‘Trunk’ Gong Yoo “I‘m a dry person, I’ve developed immunity to burnout” [DA:Interview①]

Actor Gong Yoo described himself as a dry person.

In an interview with Netflix‘s ‘Trunk’ held at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 5th, Gong Yoo confessed the reason he chose this work, saying, “I instinctively felt that there was a part of me that was essentially connected”.

He said, “I think at some point I started not wanting to get involved in stories that don’t interest me. Some may not understand, but the genre isn‘t a priority for me. I’m drawn to works that make me curious about what the story is about and why the character is so hurt. When I first saw Jeong-won in ‘Trunk’, I was curious, it felt right, and I wanted to explore it,“ he said. ”I go into works when a character gives me that kind of emotion, or when my past or present thoughts roughly match up. I can‘t choose all works like that, but I think there are some that I choose like that.“

Han Jeong-won, who Gong Yoo plays in ‘Trunk’, is an emotionally unstable character who lives a lonely and miserable life. After his ex-wife Lee Seo-yeon (Jung Yoon-ha) leaves him, he meets Noh In-ji (Seo Hyun-jin) through a ‘temporary marriage’ and experiences a change.

Although their public images are 180 degrees different, Gong Yoo himself said that he had a point in common with Han Jeong-won. Gong Yoo describes himself as a “dry person” and says, “Because there are a lot of things that I put on because of the characters on screen or in the work, I think they get exaggerated based on the viewers’ standards, and there are many cases where things stay in the mind because of the characters. However, I think that the older I get, the drier I become. That‘s why I didn’t feel any awkwardness or discomfort in accepting Jeong-won,” he said.

He said about his ‘dryness’, “I think it‘s part of my original temperament, and I think it must have been influenced by my job as an actor. I think I just adapt to it and live accepting it,”and”It’s abstract, but I can‘t say that I have the same exact part, but I felt an intuition about the pain and wounds that Jeong-won feels. He added, “I haven’t experienced anything that Jeong-won shouldn‘t have, but I think Jeong-won’s heart, which looks at In-ji like ‘mirror therapy, instinctively sympathizes with him and has compassion for him.”

Then, did Gong Yoo also have a moment of a dry slump? Gong Yoo said, “There were so many. I didn‘t know if it was a slump or a burnout, but I realized it later. I think I broke down at first because I didn’t know what it was. I thought, ‘This isn’t what I want?‘ and was confused, but after some time had passed and I thought about that time, I finally became clear. ’I wasn‘t healthy back then.’ I think I developed calluses after experiencing it a couple of times. I get hurt and have a hard time the same way, but I think I‘ve built up an immunity.’

As a way to overcome a slump, he said, “I used my body a lot. I could drink endlessly. ”I‘m the type of person who exercises routinely, so I brought my body (to the gym). Even though I hated it, I used my body, sweated, took a shower, and came out, and I felt better. I also tried to escape my complicated thoughts through my hobby of fishing. I continued to fish. “It’s a good hobby that makes me simple,” he said.

Meanwhile, ‘Trunk’, based on the novel of the same name by author Kim Ryeo-ryeong, is a six-part mystery melodrama that depicts a secret marriage service that begins to come to light due to a trunk floating on the lakeside and the strange marriage story of a man and a woman inside it. It is a work that director Kim Gyu-tae, who directed the dramas [Our Blues] and [It‘s Okay, That’s Love], and writer Park Eun-young, who wrote [Hwarang], joined forces to produce, and it was released on Netflix on the 29th of last month.

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