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Interviews with Cheese in the Trap’s cast (Part 2)

Time for Part 2! Part 1 of the cast interviews for Cheese in the Trap featured some of the more prominent actors, such as Park Hae-jin and Seo Kang-joon, but the drama does have a notable cast of fresh faces who regularly steal scenes—or if not outright steal, then at least make their presence felt.

There’s a word for the kind of characters they play, mipsang, which roughly translates to hateful or hateable. It’s not a super-strong expression of hate, though, and often comes with a love-to-hate feeling; the characters can make you grind your teeth or roll your eyes, but they’re entertaining in their own ways.

Cheese in the Trap certainly has its fair share of mipsang/hateful characters, and I was interested to see how they’d explain and interpret their characters, as the people perpetrating all the rage-inducing, irritating behaviors onscreen. They are: Moon Ji-yoon, who plays the perennially obnoxious Sang-chul; Yoon Ji-won, the wallflower-turned-imitator, Min-soo, with a twisted perspective and serious victim complex; and Ji Yoon-ho as Oh Young-gon, the shit-stirring stalker with no sense of appropriate boundaries.

We start with Yoon Ji-won, the 21-year-old actress who plays copycat Sohn Min-soo (who, coincidentally enough, actually graduated from the same high school as Kim Go-eun, though Kim is three years older).

How did you get this role?

“I heard that I was recommended to director Lee Yoon-jung. Min-soo’s style completely changed after she copied Seol, and she wanted someone who would look very different before and after the style switch. In my last role I was mostly bare-faced, and I went to the audition bare-faced too. I think she saw how I looked that way and thought I could look very different.”

How do you interpret Sohn Min-soo’s character?

“When I was a student, I was a fan of the original webtoon and I disliked Min-soo too. I read the webtoon fully sympathizing with Hong Seol’s emotions. But I reread the webtoon to play the character, and she seemed different this time. Min-soo definitely does wrong things that harm other people, but she’s also a tender-hearted and nice person. When we have celebrities we like and pine after, we follow what they do. It’s just that for Min-soo, that object is Seol. It isn’t that she had bad intentions. She makes lots of mistakes, and everyone makes mistakes. I think of her as an antisocial person changing into a social person, and in the process making unintentional mistakes.”

How was Lee Yoon-jung’s directing?

“The director is very meticulous and detailed. And she trusts in the actors. She says, ‘For now, try what you want to do’ and pinpoints where it’s lacking. When she’s firm, she can be very firm, and she abounds with charisma. Whenever I see her, I think, ‘I should be like her.'”

How do you feel when you see the viewers’ response to Min-soo?

“When I see the sharp comments about Min-soo, it hurts my feelings. It doesn’t affect me when I see things like ‘That actor is ugly’ but it does hurt to have Min-soo being cursed at. I try intentionally not to read comments.”

I hear that the actors playing the “hateable” characters have become very close.

“We’ve become extremely close. We chat every day in a group chatroom. When the broadcast begins, we announce ourselves in the chatroom and watch together while swearing at the characters. We had a farewell party together too. I became closest with [Kim] Hye-ji unni who plays Da-young—we sleep over at each other’s houses. And [Moon] Ji-yoon oppa [Sang-chul sunbae] and [Ji] Yoon-ho oppa [Oh Young-gon] are really nice, different from their characters. Ji-yoon oppa is totally sensitive, so much that you wonder how he could play mean Sang-chul.”

Who do you think is the most hateable character in the drama?

“Min-soo, Sang-chul sunbae, and Young-gon get insulted the most, but for me it’s Da-young. Min-soo and Young-gon are actually not people you see readily in real life, but people like Da-young who talk behind your back and like badmouthing others are everywhere. So she’s more unlikable.”

“The webtoon has been ongoing for four years, so we can see the reason for her [Min-soo’s] changes, but shortening things to 16 episodes is a bit rushed. In the webtoon, she doesn’t change because of other people, but in the drama, there was no choice but to make it Young-gon who spurs her to change.”

“I was on SNS with my friends, and suddenly my followers increased. The comments said things like ‘You’re so annoying’ and ‘Go away,’ so I reply, ‘I’m not gonna go away.’ As I watch the drama, I wonder, ‘Is that something to get that angry about?'”

Feeling for her character: “Actually, on the set, there was a lot of joking when people would ask me, ‘Min-soo, why’d you do that?’ but I hated it. I asked them not to be like that to Min-soo. [Laughs] Once while at the set, I even thought, ‘I didn’t mean to act that way’ and took off my wig and bawled.”

In defense of Min-soo: “I didn’t steal the lion doll, but everybody says I stole it. I was watching the drama with my mom, and she asked why I stole it. On Kakao Talk, my friends would say, ‘Why’d you steal that lion doll? You’re so aggravating’ and I ended up writing as my status message, ‘I didn’t steal it.’ If others are in that situation, they’d be forced to do that too. I can’t help but take Min-soo’s side, although she definitely did things that were wrong.”

“I was confused too, whether Min-soo was doing those things on purpose or if she didn’t know herself, so I asked the director. And she said, ‘What you do is the answer. You’re Min-soo.’ Min-soo is not at fault. She’s a soft-hearted person and the situation played a big part in making that happen.”

If she could tell Min-soo words of comfort, Yoon Ji-won would say, “You’re doing a good job. Don’t worry. You’re a good kid.”

Then there’s Ji Yoon-ho as Oh Young-gon; he’s been around for a few years but not really in big roles. He started in MBN’s flopped army sitcom Bolder By the Day, then managed to get cast in two successful dramas that I nevertheless cannot place him at all in, Faith and High School King of Savvy.

Of meeting Park Hae-jin for the first time, he said, “When I was acting with Park Hae-jin sunbae, I was extremely anxious. He’s much more senior to me, and he’s really good-looking, and even though the weather was cold as we filmed, I was sweating. When I messed up, he would smile and be encouraging, and he gave such good reactions to my ad-libs that I was thankful.”

I hear you almost auditioned for a different role than Oh Young-gon.

“I was going to audition for Kwon Eun-taek [Nam Joo-hyuk]. But when I got the script, I was more drawn to Young-gon than Eun-taek. The character description was very well-done, and I wanted to do something stronger, a roughneck type character. I didn’t think I looked the part of Eun-taek either, so at the audition site I said I’d like to audition for Young-gon and I did. Thankfully, I got this great opportunity.”

Why do you think the director picked you?

“According to the director, when I entered for my audition, she thought my eyes looked frightening. My eyes are slanted like the original character’s. I don’t think it’s because my acting was so much better than the other actors who auditioned. There are much better actors than me who auditioned. But I don’t think you can ignore matching characters’ looks when there’s a webtoon original. It was my good luck that I looked like the character.”

How did you analyze your character? Did you refer to any other projects?

“I have seen a lot of movies and dramas, but I didn’t refer to any in particular. If I did, I think I’d end up imitating the other person, and I set out to make Young-gon my own. I wanted to make him a frightening stalker who was a pain in the neck but also could be cute. Also, I asked all my female friends what kinds of behavior they hated most in men, and tried to display those things. I also looked for my own ‘loser’-like qualities within myself and tried to bring them out to their utmost. You know how everybody has their own loser inside them.”

Do you read the viewer reactions?

“Around Episode 6, I got some negativity about my acting. Seeing that kind of response was a bit difficult. So I didn’t read [after that]. But recently, people told me that the netizen responses are good and that I should read them. So I did. I’ve never received this kind of interest before, so it was bewildering. Who am I that people comment about my acting and articles about me, and even praise me—I’m so thankful. Even if it’s just for one second, I’m really grateful to the people who spend their time on me.”

What specifically was the comment in Episode 6 about?

“The character’s first scene is very important, but at the very start of filming my acting had too much force and I wasn’t familiar with the set so I couldn’t accomplish what I wanted. It’s because of my own deficiency. If I could turn back time, I’d really like to redo that first scene. I want to do better than that.”

What do you think is Oh Young-gon looking his most pathetic?

“When he tells Hong Seol shamelessly, ‘I know you like me.’ Seol had just given him a piece ofcandy without any meaning behind it, but he mistakes that for her genuinely liking him. His delusion and his telling that to Seol directly was really pathetic.”

Of the Hateful Three (Oh Young-gon, Sohn Min-soo, Sang-chul sunbae), who do you think is the most hateful?

“Definitely Oh Young-gon. I went into it thinking that if I had to play a character who incited aggravation, ‘Let’s show the most aggravation I can possibly show’ and ‘I’ll show you a whole new world of aggravation.’ I put everything on the line. That’s why I’d like for Oh Young-gon to be the most hateable.”

It seems that the viewer interest in you must feel particularly meaningful. [He’d debuted six years ago and had a few close calls with potential breaks, but they fell through.]

“I’m truly, truly so thankful that I don’t know what to do with myself. This is the first time I’ve received such interest, and it’s confusing and happy and precious. I think it’s all a product of the past six years. It was a difficult time, but also valuable. If I’d gotten famous quickly, I’d have become arrogant. I know my personality well. If things worked out well when I’d known nothing of the world and just jumped headlong into it, I would have become haughty. Because of those six years, I realize that the smallest interest is cause for gratitude, and I learned how to communicate with people sincerely.”

On playing hateful: “Oh Young-gon is the most toxic character. I went into it aiming to do my best to be the most toxic character ever. When I read netizens saying that he makes them angry, I love it. If I tried to look cool or good-looking while playing Oh Young-gon, I felt that wouldn’t be acting, that would be a photo model. My goal was to get cursed, and I like to hear those words. And I’m grateful to have people compare me to the character Yeon Min-jung [the hateful villain of Jang Bori Is Here]. I’m thankful to be compared to Lee Yuri sunbae-nim’s inspired performance.”

“When I saw Oh Young-gon in the webtoon, he made me angry and want to hit him. But because I had to understand him in order to play him, I thought that his actions were right. It’s that he likes someone and his method of expressing it is different, and I tried my best to understand him as someone who puts his feelings first.”

About PD Lee Yoon-jung, who seems to be universally loved by her cast: “The director’s style is to leave things open. She would ask me about my character, ‘What do you think?’ and ‘How do you think it would be good to act him?’ She lets us do things the way we want to. If I go overboard she pulls me back, and if I’m lacking she’ll bolster me, and she lets me do as I want to, and I was grateful for that. She makes the filming set comfortable, and she’s a really good person, so much that I wonder if I could meet another director like her. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be able to melt into the set to this extent. It’s been six years since I debuted and things didn’t go well, so I went into the audition feeling like I was grasping at straws, and I’m grateful she cast me. She’s my savior. I’m so thankful the words aren’t enough. It’s my wish to succeed more so I could give a performance that would be a help to the director, so that we could be in a relationship where it’s a win-win for both of us.”

Then we have Moon Ji-yoon, a 32-year-old actor who debuted in 2002’s Romance, whom you may not quite recognize because he’s put on quite a bit of weight for this drama. Although after Cheese, I’m pretty sure it’ll be difficult to imagine him not as the loud, shouty, and frequently hateable Sang-chul.

How do you feel when you hear the words “aggravation inducer”?

“If someone sees Kim Sang-chul and says, ‘I hate you so much I want to kill you,’ as an actor that’s praise. If the acting is fumbled, it wouldn’t get hate. I think it’s fitting for an actor to hear he’s impressive if he’s playing an impressive character, or for one to be hated if he’s playing a villain.”

You were in 2015’s Awl and the 2014 Drama Special Introducing Dad.

“Yes. I did have a big build in both of those, though not as much as now. [Laughs] When I did those dramas, I weighed 90 kg, and now I’m 107 kg. These days in interviews talk of weight comes up a lot, and it feels like I’m saying the same thing, haha.”

That’s why I purposely didn’t ask that first.

“I know. But what the other reporters said was that it’s unavoidable. What they ask is similar to what the public asks, and they’re trying to ask about the things that people are most curious about.”

Even with similar questions and similar answers, you must be feeling pretty good [these days].

“Whew, so good. These days, walking down the street I get asked for pictures a lot. ‘It’s Sang-chul sunbae!’ ‘You’re so good at acting hateful that I almost hate you!’

I wonder if it has to do with that scene. Where you’re eating tuna from a can mixed with rice, talking to your mother on the phone, telling her you’re eating tuna sushi. It was quite moving.

“Haha, was it? Including that, there are a few scenes with that feeling, but mostly, he’s a character who stirs up trouble. [Laughs] There are a few more instances to come, so you can look forward to that.”

What kinds of things did director Lee Yoon-jung say to you the most?

“The director drew me out quite a bit. She led me, so that the person Moon Ji-yoon could portray the character Sang-chul. She gave hints and I referenced those things as I took it on.”

Do you remember what it was like first meeting her?

“I have some earlier connections to the director. When I did Hyun-jung, I Love You (2002), she was the assistant director, and director Ahn Pan-seok cast me. Then in 2005, I met her for Taereung National Village, but I didn’t get that. Then I saw her again when I auditioned for Cheese in the Trap. She said, ‘Ji-yoon-ah, you remember me, right?’ I talked a lot with her, and afterward I sought out the webtoon. After reading it with Kim Sang-chul in mind, I saw her again and she laughed at the first line of dialogue, and I felt, ‘Ah, I got this.’ I haven’t spoken to her specifically about this, but it felt like she thought I had to do this part. To be chosen during a slump period, I’m really grateful.”

Taking on a known character: “The character of Kim Sang-chul stands out in the webtoon, so I did worry about whether people who read the webtoon first would think my image was similar to the character. But in the end I decided to portray him using my voice, my appearance. Luckily, it seems like people are responding well.”

“After casting was confirmed, the director said she’d like me to gain some weight. I thought that if I gained more weight, when standing next to Park Hae-jin, my build would look distinctly bigger. So I started eating. If I’d exercised while eating, I could strike a balance, but because I gained weight just from eating, my belly just grew big.”

Comparing the live-shoot to pre-production: “Normally in dramas, it’s normal to shoot all night and have scripts come in pages. Even knowing that this is the unavoidable production environment, I’ve thought, ‘Isn’t this actually not right?’ But this time, since Cheese in the Trap was half produced in advance, the pressure of time was lessened and it felt so great. Filming in a good environment, it feels like the actors mesh better together, and filming itself is enjoyable. Director Lee Yoon-jung is always smiling. I’d like if there were more dramas like this in the future.”

Via Sports Chosun , Osen, Herald, Ten Asia, Star News, Newsen, Sports Chosun, IS Plus, Asia News

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Loads of fun to read! Really loving the cast of this show

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Ahhh, the love-to-almost-hate trio. Thank you for the translation! This article helps to tide us over until new episodes are available :)

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Erm... Yoon JiWon's words about MinSoo make me uncomfortable. Maybe because to me there's a very strong victim-complex and excusing of perceived and self-imposed inferiority. To me, the moment MinSoo denied that the lion doll was Seol's was the moment she stole the doll. MinSoo is NOT a good kid, if she actively lies to herself that she didn't copy anyone. That's not nice or misguided. That's simply delusion and even more, self-chosen delusion. She knows it but doesn't want to admit it.

But maybe it's a side effect of acting a character. Maybe no one can act well without understanding and sympathizing with his/her character.

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I think that's just it - Min-soo convinced herself that because she originally picked up the doll intending to give it back to Seol (albeit not before using it as a bargaining chip to get Seol to spend time with her), she never actually did anything wrong.

The point is, in Min-soo's own eyes she's a good kid who doesn't see anything wrong with what she's doing, and I think the actress got that across perfectly, victim complex and all.

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But there's a difference between an actress thinking as her character and an actress defending her character to the extent of "MinSoo is not at fault. She's a soft-hearted person. The situation made it that way" and "you're a nice girl" to which I end up side-eyeing.

Maybe it was the delivery or some kind of miscommunication but it sounded like an endorsement of MinSoo's actions (even though yes, Yoon JiWon does say that MinSoo has done wrong things) to which I say: "bullshit to that".

Ji YoonHo sounds like he's having the time of his life, haha! As he well shouls since when else can one give in to one's inner loser/satan and still get praise for it?

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When you play a villain, you need to understand the mind of the character. This is even more important for a villain character than for others. And understanding here doesn't mean knowing about the written tragic backstory or the psychopathological background files. It means you need to see the character from within.

And, yes, that also means that you have to "endorse" the actions of the character to some point. If you don't, you won't be able to portray the character holistically.

What the actress describes here is something every single actor who had to play a kind of weak villain has gone through. You start to learn to see things from your character's perspective. You start to learn how to think like your character. And you automatically start to defend the character against the Karma of the plot, and against the attacks from other sources. It's a very good sign actually that she really has a good grasp of her character.

What you shouldn't do is doing this kind of auto-defending in public interviews though. It's usually not particularly helpful.

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I completely agree with you.

I seen some interviews where the actors play psycho path killers and say "Oh well they were treated poorly and because of other people's action it's not his fault. Like saying the circumstances in life make a person so you should pity them. There can be two people in the same situation but they can become completely different people.

So the actress could have said I sympathized with the things Min Soo has done in her circumstances but they are things that she should not have done.

Because the actress is playing with someone who is making things difficult for Seol and she should see that.
And should talk about two sides of the coin not just how sad MinSoo is.

And some people commented that Seol should have helped her.
Secondly even though she reached out to Seol.
Seol is still growing and she has all these things in her life.
A new boyfriend, a crazy friend In Ho, the stalker Young Gon, her own friends, family, having to work and pay to go to school. Have to keep her grades up etc etc.

She has all this going on that she could not see MinSoo so I can understand why she didn't notice MinSoo's loneliness but that is not her responsibility.

And only MinSoo is to be blamed for how she is.

Just like how the other two hate-able co-stars sympathized but know exactly who their characters are and didn't defend their actions.

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I think what she means is that Min-soo is not inherently a bad person, and that when she did the things she did she didn't mean it to be malicious. From the get-go, Min-soo was a misunderstood person. Bora automatically jumped to the conclusion that Min-soo stole the lion doll, so in Min-soo's mind it was a question of whether she'd prefer to be seen as a thief or to be seen as desperate for Hong Seol's friendship (like she's pathetic).

It doesn't help that Hong Seol and Bora automatically turn her into the bad person, because she originally wasn't a bad person. But, when you have people accusing you of doing something time and time again when you know your intentions were good, you push back. Not only that, she had people defending her and helping her who sympathized with her. So, for her, what she did wasn't bad. She truly felt like a victim.

I get where the actress is coming from. I think she did a great job seeing Min-soo's perspective. Not everything is black and white.

In real life, you don't have someone who is just bad for the sake of being bad. Something drives them to behave that way. The actress tapped into that and made Min-soo's character someone you could possibly meet. Min-soo, the character, tried numerous times to give the lion doll back and Bora somehow always sidelined her.

Just playing devil's advocate. :) I think Min-soo is psycho. LOL.

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I definitely agree with you. I think the actress has to make Minsoo make sense for herself to portray her, that's why she has taken on her thoughts, but in the drama you can see Minsoo having good thoughts at first and then becoming more and more hostile.

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I thought Yoon Ji-Won sounded really sweet and adorable, sympathizing with her character to the extent that she got upset on her behalf! If we're objective, obviously Min-Soo did a lot of things that were wrong and can't JUST be called mistakes, but of course the actress isn't objective. It's her job to put herself in that situation and see things as the character sees them. And I don't think she's totally off base, especially about the character being an antisocial person messing up as she tried to become more social. Even in the drama, Seol realized that she could have tried to reach out to Min-Soo first and things would have been very different. As a very naive and weak person who hadn't ever had friends before, Min-Soo got influenced by Young-Gon's manipulation. We're all influenced by the people we choose as friends, even if we're a lot more strong-minded and self-confident than her. If she got influenced by Seol to begin with, don't you think she would have grown in the completely opposite direction?

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Actually, I have to disagree. It was a sweet thought for Seol to have but if the problem was Envy, befriending her may or may not have helped.

I once tried befriending a person like Minsoo and not only did it not help but she became worse and even thought my husband should be hers. I had to switch gyms eventually. (And if she only knew what my husband is REALLY like.)

I learned about boundaries then, let me tell you.

The problem was that she wanted the good things I had without putting in the work for it. CITT had that spot on. And she negated the good in her own life. And negated the bad in mine. She only saw the surface; that's what envy does.

Hence, "envy is not possible if you know the real situation."

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Hmm. That's s really good point. They did say in the web toon Minsoo acted like that without any outside influence, so I guess your experience is closer to how the character was originally written. I was just playing devils advocate. And more than defending the character, who I dislike, I don't think people should criticize the actress for thinking that way. Like I said, I think its admirable and cute how much she bonded with the character, it would be hard to portray minsoo realistically if she didn't sincerely take her side. Though perhaps she is a little inexperienced, not being able to separate herself from the character when she's not on set. I can hardly blame her for that though.

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It did sound like she was still in character, didn't it, haha. Since filming has recently wrapped, I'm not too surprised and the actress certainly did a great job in that role.

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I felt uncomfortable too. When she says when we have celebrities we like, we copy them....hmm.
Well, you really shouldn't copy them wholesale. (Unless for a cosplay.) And to insist you were first and they are copying you? To become belligerent and violent about it?

There's a line there and Minsoo crossed it. She may have been a nice person in the past but she moved far beyond that and became a bad and dangerous one. You have to admit your wrongdoing for therapy to work, IMO.

On the other hand, what's up with ppl targeting the actress for a role she plays (SNS)? If Minsoo wasn't alarming and hateful on some levels, the actress isn't doing her job. I thought she did a great job of the transitioning wallflower to perpetrator.

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I feel you

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He was Seo InGuk's senior on the hockey team with the bad attitude; it was a really minor part. I only know this because I kept thinking his face looked SO familiar when I was watching Cheese that I went back and rewatched some of HSKOS to spot him lol.

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Yeah, he was he in Faith? He wasn't the white haired villain, was he? Hard to tell with the wig and outlandish outfit.

Or one of the Wudalchi?

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*who

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I looked it up- someone named Ji-ho? I don't think that was the little dragonball woodalchi, was it?

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I think he's the young one that spends most time watching the doctor.

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I am impressed by Ji Yoon ho's multi dimensional portrayal of Oh Young-gon. He deluded, mischievous, angry and a skillful manipulator. You do feel sorry for Young gon and at the same time you really can't stand him. The character reminds me of someone I knew in high school- insecure and desperate to fit in, but acted out in all the wrong ways.
Ji Yoon ho seems to be very articulate and introspective. I hope he gets cast in more roles.

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I love that they go all-out for their roles, they get the irritating_+hateable thing so right precisely because they don't try to act likeable.

I'd have loved to hear from Lee Sung-kyung too, since she's another one who really goes all-out with her character but was quite heavily criticised for the character tics she adopted. I still admire her commitment though, and have got quite fond of crazy Baek In-ha.

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"You know how everybody has their own loser inside them" - this line from Ji Yoon-ho was gold!

I love these interviews, thanks so much for translating them, javabeans!

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I liked his responses best and think that, so far, he's completely nailed his character based on what he hoped to portray. For me, one of the most irritating things about Young Gon is that I could easily see myself liking him if he weren't an obsessive, delusional stalker. The charm creeps me out more.

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A lot of actors seem to be pro pre-produced dramas. I'm curious how the networks and productions companies are responding to actors being so openly vocal about this new way of filming. D-Day was a poor example of a pre-produced drama and Moorim Schools (though I really enjoy it) seems to be following in suit. But I wonder if Cheese In the Trap, Descendants of the Sun, and Suzy/Kim Woo Bin's new drama all do well, will we see more of these shows.

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Dramas that are pre-produced for special effects reasons still need to have a good script. I think with both D-Day and Moorim the script could have been much tighter. Repetitive scenes do not move the story and develop the characters. Another scene of the teachers drinking tea! Another scene of the administrators turning away patients! Why are you even worried about billing when the city has collapsed around you?

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Thank you so much for translating . :)

"Filming in a good environment, it feels like the actors mesh better together, and filming itself is enjoyable. Director Lee Yoon-jung is always smiling. I’d like if there were more dramas like this in the future."

It makes me sad that this kind of thing is rare for them. :(

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Aw, they all sound like great people and actors! I like Sang-chul best in the drama, he's completely spot on as the blustering, free-loading, kinda slimy sunbae, who's just pathetic enough to make you feel sorry for him. Just a little XD.

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AHA! I knew Moon Ji-yoon looked really familiar! I just looked it up to confirm, he was Mong Ryong's best friend in Delightful Girl Chun-hyang! That's one of my favorite dramas :3

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@javabeans Ji Yoon-ho (Oh Young Gon) played the prickly sunbae in High School king of Saavy, the one Min Seok respected but also kind of disliked lol. I was rewatching that drama a few days ago, recognized him and was like "hey it's the stalker from Cheese in the Trap!" But he was VERY different in that drama. So normal it was kind scary, especially with how creepy Oh Young Gon is lol.

I feel bad for the actress who played Min-Soo. As an actor she has to understand and empathize with her character, so for her to read those type of comments must have been very hurtful.

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I also disagree with that interpretation of Min-soo's character and think it's the actress being a bit too empathetic because she had to portray her. I think she's right that Min-soo's motivations were initially innocent and I don't even blame her for acting defensive when she was accused of stealing the lion, but almost everything afterward was much more than a simple mistake, it was delusion and aggression and not cool or excusable on any level.

Anyway, they've all done well in this drama and seem so humble (I'm not used to it since I only really know about Hollywood actors). I wish them success.

Silly, but I find it cute that 'Yoon' is a part of each of their names.

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Just imagine what would happen if the actress would be judging the character she is playing in these scenes where Min-soo blocks and counter-attacks. You immediately feel the lack of authenticity. This happens a lot in K-drama, because usually villains are never written to make sense. They are there to be judged, and it doesn't matter that even the actor doesn't believe in the integrity of the character he/she is playing.

But Min-soo in "Cheese" needs to be authentic to make her such a great villain. She's utterly powerless herself, what makes her scary is her helpless determination. The actress did a perfect job in my opinion.

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I see what you are saying but there's a difference between understanding, and even having sympathy with your character, and excusing their behavior.

I think you see this with PHJ's statements. He saw him as cold and calculating at first, then he saw him as innocent and naive? in some ways but he doesn't excuse him and he gets why ppl, esp women, might not like him.

I can understand where a lot of these villains are coming from but I know what they did was wrong. After all, who hasn't felt envy, lust, anger and wanted to bully and bitch?

In the same way, I understand Jung to some extent and I wish more ppl would try to see it from his pov but I certainly don't think he is just a misunderstood good guy and I'm waiting for Karma/Justice, what have you, to kick him in the posterior. (I think he is a good guy/bad guy both).

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Petra like Cheese got to this comment before bit my thoughts are exactly the same (including the PHJ) example. I'll add to that by saying that by saying that Yoon-oh seems to have that same idea in his portrayal of Young-gon, getting an understanding of how the character sees and expresses himself in order to properly and honestly act out the part, but never excusing or defending Young-gon's actions as acceptable.

It's possible that, as someone above said, the actress is still a bit in character though. Maybe distance would change her opinion.

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I honestly agree about minsoo and how the actress who portrays her says such statements. It's a true testament of her acting this role

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Still, seeing hate comments as compliments need a great deal of maturity and mental power. They probably still feel a bit hurt when reading them. You're doing a good job, you guys. Keep it up!

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Dear Libert,

That's the second time already that not only that you promote yourself on someone else's site/blog, but you are also unnervingly quoting the whole javabeans' post, and don't give credit at all. I am surprised that the DB ladies don't comment on it.

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I never realized how hard it was for actors to play loose screws, odd balls or psycho characters.

Reading this interview has given me a new appreciation for the art of acting.

I wouldn't be too hard on the actress that plays Min Soo, though. My take is that she wouldn't try so hard to defend her character if she wasn't attacked by the public so much in the first place. There's a need to distinguish between what an actresses real life persona is and what the character she plays. The criticism should be: "oh she did a good job playing the part of a psycho or she did an awful job in that role" and not "Why did you play such an awful character? Why were you so mean to Seol, why so dishonest?" That's putting the actress in a position where she feels the need to reaffirm that she's not such a horrible person.

Distancing the character from the actual actor would go a long way in preventing situations where the actor feels the need to defend his/her character so staunchly imho.

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I agree with this. I hate hearing everyone saying oh she shouldn't defend he character's actions. But i feel like if you constantly hear attacks on a character that you're playing you will feel like they are attacks on your own real character. And often times the people saying hurtful things about the person she is portraying don't get that it's just acting. I get why she seems slightly defensive!

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OMG!! I just realized that is Bang Ji-Hyuk from Sassy Girl Chun-Hyang!! I did NOT notice it was Moon Ji yoon all along! I never would have noticed what with all that weight added!! OMG!! Mind blown!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S I love this show! It is pure awesome!

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After reading both interview, I think everyone who was part of it got something great out of working on this drama. And it also brought some fame for those supporting actors, who did such a great job portraying the character but also putting a little of themselves into it.

I hate these three character so much but that's only telling me that they did such a great job at it. If they weren't so hated then they are bad at acting.

I can't wait until next week!!!! Hope to see what I saw in the two preview!!! Kiss scene!!!!!!!

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I remember the moment I realized that the Younggon performance was something special. It was when he was observing Jung and Seol together on campus for the first time. He climbed onto some kind of platform and folded his legs underneath himself, all in the space of two or three seconds, quick and agile, like an especially creepy sort of cat. I was impressed (and freaked out). Since then, I've been saying over and over to myself and to my sisters that this actor is really effective.

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Thanks again, JB, for this wonderful piece! These actors have done a wonderful job bringing to life their characters. Lol, I don't know if I'm just hormonal but I actually teared up reading the interviews of Ji Yoon Ho and Moon Ji Yoon. I know these actors have gone through alot in getting to where they are now and it's nice to see them appreciate all these wonderful opportunities given to them. I am looking forward to seeing them in other projects.

About Yoon Ji Won, like most of you here, I was also a bit surprised by her take on Min Soo. Maybe that's her interpretation of what really happened which could have helped her portray her role well. But you can see the difference with how she discusses her role as opposed to the others like Park Hae Jin, who are more objective. I guess it's never easy with these kinds of roles. You get affected and it's hard to dissociate with the characters you play. Hopefully, all of them take criticisms in stride and see this as an awesome learning experience as well.

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Dear javabeans and girlfriday, could you please give us the interview of the PD?

She looks like a wonderful person, and I wonder what her thought were when she casted the characters.

Thank you!

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Ji Yoon ho sounds like an intelligent person who is very much in-tuned with his inner self. I hope he gets better and larger roles next time...
All of them sounds like down to earth and nice...
It is only the character they are portraying, it's funny to see how invested some people are here with their screen characters... interesting.... it means they did a GOOD job.

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These interviews are great. I love the discrepancies between some of these actors too; some make a point to not read the webtoon, while others read and re-read it. Some say they focus less on looks of a character, while others say that's something you can't ignore. They all sound quite insightful though.

There are various fantastic lines in these interviews, but I think the winner is this one: "You know how everybody has their own loser inside them.”

LOL. So true.

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Ji Yoon Ho was in Davichi's "Don't say goodbye" MV. He was so innocent back then. Finally, i could see him again but Young Gon is terrible character -.-

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It was really refreshing reading this round of interviews. I always worry a bit for the actors who play the antagonists, especially since some viewers can become over-the-top and start harassing and hating the actual people. Ji Yoonho and Yoo Jiwon especially seem like they gave their all into their roles, and I'm really grateful they met a PD who encouraged them to examine their role and find a way to act them out naturally, because that's something that will help them in the future, not just for this one project. Reading about how beneficial the pre-production format is was interesting too, I hope more dramas take cues from this and see how allow time for the actors to figure out their roles and relations plus the time to reshoot until they're satisfied will improve the quality of the drama.

Also, the hateful characters chatroom is adorable. It must be so fun swearing at each other's characters lol

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