[Engtrans] Joo Won’s interview – PPTV Taiwan (part 1 to 3)

Part 1:

Translated:

credit: JooWon La La

JW: To PPTV web friends and everyone, I am Joo Won. Today it’s the first time greeting everyone…(Laughs bashfully) This is Joo Won. Nice to meet you. (does his trademark wave)

Q: Welcome Flower Boy Joo Won. 

JW: (Laughs) Welcome, Welcome

Q: Your name Joo Won is a name that is very approachable and filled with Chinese colors (Ah really?) Yes, the chinese characters 朱元 has that meaning. Joo Won is not your actual name but stage name? (Yes, you’re right) We are curious as to why you do not use your actual name for promotional activities and if Joo Won has any special meaning to it?  

JW: There’s no particular special reason why I don’t use my actual name. My religion is Christianity; during morning prayers I realized the name Joo Won (朱元 Zhu Yuan) sounded like ‘God-Willing’ (主愿 Zhu Yuan). It means something like ‘up to God’s will’ and ‘looking up to the Lord’. Because of these reasons I took up the name Joo Won. I also pray that God will keep me in his blessings during my career in the industry. And so I wanted a name that gives me a sense of peace and stability.

Q: You debuted through the popular drama <Baker King Kim Tak Gu>. How did you come to act in this? 

JW: Previously I acted in musicals and through those musicals I had become somewhat of a ‘hot topic’. Many companies then came to do negotiations with me. I chose one that I was more comfortable and in accordance with. I went through auditions for <Baker King Kim Tak Gu> with the other actors and was lucky to have passed. Thereafter, I made my debut.

(shows footage of drama)

Q: In <Level 7 Civil Servant> you worked with Choi Kang Hee sunbaenim didn’t you? (JW nods) Chinese fans of Choi Kang Hee sunbaenim say that she is elegant with a little bit of cuteness. Having collaborated with a noona, you have many noona fans as well?

JW: Yes, my fans are ‘distributed’ evenly on different levels. How should I say……there was a weekend drama <Ojakgyo Brothers>, and <BKKTG> had many ‘ommonim’ lovers. Though this time round <L7CS> had young viewers, there were also a number of older folks watching. It could be because I’m in <1N2D> that my fan spectrum is wider.

Q: In real life, how do you regard noona-dongsaeng couplings?

JW: I like them a lot. Well, I feel that….with regards to Kang Hee noona, even though I call her ‘Noona’,  I do also call her ‘Gangjjang’.

(shows L7CS kiss scene)

JW: During filming our age gap gradually dissipated. This was also what noona requested of me (to ignore the age gap). We have a gap of 10 years! After a while we were like friends of the same age, with nary a year or two in difference. We got along easily. And so I have thought about it before, if it was with someone like noona I would probably not care about any type of age gap and date her. I had that thinking (nods) It was really comfortable then.

Q: You acted in many righteous and sad characters like the one in <Bridal Mask>. However in RL, like before when you were doing the interview and photoshoot, I discovered that you actually aegyo a lot.

JW: Really? (laughs sheepishly)

Q: No?

JW: (looks down and mumbles) I don’t know… (face turns red x 100)

Q: You don’t know?! Aren’t you doing aegyo right now? (laughs) 

JW: ….. (laughs bashfully)

Q: Are you aware of that Gwiyomi song that is trending currently? 1 + 1 = Gwiyomi…

JW: I really can’t. I’m totally not familiar with the dance. (shakes head and laughs)

Q: Want me to sing and then you join in and follow?

JW: How does it go?

Q: (demonstrates) 1 + 1 = Gwiyomi, 2 + 2 = Gwiyomi, 3 + 3 = Gwiyomi…Ok – I’m not doing this anymore. How about giving everyone an aegyo pose? Give chinese fans a cute and shining aegyo pose!

JW: (deep in thought) What should I do…

JW: …. (does finger-curling rabbit ears) like this??? (laughs in embarrassment) Ahhhh my aegyo is not something that can be done as and when I’m asked to. Every time while doing interviews I get asked to aegyo and never once have they come out right.

Q:  You were doing fine until you stopped suddenly…

JW: Usually my aegyo is more of the tone of voice and the way I speak when I talk. Not something that I can do when people request for it. It (the aegyo) just comes out unwittingly.

Q: Frankly, you have many highly rated dramas within a very short time. Receiving such rave reviews has caused Joo Won the actor and the name to become well known among the people. Are you satisfied with the results you produced within this short period of time? And are you now setting your sights on the likes of Chungmuro.

JW: By Chungmuro, you mean….(looks unsure)

Q: Films, movies

JW: I am satisfied but it’s not the result that I had expected. I didn’t even know that it would turn out like this. I am very satisfied and also very grateful. Within a very short time, from my first drama which received very high ratings, the people remembered my face and the drama that followed was also very good. In this way, I also got popular. Becoming a celebrity is also something to be grateful for. I am very satisfied, even if I won’t hit a higher level, I am also satisfied. I don’t need to reach a higher level and also even if it’s a little lower than now, I am already satisfied.

Q: You must flourish more with each passing day ah!

JW: It’s okay if I drop a little (tries to convince interviewer) I am already grateful if I am able to continue with what I am doing. Moreover, my goal on a bigger scale would be to become a national actor. Even if I am not popular, it doesn’t matter. As long as viewers and friends see me as an actor they can trust, that’ll be enough. And when they see me, it’s an oppa or dongsaeng who they can approach, when I am older, I will become like an ahjussi(to them). As long as I can become an amiable and approachable person, an actor who cares for his fellow men(his trademark “actor with a human smell”), that’ll be good enough. This is my dream.

Q: JW-ssi, you , you debuted in musicals, right? I heard your singing ability is really good. Chinese fans are very curious if you have any plans to come out with an album?

JW(laughs shyly): Album ah, album ah, I don’t know ai (shakes his head). Because the success of an album depends on singing ability, right? Frankly, recently there are many people who have outstanding singing prowess. So in that aspect, I am afraid I am quite helpless. But I have been singing OSTs for each of my dramas, there should be about 4 or 5 songs? I have already sung so much so if I continue to sing, I should accumulate enough to cut an album? (laughs)

English translation by daydreamsindecember and mrdimples on soompi

Part 2: 

Translated: credit: JooWon La La

JW: In the future if I can sing for my fans, that will be really good.

Q: Ah, can you sing a song or two at events like fanmeets which Chinese fans have been anticipating?

JW: I will sing all of them (laughs)

Q: When I watch Joo Won-ssi’s dramas, whether it’s <Bridal Mask> or <7LCS>, there are quite a lot of action scenes, do you like this kind of action movies a lot? It could be Korean or perhaps you have watched Chinese kungfu films from young?

JW: I watched a lot of Chinese movies when I was young. Especially since we have passed the Bruce Lee era at that time, it was already the era of Jet Li and Jackie Chan It started from the Drunken Fists, I have watched the whole series of Drunken Fists. “Wong Fei Hong” was also very popular then. During that time, even if I didn’t set out to find them, these shows were aired on television everywhere. So, naturally, I could watch Jet Li and Jackie Chan’s movies. From young, I enjoyed watching martial arts movies. And when I am filming an action scene, I will somehow remember those scenes. I’d think when these people were filming those actions, this must be their pose. (getting excited, fingers touches mouth again) These memories would appear in my mind. (thinks hard and puts finger to his lips). Unknowingly, in Bridal Mask, I referred a lot to these actions. It was like that.

Q: There are many questions here, wanting to know the secret of you maintaining your figure. If we are to say that you are the type who can’t put on weight no matter how you eat; especially the female fans, they will find it difficult to accept this truth. Can you tell us the secret to you maintaining your figure?

JW: I belong to the type who can really eat.

Q: Then you should need to manage it, right?

JW: I really like to eat and I am really greedy. When I was young, if someone snatches my food, I will be very angry. I will take other people’s food (demonstrates) but if other people take my food, I will become very angry. Especially when I brought very delicious food and if someone snatches it, I will even want to fight him (laughs). But when I acted in musicals, because I had to go on stage, I didn’t really maintain myself. I just ate well, if I put on or lost weight, I just let nature takes its course. But in dramas or movies, an actors’ face and figure will be finely accentuated. I was about 85kg when I was in the acting in musicals and before I debut in dramas but I reduced to 65kg when I was filming Kim Tak Gu. After that, 70kg became the benchmark and I hovered around that plus or minus 5kg. From then on, I would think before I eat, whether it’s fattening and needs to be cut down. So it was practically just a meal a day or two if it’s more. I practically don’t eat dinners.

Q: And do you commit to some form of exercise?

JW: If I exercise it will be during my rest periods. When I am filming there is no time to exercise. During my break, I won’t go to the gym and train in any big or special way. (laughs) I will go and jog near my home and I jog with my neighbours or jog with the residents nearby, mainly X (can’t read the word) type of exercise. I’d play football and I also swim frequently. When it comes to swimming, the funny thing is once I enter the water, I will be very happy. (face brightens up and gesticulates again) I like to play in the water, mainly swimming. I can swim for a long time, about 2 hours, I can swim non-stop. I can even feel myself perspiring in the water. Do you know how it’s like to feel hot all over when you are underwater? When you can even perspire in the water, that feeling is very good. So that’s how I maintain myself.

Q: Next, I’ll ask a few simple questions, just two. If Chinese fans were to visit Korea for holiday, which is the best and most delicious food for them to try? And besides Seoul, which are the better places to visit? Please make your recommendations for these two questions.

JW: Perhaps the answers to these questions are too obvious. I really like Jeju Island, yes. I feel proud that Korea has Jeju Island (puts hand to chest). I feel that Jeju Island is a place that’s worthy of pride. Although I couldn’t tour Jeju Island properly, recently I went there and see carefully. I felt again the sense of satisfaction about Korea having Jeju Island. You can say that it’s picturesque everywhere. We drove in a car, covering half of the island, it’s really beautiful.  Those trees, how shall I put it? There is a vast span of lush forest. Just like how they’d say it these days, it really felt like I received healing. Although some places were really crowded but as long as you coast along the seaside and the mountain roads, you would really feel as if your soul has been healed. You’ll feel really comfortable, really calm. I feel that Jeju Island is an awesome place. There are many islands off the southern coast, it’s nice to camp there. There are indeed many islands clustered at the southern coast. Although it’s not easy to visit these islands, if one is able to make a trip, you’ll find many scenic places there. I will like to recommend Jeju or those islands off the southern coast.

About food, what will be good? Chinese food is so plentiful (rubs finger on lips again)

Q:  Joo Won-ssi, what is your favorite Korean food?

JW: My favorite? (thinks for a while, probably too many to choose from)…Jeon(Korean pancake) Are there are many types in China? (Q says yes. There are many types in China) There must be many Koreans in China, right? (laughs a little embarrassed) I must say something that China doesn’t have (bites finger again while thinking very seriously) Something that China doesn’t have…

Q prompts: How about dolsot bimbap(hot stone bowl rice?

JW: That should be Korean’s representative dish,right? The likes of bimbap….(still thinking and now puts a finger right into his mouth)

Q: Many Chinese fans love to eat this. But although it’s representative of Korea, it should be something that Joo Won-ssi really likes and not those that you occasionally feel like eating.

JW grins and smiles shyly: Then it’s jeon ah….jeon….

Q: Jeon, is it?

JW laughs almost apologetically: I really like Jeon but because I must manage my weight, I cannot eat too much. In Korea, every festival, we’d fry pancakes on iron plates. Hobakjeon(zucchini pancake), Bindaetteok(mungbeans pancake), Saengseonjeon(seafood/fish pancake) and donggeurang ttaeng(small ball-shaped pancake with minced beef, tofu and vegetables), we’ll have all these. There is a shop that specializes in Jeons. Like in Chungro there is this commerce street….Chungro….Chungro 5th street. On the 5th street Chunro there is a commerce street, it’s just at the cross junction at the end of the road from the university. From there, walk towards to the 5th street of Chungro. Along that commerce street there are many shops specializing in Jeon. They will cook it on the spot for you, it’s really delicious. With about 10,000 won, you can order enough dishes to feed quite a few people. So those pancakes shops are really for ordinary folks. That street is really for the ordinary citizens so those hot pancakes are really delicious (smiling all the while he was describing and at this part, he bursts out laughing so adorably) I have been detailed, right?

Q: Not at all. Thanks to you, now everyone should be able to find this place easily. Where are the places in China that Joo Won-ssi would like to visit?

JW: Because I have never been to China so I don’t know China well. At this moment, I wish to visit the capital, Beijing. As for food, I asked around and all said that there are many delicious foods to eat. There are also others who said that the Chinese seasoning may not be suited to our taste.

English translation by daydreamsindecember and mrdimples on soompi

Part 3:

Translated: credit: JooWon La La

JW: But I really love to eat so I will like to try.

How should I put this? Whenever I go to a new place, there is this joyous feeling. So I would like to visit to see what it’s really like. Honestly, China is a country which will become even better in time to come. I would like to see how vast and magnificent the country is. Moreover, I want to come into contact with the Chinese culture(nods head)

JW: Hi PPTV web friends and everyone, this is Joo Won. I, Joo Won, will continue to greet everyone in China. I hope to be able to meet more often with the web friends in future. Regardless of whether is it through books or television, I will continue to greet everyone. If I ever have the chance to visit China, I hope to meet with you. I wish everyone the best of good health and a happy life. Thank you, thank you everyone! Annyeong~~~ (does trademark wave)

***End of Interview***

English translation by daydreamsindecember and mrdimples on soompi