Korean Media News

Now, it’s not awkward anymore when the title ‘Actor’ is put before his name. Gaining experience steadily through ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’ (2010) and ‘Miss Ripley’ (2011), he was ready to make viewers laugh with him through ‘Rooftop Prince’. We are talking about Park Yoochun who transformed back and forth between Lee Gak, Yong Taeyong and Lee Gak who pretended to be Yong Taeyong.
The shooting didn’t go smoothly from the beginning to the end. At the beginning, the shooting might have been interrupted because of JYJ’s world tour in Chile and Peru but everything turned out well. However, as soon as he returned to the country, the sad news that his father has passed away was waiting for him. Nevertheless, right after his father’s funeral ended, he had to return to the filming set. Without any words, all the actors and staff embraced him. Park Yoochun remembered “They didn’t bring up that sad story with me at all. Instead, they talked about other daily things to me just as usual. Thanks to their considerations, I could slowly dust away my burdens.”
We tried to ask Park Yoochun directly about the ending of ‘Rooftop Prince’…
With his ’3 courtiers’ Lee Minho, Jung Sukwon and Choi Woosik, the shooting was full of ad-libs. Because the script was given out late, they faced with the crisis of not broadcasting on time. While filming 70 scenes non-stop in merely 2 days, they could only drink a cup of coffee and sighed ‘We will soon die because of this’. Unknowingly, as it went along, the collaboration between these guys started shining. As a result, the final episode has taken the first place in ratings for Wed-Thurs dramas. He said “While I was acting, the sincere script touched me too, the script-writer has put all her heart in it.”
“While playing the role Lee Gak, Yong Taeyong and Lee Gak who pretended to be Yong Taeyong, I have never been confused. As I naturally felt that the feelings were divided at different parts, I was immersed in transforming myself gradually while reading the script. On the other hand, I had trouble when I totally transformed to Yong Taeyong. All this time, I was using the sageuk tempo to say my lines so I have thought that I couldn’t keep up with the modern-language tempo. At first, I was worried about that.”

Before cutting his hair, Lee Gak who time-travelled from the Josun era to the modern world has long hair. At first, he even felt unfamiliar with himself when looking in the mirror. Park Yoochun laughed and said ” (The look when I used the long wig) is not that bad”. He said that the wig automatically kept his neck straight and it was okay for him, except for the fact that it gets tangled easily when it’s windy.
‘Rooftop Prince’ ended at the scene where Yong Taeyong, who is wearing the imperial costume, meets with Park Ha (Han Jimin). This ending scene has led to many different opinions from the viewers. Some say it was Yong Taeyong but some believe that it was the Crown Prince Lee Gak. We asked Park Yoochun directly about this ending scene. Park Yoochun answered “I acted that scene when thinking that I am 100% Yong Taeyong. I also didn’t think that he had the memory of Lee Gak either”. Then, he explained more “Some might feel that he is the reincarnation of Lee Gak so it’s neither a happy ending, nor a sad ending.”
“The burden of acting in historical drama is big.”
After a successful debut as an actor in ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’, he chose ‘Miss Ripley’ as his next drama. Although he received a proposal for the drama ‘The moon embracing the sun’, he had no confidence to try acting in historical drama one more time. However, he accepted the role in ‘Miss Ripley’ not because he tried to avoid historical dramas but because the burden of the sudden attention was getting bigger so he wanted to break it. Park Yoochun revealed “After I started shooting for ‘Miss Ripley’, I told myself that I wouldn’t be able to accomplish this perfectly until the very end and I have thought of giving up even before it was broadcast”.
“At first, I had a thought myself that I must set a gap between the beginning of ‘Rooftop Prince’ and ‘Sungkyunkwan Scandal’. However, after a few days, that thought dissapeared. Because the social status of my characters in two dramas are different so I thought that the feelings would be 100% different. I did research in Crown Prince’s lifestyle, gaze and even in how to keep my neck, my waist etc. I usually exhale really strongly so to fix this habit, I have practiced my lines a lot.”

Through ‘Rooftop Prince’, Park Yoochun received lots of favorable comments that his acting ability is getting better. When speaking of this, Park Yoochun showed his modesty and said “I don’t think so. I brushed away any pressure and focused on acting only so I was absorbed in my character. Acting is really fun, now I got to know the real taste of acting”. While collecting experiences through what he’s been through in life, his acting will become better and better.
‘Rooftop Prince’ has come to an end not long ago but it’s still early to feel keenly the absence of Park Yoochun because he has decided to have other activities in June and planned to spend the rest of 2012 busily.
“I am considering a lot of proposals. I want to keep myself busy. I will decide quickly on what to do next, movies, drama or album so that I will spend the rest of the year even more busily than right now. I want to do a lot of things before the year 2013 comes.”

Source: OhMyStarTranslated by: SweetieXiah of JYJ3