The drama Rooftop Prince is about a prince who leaps 300 years into the 21st century and about the love he couldn't share in his previous life. Han Ji Min perfectly played the strong 'Candy' character Park Ha and her acting transformation was successful. Until now, Han Ji Min's best quality in her acting is definitely mixing the appropriate comical and moderate emotional expressions with her elegant appearance.
On the 11th I met with Han Ji Min at a cafe in Shinsadong resembled the overwhelming chatterbox who controlled four men with her loveable energy coming from her small physique, but her appearance was different. "You can't just like what you know and you can't just enjoy the things you like." Where is Han Ji Min, who has been an actress for over 10 years, going now?
"Whatever the job, it's very important to put effort into it"
"I'm thankful for being happy in this life"
"My role model is Audrey Hepburn"
- In Rooftop Prince, your acting as Park Ha was very natural. Is your real personality different?
"There are similar aspects in our personalities. I think that people have several personality. My current personality is thanks to the characters I've acted as until now."
- Male actors have more gravity, so how is it matching up with them?
"Because of Yi Gak, played by Park Yoochun and his three henchman Do Chisan (Choi Woo Shik), Song Manbo (Lee Minho), and Woo Yongsul (Jung Seok-won), I laughed a lot. They had overflowing energy. When we were together, our laughter would explode, which caused a lot of NGs. We laughed to the point of crying. I could enjoyably film because of the three henchmen, and my timing with Park Yoochun was good. Personally, I think the timing between the male and female leads is the most important, but in all of my projects up until now, my timing with Park Yoochun was the worst."
- Were there any difficult aspects while acting as Park Ha?
"Although my stamina and being pressed for time was disappointing, there were time where we just had to keep going. The times when my facial expressions were as good as I thought they were was the hardest."
- The original work of Rooftop Prince and the drama are quite different. Depending on the work, it seems like there are selection criteria.
"It was hard to choose the scenario and time as to how I wanted to, but seems like there was a connection with the project. When I chose the project, I saw the whole story as being important. Also I became interested in the project because I wanted to a new challenge and opportunity rather than a character that resembles me."
- In every project, you've shown that you've perfectly synchronized in your roles. Since acting wasn't your major in university, how did you learn acting?
"I never decided to study, it just turned out that I saw a lot of scripts. In the past, in sad scenes I would think sad thoughts while acting, but as I acted more in the situations and scenes given to me, I thought about the emotions in the scenes, so it seems like I expressed my parts well. As Han Ji Min, I can't come out as myself in a scene. If I thought 'If it's me, I'd do it like this', my real appearance would come out. Therefore, I do my best to immerse myself in character and try as hard as I can."
- I'm curious about any opportunities you've had to put your feet in the entertainment world.
"During my third year in middle school, at my teacher's advice, I started modeling. My teacher's sister in law was an entertainment manager. When I was a TV character, I saw myself as an ordinary student in a different world with different people. When I went to an advertisement audition, others preparely it perfectly, I came wearing a school uniform and would have to go and comeback sometimes.
If someone said 'introduce yourself', I could only say my name. I think they liked my puzzled appearance. I was lucky. In middle and high school, I only did advertisements and music videos, but when I entered university I started acting, so I fought with myself many times."
- Being a celebrity is harder than any job. They have to have a clear dream.
"My personality is like that. When dealing with people, it takes a long time. Even enjoying acting takes a long time.
When I was thankful, insufficient, didn't have greed, and really scared, the opportunities that I routinely could attempt came. After Dae Jang Geum, I got my first lead role in a mini series. After that, I got an one act play and felt a lot during that time.
In work, there's an order, but I realized from the start that I took on roles that were out of my league. When I was doing that one act play, emotions and time made me realize a lot and gave me the hope to challenge things."
- Can you talk about your strengths and weaknesses?
"Since I was a kid, it seemed like I only looked at my weaknesses. The things I wanted but couldn't have tormented me, but at the same time I didn't know I actually had those things. Everything depends on the distinction of your thoughts. Now if the things I have don't change and stay the same, I accept that and I'm thankful for it. When acting, I think about my weaknesses rather than my strengths and think 'I have to fix this next time.'"
Han Ji Min debuted in 2003 in the much talked about drama All In as Song Hye Kyo's younger self, but at the time, people thought she only had that bright and clean smile. Four years later, in the doubt that Han Ji Min could become the second Lee Young Ae, the man who lead the Dae Jang Geum fever, PD Lee Byung Hoon, cast Han Ji Min to be the female protagonist in his new project 'Yi San'.
Han Ji Min played the part of Sung Song Yeon, who came into scrutiny for being Jeongjo's third concubine and showed strong acting by immersing herself into character. The ratings went over 30% and in the drama, she helped by being a strong leader.
Historical drama PD Lee Byung Hoon gave his reason as to why he chose Han Ji Min as the female protagonist in Yi San, who was cast as Shinbi in Dae Jang Geum, by stating "Han Ji Min has bright charms and a clean aspect to her. More than anything, the female protagonist who is in a historical drama that last over six months has to be pretty and Han Ji Min is bright and has pretty looks. She also had experience in filming a historical drama and her acting ability was developing by the day, so that's why I cast her."
The drama Yi San was exported to Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Turkey and 18 countries in the Middle East. In 2010, it was number one in ratings in Romania and turned Romania's broadcasting upside down. Without the violent, sexual and exciting elements, it was successful and they used the opportunity to increase the interest in Korean traditional culture.
- You appeared in the Hallyu drama Yi San. Aren't historical dramas harder than modern dramas?
"It's tough. The character I played, Song Yeon, was a character who love the king but couldn't look at the king with expressions of love. In a class society where there's a difference in status, manners are important. The thing I asked the director the most about was my manners. We didn't have a kiss scene. The appearance if having the name called once and hands grasped once was pitiful. It seemed like Song Yeon was burdened with sadness."
- You've played many good-natured roles. It must be because of your kind face.
"(Laugher) It looks good that I've played good-natured roles."
- Up until now, you've acted with handsome actors such as So Ji Sub, Jung Woo Sung, and Park Yoochun. Among the actors you've acted with, are any of them your ideal type?
"While I'm acting, it seems like my ideal type is my counterpart. They have something I could learn from and have positive energy, and I like bright people."
- Isn't the life of a star, who has the envy of the general public, sometimes hard?
"I've done everything I wanted. For celebrities, there's almost nothing a celebrity can't do if they want to do it. I like sleeping, but looking back, all I did was stay in my house, and looking back at my 20s, I've thought I had a boring life, but now I've become active. I take walks and go to the river"
- Do you go alone? Do you pull your hat down over your face?
"I don't wear a hat and get around fine. (Laughter)"
- People will find out and flock to you.
"When I go out, I don't put on much makeup. Hahah. If one person is brave enough to come up to me, others will come up to me. I don't think of people as bothersome or difficult."
- Like right now, when you're resting after finishing a project, who do you usually meet?
"Even if I say their name you wouldn't know them because they're my ordinary friends. On weekdays, I usually spend time with my family. While actors are working on a project, they're close to each other, but when it's over, everyone's schedule is busy so it's hard to meet up. That's why celebrities don't have many friends. Lately I've liked playing with my 20 month old nephew the most. He's stronger than me, so it's a bit difficult(Laughter)"
- What's the attitude an actor needs the most?
"Whatever the job, effort is the most important thing. They must absolutely do their best but that's also the hardest to do. I have also thought 'I'm tired' and 'I'm sleepy', but I went above those thoughts. If you think 'This is good enough', you'll definitely regret it later."
- Age 30. Any thoughts about marriage? If you marry, your your acting could expand.
"I've thought about marriage since kindergarten. Marriage seems like there's great affinity between the couple. Since it's the next phase of my life, I have to be careful about it. I'm afraid that I can't meet up with people if a scandal comes up. (Laughter)"
Recently on a portal site's bulletin board, Han Ji Min's middle and high school alumni put up a topic titled 'The Truth About Han Ji Min' and it's gaining attention. They said "During her school days, Han Ji Min was the model student's model. Her grades were in the upper rank and received kindness from the teachers" and "Because of her looks, there were a lot of envious female students."
There was a student that was mentally retarded that everyone avoided, but everyone remembered Han Ji Min as the 'angel' that would always greet that friend first. In June, there was a topic on an online community posted with the title 'Another Shocking Truth About Han Ji Min' and it was about her good deeds. It was written by an older sister of a supporting actor in the 2008 drama Yi San. She wrote "While filming Yi San, my younger sister was burned on her face. While the other staff members were only worried, Han Ji Min was different as she personally looked around for a hospital and gave all of the money she had on her for the taxi fare", praising Han Ji Min's warm heart and spending the money for her sister.
To people, Han Ji Min is an actress with the courage to readily hold out her hand for others.
- What was your dream as a kid?
"Since both of my parents worked, I was brought up by my grandparents. My grandmother's older sister, who was a musician, said it'd be great if I became a doctor. After that, my dream job was to become a doctor. I studied a lot to become a doctor, not knowing how difficult it was because I wanted to make my grandparents happy and though 'I have to become a doctor'. Until middle school, the dream job of a doctor felt like it was written for me. Truthfully, my heart grew bigger for me sick grandmother who I wanted to treat."
- However, when you entered university, you chose social work over acting.
"Since I really like kids, I wanted to major in child education. Since I lived with my grandparents, I also had an interest in the problems seniors faced. Since social work is a subject about the welfare of children, seniors and the disabled, I ended up choosing it."
- I remember seeing a picture of you holding a fund-raising container. You have the title of honorary ambassador for the Korean division of JTS (Join Together Society), part of the UN International Relief Organization. It seems like you do a lot of service work.
"Seeing as my major was social work, while living the student life, there was many opportunities to do service work. Inside of JTS, there was a gathering for cultured citizens to do service work called 'Traveling Companion'. Twice a year we did a fun-raising campaign for starving children, and after doing it a long time, I'm seen as the honorary ambassador. To tell the truth, my acting seniors do more difficult and hard work than I do. Seeing these people working hard while being active makes me work harder."
Han Ji Min, who not only has a good-natured image, but rolls up both sleeves to help her neighbors, is often a candidate for various organizations or agencies. A couple hours before this interview, she told me she would be on her way after finishing her appointment as the goodwill ambassador for UNEP Korea.
When her name comes up in a situation where she's not doing any activities, I don't think there's any (special) meaning to it. In 2009, Han Ji Min found and went to a village called Allawon in a remote area in the Phillipines that couldn't receive any education. She spent four nights and five days studying and playing with the kids and published the experience into a book. She donated all of the royalties and profits of the book's sales.
- After coming back from Allawon and writing a book, there seems to have been something special there.
"Before going there, I thought the kids were sad and pitiful. They were a people who didn't have anything, and only lived eating sweet potatoes. These kids who lived deep in the mountains, didn't even receive any help from the Phillipine government and couldn't receive education, but they lived happier than us. They didn't have any greed. Usually if people have one thing, they plan on getting another thing, but those friends only gave themselves to me. It was a shock to me. 'There's no end to a person's greed'. That was the starting point of vastly changing my idea of happiness."
- What is happiness?
"Happiness. In one word, that's hard to defineIf a person is greedy, then they end up not knowing how to be happy with what they have, but happiness is being thankful for what you have."
- Who's your role model in life?
"Among actors, it's Audrey Hepburn, who was a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and worked hard. Compared to her, I've only done small work, but that's because I have big dreams. (Laughter)."
- Dream?
"Dream. Haha."
Source: http://www.epochtimes.co.kr/news/view.html?section=182&category=183&no=126476
