Actor Min Woo-hyuk is known as a passionate man among performance industry actors. When it comes to promoting the performance, he does his best not only to show the best performance on stage, but also to do other things. As a matchmaker burns his head in a big firewood, he shatters his body and saves the flames.
Two years ago, he was cast as the title role in the reenactment of “Ben Hur” and made a strong impression. On his new stage as Ben-Hur, he expresses the change of Ben-Hur in the face of hardships and adversity to the extent that he doesn’t think he was an actor who did Messala. It was a new look for Min Woo-hyuk, who has performed bold and charismatic acts in musicals “Jekyll & Hyde,” “Frankenstein,” “Anna Karenina,” “Benhur” and “Aida.” Over the past two to three years, he has explored a number of roles that a male actor can aspire to. “It is not easy for me to share my name with other actors on the poster, but now I feel the weight and responsibility of being an actor. From now on, Min Woo-hyuk’s heyday of wanting to be an actor that audiences need is now on.
Q.- Returned to the stage after two years in the title role of Ben-Hur.
I never dreamed that I would be able to do Ben-Hur by doing Messala at the premiere. So far, I’ve been thinking that the strong, the rough is my greatest advantage. I thought Messala was the right dress for me. I performed with director Wang Yong bum for the premiere of Ben-Hur and Frankenstein. He always tried to bring out my inner self that I don’t know much about. People usually try to do what they’re good at. Sometimes I get into a dilemma. If you try something new in practice to be wary of something like that, you’ll see the king do it. “I didn’t know you had this side. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to play Ben-Hur.” It was a time when “Benhur” reenactment might go up, so it was just passing by. It seems that you have seen various attempts through practice in a good way.
Q.- When actors make characters, they start with themselves. Woo Hyuk, how did you plan to make a character called Judah Ben-Hur?
What made me feel nervous the most during practice was what I would do if I thought of Messala from Ben-Hur’s look. Luckily, I met the audience who watched the first performance. I was so moved when a few people said in a loud voice, “Why didn’t I do Ben-Hur at my premiere? I think Ben-Hur looks so good on me.”
First of all, Messala and Ben-Hur are so different. If the man who didn’t have anything started from the bottom, Ben-Hur was an aristocrat with everything from birth. That’s why I thought Aura was different from even standing still without saying a word. Ben-Hur was born a nobleman, but not a man who wants to enjoy something as a nobleman, but what can be done to achieve “the independence of Judaism”? I think it was a revolutionist who was always burning in his heart.’
When I was making a character, I wanted to express something similar to my character, something I can express well, and my strengths. But Ben-Hur didn’t do that this time. There were a lot of things similar to me when I was a Messala, but I think Ben-Hur is learning from a human character named Ben-Hur. You can live like Ben-Hur. When people get angry, they get the idea of “how to get revenge” and “how to get that way. After Ben-Hur met Jesus on the hill in Golgotha, I was told to forgive them. I cried every time I practiced that line. I couldn’t find those four letters so strong to forgive.
Q.- New cast members including Han Ji-sang, Moon Jong-won, Kim Ji-woo and LinA also joined us. How was the practice room?
The practice room for the movie with director Wang Yong bum is really intense. I’m so nervous about the practice room itself. It’s actually practice. So, when I’m not on the screen, I’m less focused, or I can watch my own script. We’re not allowed to do that. No matter who sings alone, all actors and actresses watch the scene without breathing. It’s actually a practice. When I go to the practice room, I think it’s a performance I’ve seen. I have to do maintenance and go there every time. The actors and actresses have great teamwork. Everyone’s focused on one thing. He’ll hold his breath until the end of the performance, and when he’s done, he’ll give everyone a round of applause and cheer. We’ll be the first audience for each other.
Q.- Ben-Hur gets a message from God to forgive him, and his life changes afterwards. I wonder if there’s a God I personally believe in. If you don’t, what do you do when you want to rely on something when you’re in trouble?
In the drama, Ben-Hur wanted to lean on someone in the first time. It’s because the pain is so great in his family. Messiah prophesied, and the prophecy came true, and his sick family came back alive. “Oh, there’s a God.” I think that’s when Ben-Hur came into his faith.
I don’t have any faith, but I tend to talk to myself a lot when things get tough or something happens. He takes a lot of self-hypnot For example, ‘I’m full now. I’ve had five bowls of rice. (laughs) Actually, I’ve been living my childhood so hard that it’s not hard. It was really hard when I was working out. I had a hard time not long ago after I quit exercising, so I’m not tired at all Sometimes it’s hard, but it’s not hard. It’s murder. And there’s a family I love right now. When I go home after the performance at night, I feel warm. I feel like I’m a haven even if you don’t do something for me. Whenever I see them, I promise to work harder as a housekeeper.
Q.- You have been on stage for two or three years to get an important degree in your work, so what is the difference?
It feels different. It’s a lot of pressure. Anyways, the audience who came to see me has become larger than before, and I think they’ll keep coming to see me only if I’m good at what I’m doing. If I let go of my mental strain, the audience will know me like a ghost. The actor is human, so depending on his condition, he feels nervous and sometimes he feels something. You can’t train for that. That’s the scariest time.
I don’t make mistakes anymore. But sometimes I can’t stop feeling like a character. Since I’m doing a lot of work, I’m technically good at acting. You can act so sad. If you tell me to cry right now, I can cry. But when I feel no emotion, I get angry with myself. I wasn’t that angry before. It’s gotten worse these days. I think it’s the difference in weight. I feel more responsible.
Q.- Where does Min Woo Hyuk’s passion come from?
Min Woo Hyuk’s passion is another expression of his longing. I think it comes from the desperation that I won’t want to go back to the hard times. To be honest, I’m still nervous if I don’t have a job. I want someone to keep looking for me. In those hard times, passion was even worse. It was no joke. I did anything until it didn’t work out.
Q.- From baseball player to singer, from singer to musical actor. I heard you originally wanted to sing.
When I was young, I lived apart from my parents because the house was so bad. I played baseball from the 3rd grade of elementary school until high school. Sometimes when my parents come to see me, I often wanted to take a rest because I was so tired after working out. But your parents are here waiting for this day. So I tried to spend a lot of time with my family. Whenever we did that, we went to karaoke together. When I sing in a karaoke room, my mom and dad don’t sing any of their own songs, and they just applaud me for singing. And sometimes, when my relatives got together, they liked me singing in front of them. I think people like me when I sing. I naturally think I want to sing. I debuted as a singer and released three albums. I worked hard on the show, but it didn’t work out. I think it was just good to have people watching me like baseball players and singing. So I learned acting and became a musical actor now. There were so many minor roles that I didn’t play from the ensemble.
Q.- If there’s a new goal at this point when we achieve our goal of becoming a musical actor.
In the past, I thought it would be nice to be an actor without a doubt. Now, I want to be an actor who needs something when someone needs something, which can sometimes be a friend, a lover, or a parent. I can’t buy the audience a meal, buy them a drink, but I think I can give them what they want. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I’m getting feedback from the audience more specifically. In the past, I used to say, “I saw you well” and “That’s cool” but these days, when I watch performances, I get hope and I get up, I feel responsible as an actor. I realized that acting and singing on stage could be the biggest thing in my life.
Q.-When did you laugh the most recently?
Yesterday (Aug 5th). There was a meeting of the Ben Hurs. 4 Ben-Hur met and talked with them over a delicious meal. Men talk a lot. We’ve been together for four hours. To confess, we love each other so much. (Laughs) We compliment each other so much. It’s not easy for actors to do this. 4 actors in the same role meet separately, not practice? I’m sure it’s none the worse. My hyungs and I wanted to have a meal It’s hard to believe, but I’m the youngest of the four Ben-Hur’s. (Laughs) We met all together because they were happy to say “yes.” But even though it’s a day without a performance, we met and talked a lot about the work. Eun-tae joined us late and is still before the performance, and said, “You guys are so good. I envy you.” I replied, “Don’t lie to me, you’ll do better.” They’re really lovely.
Source: Playdb
Trans/Shared by: Musical in Life
Musical in Life 