes three times a week. Other than that, I like to receive meridian. It helps blood circulation".

- How do you start your day?

"I set my alarm at 4:50 AM and wake up just before sunrise every day. That feels the most majestic time of the day. I feel the sun coming up from far away.

- You feel that with your body?

Kim Soo-geun (1931-1986, architect) bought and repaired a detached house in Sinyeong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, which was built in the 1970s. It's 20 years ago. Watching it in the living room, it is so touching to see the dawn seeping through the old trees just before sunrise. I sleep with my bedclothes in the living room to watch it. Because of the intense experience of the time, even after moving out of there, my eyes open automatically even if the alarm doesn't go off at the same time".

- What do you do after that? If you get up so early, when do you go to bed?

"After I feel the rising sun, I drink coffee with all my heart and soul. I like coffee. When I was young, I drank 10 cups a day, so my stomach hurt a lot. Now I grease up my stomach first, so I eat a boiled egg or almond with my coffee (laughs). Except for days when I have to shoot, I sleep as soon as the sun goes down. I don't have much to do after sunset".

Ye Soo-jung's roots lie in theater. She has appeared on many stages, including "The Widows", "Long Journey to the Night", "I Am You", "Cherry Blossom Garden", "Hanako", "Hwajeonga", and "Agnes of God". She is an actress with experience enough to win prestigious awards in the theater industry, such as the Heathrow Theater Award, the Dong-A Theater Award, the Women's Acting Award, the Seoul Theater Festival, and the Lee Hae-rang Theater Award.

It was in the 2000s that the area of activities expanded to movies and TV dramas. She impressed the public by starring in numerous films such as "The Thieves", "Train to Busan", and "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds", as well as supporting roles in hit dramas such as "Secret Forest", "MINE", and "One the Woman". In 2018, she won the Best Supporting Actress award at The Seoul Awards for "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds", and in 2020, she won the Women's Film of the Year Award for her first film lead, "An Old Lady". This year alone, she will appear in MBC's four-part "Hunted" which will premiere on August 1st, following "Link: Eat, Love, Kill" (tvN), "Insider" (JTBC), and "Becoming Witch" (TV CHOSUN).

- You've been working on a lot of movies, dramas and plays without a lot of rest. Isn't it hard?

"It's fun. That's my life".

- What are the criteria for casting multiple works at the same time?

"It's simple. I don't do anything I don't want to do. Fortunately, the range is narrow. I reject works that I don't want to sympathize with".

-There are many differences between stage acting and video acting. So it is said that veteran theater actors often cut back on dramas and movies. Are you used to acting differently?

"The theater finds a lot to throw away after more than two months of practice. I thought Kandinsky (1866-1944), a Russian-born painter, was only a writer who painted lines. The table seen through the window, napkins, forks, glasses and plates were drawn in detail, erased one by one, and eventually what's left behind is the line. But through that, we learned that we can imagine the infinite things that have disappeared. The same goes for theater. As a result of practicing the details, there are more things to throw away as the stage approaches. Let the audience imagine. On the other hand, movies and dramas have realistic acting that many people can relate to".

- It sounds like theater is the essence of acting. Nevertheless, why do you often appear in movies and dramas?

"I learn people's daily lives. They don't deal with the important and profound themes of our lives like theater, but it expresses our lives as they are".

- You sound very satisfied with your acting life.

"It's a lot of fun to learn very specifically about the question of what life is. I'm thankful. My personal life is narrow, but there are countless characters I meet while I'm immersed in the role. Since actors are exposed to the lives and perspectives of the characters through acting, the work itself is a vast academy of life. It's very interesting".

-Middle-aged actor Kim Hak-cheol recently criticized the harsh reality of the entertainment industry through his YouTube channel community, saying, "The entertainment industry is a winner-take-all". He also said, "I've been living this life for 40 years, so I never want to do it in my next life".

"An actor is a passive job that needs to be chosen. But this is what I think. Some blame people who buy luxury goods for spending hundreds of millions of dollars. At times like that, I say thank you to them. Those people are spending money, so the department store is alive and people like me can buy high-quality fruit at the underground food section. Star actors who get paid a lot are very responsible for it. You have to be responsible for the ratings, too. If you don't do your part, you'll fall".

- Do you think it's a matter of actor's ability to be chosen or not?

"It's not just a matter of competence. I think there's a time. However, there are many juniors who are not ready or who are not chosen because they are not suitable for the texture of society. I think an actor who fits the taste of consumers becomes a star. And the symbol changes with time".

Ye Soo-jung's mother is the late actress Jeong Ae-ran (1927-2005), famous as the mother of Chairman Kim (Choi Bool-am), in "The Country Diary". Her older sister is Kim Soo-ok, and her brother-in-law is Han Jin-hee, who was the best star in the small screen in the 1970s and 1980s. She also has a younger brother. Ye Soo-jung recalled, "I heard that I grew up drinking my mother's milk in the theater dressing room, and since I was 14, I have been sitting side by side in the audience with my aunt waiting for my mother's performance to end".

- Four years old is a very young age, do you have any memories of the theater or the performance your mother starred in?

"I only remember the atmosphere. It was a space-time theater in Myeongdong (now Myeong-dong Art Theater). There was dark, vacuum-like silence, and then I heard a thud, followed by a bright light... That memory still lingers in my mind, it seems to have had a huge impact on my life unconsciously".

- What kind of girl were you when you were young?

"I was very weak from childhood to elementary school. There were many days when I lay in the hospital with an IV in my arm and looked out of the window. I was often absent from school. I don't like the smell of the sap that was always around me. I don't take vitamins even now. I was also a child that didn't stand out. I was careful not to make any trouble because I'm an actor's daughter".

- We heard that you dreamed of becoming a basketball player as a teenager, but you must have gotten healthier since then.

"In my second year of middle school, I visited my physical education teacher several times and begged him to let me join the basketball team, but he rejected repeatedly. I'm short. I started going to the swimming pool and eating well since my third year of middle school. Then I gained weight and grew taller (I am 165 centimeters tall now)".

- You're from Sungui Girls' Middle School and High School. Do you have any special memories of your high school days?

"I always spoke less. But I was active enough to serve as vice president of the student council. They invited Yoon Hyung-joo and Song Chang-sik to perform in the auditorium. Also, I loved the poems of Rilke (1875-1926). It's delicate, it's deep, it's very sharp, it's rational, it's very romantic. That's why I chose the department of German literature while going to go to college. Because Rilke is a German poet".

She entered the department of German Literature at Korea University in 1973.

- Your original name was Kim Soo-jung.

"I only remembered that I had to take the preliminary examination when I was a senior in high school on the morning of the deadline. The problem was the draft of the family register to be attached. When I didn't have the Internet, I had to go to my father's hometown, Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, to get rid of my family register, but it was impossible due to time. My mom urgently asked for help from the staff at the town office and she told me how to register me quickly in her family register. So I changed my last name and my homeroom teacher took care of it, so I was able to take the test safely".

-When did you first think about becoming an actress?

"I was a freshman in college. I watched the movie "The Godfather" at the theater, and I was so impressed that I was shocked by Marlon Brando's acting. I wanted to be like him, so I ran straight to the German Cultural Center on top of the theater at the time and said, "Can I try this?" After that, I met Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956, German playwright and director) when I started acting. Brecht's words, "The theater is a place to enlighten citizens", heated my heart".

It was during the harsh Park Chung-hee military dictatorship. Instead of taking to the streets against oppression and throwing stones, she decided to participate in social transformation through plays.

- Is that still what you think?

"On a young day, I put a sign saying, 'It's my life to participate in social enlightenment'. But now, I comfort myself by saying, "Soo-jung, picking up the hair in front of your eyes is the beginning, and finishing your life well is half a step toward your original purpose". I wonder if I have high hopes that I can't reach to begin with or if I haven't put on my shoes yet".

- In 1979, you made your debut in a play called "A Woman Named Solitude" directed by Han Tae-sook, and I know that your mother opposed to you taking the path of an actress. When did you ask for permission?

"I never did. Yoo Deok-hyung (director, former chairman of Seoul Arts University), who watched "A Woman named Solitude", scouted me for his work, "Spring Comes to the Field in the Mountains". One day, Mr. Yoo noticed that I participated without my mom's permission. "You can't do that", he said, and he went to my house and told her".

- What was your mother's reaction?

"Mr. Yoo told me about his conversation with my mom with a smile, and at that time, I was so embarrassed that I thought I was going to die because of my mom. She'd said, "I'll allow it if you give her proper guarantee"."

- Why did your mother object to her daughter becoming an actress?

"I know how hard it is because that's what she's been doing. My mom was an amazing person. She told me, "After graduating from college, there is nothing but eating and sleeping at home", and that's what she actually did. So, after graduating from school, I made pocket money through various part-time jobs such as a German tutor and a school editor of the Pure Gospel Church. I think my mother's attitude, which is far from family selfishness, has had a positive impact on me for the rest of my life".

-Did you get any advice from your mother about acting?

"No, but I think the philosophy she showed in her life, the attitude of responsibility for her life and acting, came into my unconscious mind. My mom came to see my performance only once. But that wasn't even for me. She'd come to see Son Sook".

She married in 1980 after finishing the theater "Spring Comes in the Mountains". She had a daughter (director Kim Ye-na) in 1982 and went to study at Munich University in Germany with her husband in 1984. Her son was born in 1986. During her eight-year stay in Germany, her husband received a doctorate in theater theory, and Ye Soo-jung completed a master's degree in theater. She returned home in 1991.

- What did you gain from living in Germany?

"The biggest thing I got was a crack in my head. There were a lot of question marks, but previously, it was a life where I blocked this place (pressing her head with both hands) and put the most importance on order and manners in line with society. However, it was only after I moved to Germany that my consciousness and vision opened, developed, and broadened. Finding me like that was the best harvest. I also loved the precious memories I made with my two children".

- I heard that you couldn't write your thesis supporting your husband and children. Is it the influence of Korean patriarchal culture?

"It doesn't make sense. I didn't take care of him. He was a democratic and wonderful husband. We each lived well. Even when I came to Korea, I was sad that I didn't get a PhD, so he told me to go back and finish my studies and that he would take care of the children himself. It's just that I had a lot more fun learning about life in a new environment with my children than studying".

The two divorced about 20 years ago. Ye Soo-jung said, "I thought at the time that we would remain in each other's lives if we broke up now". She changed the subject back to theater.

- There was a period of study abroad in the middle but even after acting for more than 40 years, do you still feel that you're lacking in your acting?

"I feel it. I think a lot of my lack of acting is because I'm not free enough of what's given to my body. Then I don't think I try enough overcome it. I think I gain a lot as an actress in the time when I talk and communicate with others about a question that opens me up completely. Also, I often spend enough time immersed in my favorite music or art".

- Do you have a favorite musician?

"It's Mahler and Bach. Sometimes I get surprised when I go to a good art exhibition. I think that's the moment when I open myself".

Saying she believes in God, makes her seem to be a thoughtful artist. "I'm sensitive to the smell of water, so I don't eat fish, and I can't stand to see any water in the bathroom and kitchen", she said. "I always live with the windows open. It's okay to live with dust", she said. With both the artist's sensitivity and liberal attitude, she feels a mature determination to deal with acting and life, different from the hot fireballs that would have burned in her heart in her youth.