Uhm Tae-goo, “I almost fainted at the fan meeting... It felt like I was hit by a sound” [Photoshoot]

A pictorial featuring actor Uhm Tae-goo for fashion magazine Harper‘s Bazaar Korea has been released. In the pictorial, Uhm Tae-goo recreates scenes from everyday life in a Hong Kong movie, going back and forth between a bathroom, a room, and the streets.

Uhm Tae-goo left an impression as Hyun-min in Disney+’s original series ‘The Lighting Store’. In an interview conducted before the final episode of ‘The Lighting Store’ was aired, he said, “I‘m looking forward to seeing what kind of impressions people who don’t know the original story will have after watching the drama until the end”. He continued, “I hope that people who watch it will feel the strange shock that I felt when I first saw the ‘The Lighting Store’ webtoon. The drama doesn‘t deviate much from the framework of the webtoon. It was the most shocking script I’ve read in recent years. It felt like I got a taste of the emotions that can be felt from the very bottom. I hope many people enjoy this meaningful work.”

Eom Tae-goo also said, “I’m not the type to just enjoy this job. There was a time when I thought this job wasn’t for me, and the set is still difficult. It’s my job, so I work hard. But at the same time, the weight of the moment of acting in front of the camera is something that I have to bear alone, so I think it might be a good job for me, who is mostly alone. No matter how much I talk to my co-stars and directors, I’m the one acting in front of the camera. Since this is the job I chose, I’ll continue to act diligently with a desperate heart.”

When he first recalled the scene that came to mind in 2024, he recalled the fan meeting. He said, “When I entered the fan meeting venue, I thought, ‘This is what it would feel like if I was hit with sound.’ I almost collapsed. It was the first time I experienced that feeling in my life, so it became the scene that came to mind first. Even though a lot of time has passed, I think I will vividly remember that moment,” he said, expressing his special feelings about the fan meeting he held for the first time in 17 years since his debut.

You can see Um Tae-goo’s pictorial and interview in the January issue of Harper’s Bazaar, etc.

Jung Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com