Park Si Hoo interviewed by SOHU in February 2009, part 1

 Motto :“You have to dream, you have to have a vision, and you have to set a goal for yourself that might even scare you a little because sometimes that seems far beyond your reach. Then I think you have to develop a kind of resistance to rejection, and to the disappointments that are sure to come your way.”- Gregory Peck

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In the last Internet survey conducted by www.sohu.com, the winner of the most popular Korean drama was neither "East of Eden " nor "Boys over Flowers", but two long-running family dramas: " Temptation of Wife" and "Family Honor". At the Sohu’s Film and Television site, these two dramas have received high ratings and are very popular with Chinese netizens. Some Korean fans have even posted in the guest comment section asking, "Do Chinese people also like Park Si Hoo?"

Who is Park Si Hoo? You probably have some vague impression of this name, but you may not recognize him right away. He does not exude a memorable star-like quality like some celebrities, and he is not the kind of person that will catch you off guard with first impressions. If we tell him that he is our chosen Sohu Focus Celebrity for the current issue, he may be surprised, but he’ll just flash a bashful smile and say nothing. In his own words, "It took ten years to let the world know these three words: Park Si Hoo." 

 We met Park Si Hoo on the set of "Family Honor".

It was about 4:00 PM, and he was covered in a thin shirt underneath a thin blanket just outside of the freezing cold emergency room shooting. Although there is no dialogue for the scene, we’ve seen Park Si Hoo lying on the emergency stretcher, being carried up and down the ambulance for countless times for two hours. And, in-between the filming; there were several real ambulances came in to drop off real patients. So, we just watched Mr. Park being tossed in and out of the ambulance to make way for the real emergency patients.

For such a simple scene, the crew did not just shoot far shots, close shots and special shots: there were several re-takes. It took almost two hours to finally finish the two-minute scenes (which turned out to be less than 30 seconds in episode 42).

We were told that in the past few months, in order to meet the shooting schedule, Park Si Hoo has less than 3 hours of sleep a day. And, not long ago, he was injured on location when he was violently attacked by local gangsters that tossed blocks of concrete at the shooting team. Therefore, he hasn’t had any time for an interview.

Earlier, we have heard that there were Japanese media that wanted to interview this promising Korean Wave star, but they weren’t successful due to his tight schedule. However, our timing is perfect. This time, most of his scenes were hospital scenes, so he was able to squeeze out some free time to meet with us at the SBS studio. So, we were able to begin our dialogue.

This is how things work in this world. Some people achieved instant fame and peaked at early ages; while others, well, when you finally turned around and noticed him, you are amazed at how long the shadow (of experience) has developed behind him. Park Si Hoo is surprisingly calmed (when quoted) : “Didn’t all say a man’s career officially start at age 30?” In 1998, Park Si Hoo started acting in theatrical dramas/plays at age 20.

Often, when asked about his period of obscurity, Park Si Hoo said: “When I first decided to become an actor, I was only aware of one acting place, the Seoul University Road’s Theater. Therefore, I started my acting career at the theatrical stage.”

 And just like that, without considering much, he relocated to Seoul, not only to studying drama, he also worked as stunt person. Park Si Hoo said:“Just audition alone, I have tried out for several hundreds, but never seized any good opportunity.”Then, at that time, did you regret choosing this path? Park Si Hoo:”Have you ever regretted to choose this road? Even if I was in the worst states, I never regretted. I believe I will succeed some day. Now I often ask myself that if I didn’t make such a choice, what I am doing now. But I can’t find the answer. “

Finally, in 2005 Park Si Hoo debuted in a cameo appearance in “Sassy Girl, Chun-hyang.”. Then he was casted in “Let’s Get Married” and “Which Star Are You From,” he did not stir up much interest. It was until he started to give lesson on screen teaching “How to Meet a Perfect Neighbor”, that he was actually given the Best Supporting Male Actor during the SOHU’s Annual Korean Entertainment Award. Judge’s reason for awarding him, “A rare incident when the supporting star actually beat the leading star in the “love” competition. This one reason alone is good enough.” Park Si-Hoo: “ I feel I still lacks the acting skill to portray a character perfectly. If I must give it a number, then in this drama, I acted well only about 70% to 80%, the rest was not acting, I was just being myself.”

In April 2008, Park Si Hoo co-starred with Lee Jun-Ki in Iljimae (A Branch of Plum Blossom) as brothers. The Iceberg Prince and Lee Jun-Ki formed such a contrast. Actually, in our visit to Korea, we interviewed the “Iljimae Brothers,” and similar to their characters images in the show, one is like the quiet ice, and the other is like the burning fire.

Although many said that family drama are popular in Korea because it is a suitable program for the whole family to watch together. But young audience never like the long-winded family stories.

The biggest success of "The Glory of Family" is it actually make the statement "the whole family watch together" into reality. According to an internet survey conducted on audience age, the audience of “The Glory of Family” actually crossed from people in their 20’s to the 60’s, and the main viewers are concentrated in the age groups between 20’s and 30’s. Generally speaking, we see a very different demographic breakdown of the viewers in comparison with the viewer groups of other family dramas. That is why "The Glory of Family" has enjoyed high attention and popularity at present time.

Credit:MultiKimjisun, Thanks!

Park Si Hoo is the major contributor for the success of attracting the young female audience for this drama. Although many people criticized that his acting or his personality to be a bit static, or “not lively or zesty”, but his balanced performances inject the feeling of security and responsibility; therefore, actually won more likes and supports from others. Therefore, his character in the show, whether from his coldness in dealing with others, or his heated persistence in love, is highly praised and supported because his acting was felt to have his own “Park Style”.

Q: You have portrayed many perfect lovers successfully in TV dramas, what is your ideal female like?
Park Si Hoo: I like a woman with the right feeling, someone who is charismatic.

Q: Watching your drama, it seems like you are very athletic, what is your best/favorite sport?
Park Si Hoo: I like swimming very much, then working out at the gym (acting as if he is lifting a dumbbell), and skiing. But, recently because I've been too busy working, I haven't had the time to do much exercise.

Q: In most of the characters you've portrayed, the ones that leave the most lasting impression are all the characters with a callous, cool personality. Next time, if you could try a new character, what kind of character would you be most interested in trying out?
Park Si Hoo: I want to try a very reserved person who goes through an emotional change to become a real villain -a character like that. That means I really would want to try to be the antagonist.

Q: A while back, bad thing happened during the filming. With regards to the "stone tossing" incident with a local gang, did that make you feel uneasy?
Park Si Hoo: At that time, I was injured here (pointing at his right side of face). But, now it is much better-very healthy now. Please do not worry.

(To be continued)
Credits: korea.sohu.com ; parksihoo.com for English version, Thanks!