Lee Jun Ki’s top 15 secrets
1. Lee Jun Ki’s favourite hobby is playing computer games.
2. Lee Jun Ki is a taekwondo black belt third degree. In university at Busan he was on the national team.
3. Lee Jun Ki has two nicknames - monkey and crane (the machine).
4.
Lee Jun Ki’s personality is actually more serious and reserved, but
when he drinks alcohol he becomes more lively, a 180-degree change.
5. Lee Jun Ki enjoys rolling around on his bed, especially when he has nothing better to do.
6.
Lee Jun Ki’s way of relieving stress is to drink alcohol and then sing
and dance. He can drink two and a half bottles of soju.
7. Lee Jun Ki really wants to kick the habit of drinking, but no matter what he does he can’t seem to stop.
8. Lee Jun Ki’s favourite actor is 薛京求. (Pinyin=Xue Jing Qiu)
9. Lee Jun Ki’s favourite colours are red and blue, his favourite foods curry rice, steak, pizza and pork belly.
10. Lee Jun Ki’s brand of toothpaste is mentholatum
11. The first thing Lee Jun Ki does upon waking up is to drink water.
12. The three most important things in Lee Jun Ki’s wallet are his childhood photos, cash, and his credit cards.
13. Lee Jun Ki cannot resist the radiant smile of women.
14. When Lee Jun Ki looks at women he notices their waist most of all.
15. On Valentine’s Day Lee Jun Ki really wants [his girlfriend's] passionate kiss or her body.
———————————————————————-
Interview with Jun Ki about King and the Clown
Is it true you felt repulsed by the kiss in King and the Clown?
It’s
known that Yeonsan and Gong gil’s relationship is a little…so the
director research an entire night and the result was…the scene in the
movie. Because I requested that no matter how the scene was shot Gong
gil had to be asleep, the scene could not be shot while he was awake!
So when i was sleeping, he suddenly dashed over and…collided. It felt
tingly. It was very…in any case I don’t want to recall it.
Actually, we realised that your role in King and the Clown is very similar to Leslie Cheung’s role in Farewell My Concubine. Have you watched this film? Do you think there are any differences between your acting skills and his?
One
is a story set in imperial-era Korea, the other is set in modern China,
with similar characters. However they were set in very different
atmospheres, so they are a little different. As for acting skills, I’m
still new, and of course I can’t be compared to Leslie Cheung. I admire
him greatly!
On the strength of one film King and the Clown, you recently won the first award of your acting career, correct?
As
an actor, the greatest encouragement and vindication I can have is
approval and delight from everyone. So i was in a very good mood that
day, extremely happy! At night I even went out with my management to
drink. In the future, I want to win better and more awards. Receiving
awards are like a form of approval from the audience, this is very
important to me! Give me more evaluation and I will work harder, acting
is to me a very interesting job!
When filming King and the Clown, did you experience any unexpected difficulties?
The
dances required learning basics and fundamentals to pull off. Also, I
have never tried drumming and rope walking/leaping before, so I felt
they were very difficult to master! Oh yeah, and the cloth dolls and
shadow puppets as well. The shooting of the film was fast-paced, so I
had to learn all those things hurriedly.
The entire crew supposedly kept their distance from you, treating you like a real girl, what do you think of that?
I
suppose it was to help me get into character more. Everyone on the
production team were very careful, they felt I could no longer sleep
with guys, had to bathe separately, they were that cautious! (laughs)
This can be considered the most meaningful thing on set they did for me.
While
talking with you now you seem like a very manly kind of guy, completely
not effeminate at all. Is your personality this dominant always?
Maybe
it’s my looks at work, but I’m no different from any typical guy. There
are times when I lose my temper badly, I’m very normal.
-
Chat with President Roh about the Korean movie quotas
On
the 23rd of March 2006, Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and the
representative for Korean actors, Lee Jun Ki discussed the problem of
regulating the quota of local movies over Korea’s five largest websites
on the program "Chatting online with the citizens". As the star of the
top-grossing local movie in Korea’s history, King and the Clown, Lee Jun Ki suggested the problem of movie quotas had some symbolism. Earlier that year on January 21, Roh had watched King and the Clown, and so this dialogue with the star attracted the attention of many Koreans. Roh asked questions like "How is the screening of King and the Clown going? Are audiences still watching it? What were you called in the film? Gong gil?" to open the session.
When
Lee Jun Ki asked if the reduction in the quota could be reconsidered,
Roh shot back with, "Do you honestly have that little faith in Korean
movies gaining 40%-50% of the market without the quota? He went on to
say, "The movie industry people seem to be a little biased on the
problem of reducting Korean movie quotas, saying this move symbolises
surrendering to pressure from the USA. Please be assured that we are a
sovereign country and the decisions we make will not have any
ill-effects on the country."
Lee Jun Ki replied, "It’s not that
we lack faith. However, the quotas are one of the ways in which our
country’s culture is protected, how can they be reduced just like that?
The Korean market for movies is so much smaller than the market for
American movies. Although we Korean movie industry people are working
hard at producing stellar movies, we are worried that if the quotas are
reduced, then our movies may not even get the chance to be screened to
audiences. Roh said in reply, "Your campaign against the reduction of
quotas seems to harbour feelings of resentment at having to bow to
pressure from the US. But as long as we have faith, I believe there is
no problem. Recently I was in Egypt, and whether in Egypt or Mexico,
Korean dramas are very popular. Culture’s multi-faceted personality is
shaped through interaction with many other cultures. THe government
actually has many solutions to combat the problems arising from the
quota reduction, but you movie industry people refuse to communicate
with the government, then how should we help?
To President Roh’s long reply, Lee Jun Ki simply replied, "As an actor I will do my best to produce many more good movies."
———————————————————————-
quotes from various people about JunKi: [page 38]
Lee Soo Young:
"He’s so attractive it’s scary, his jawline is a work of art!"
"What
strikes me most is the gaze in his eyes, when watching his films it
feels like his eyes capture you. My instincts tell me he’ll be a top
star!"
惜贤 (Grace MV actress): anyone know her korean name?
"Although
I am younger than Jun Ki-senior by four years, we are from the same
management company and we generally interact like a family in the
company. When brother Jun Ki was shooting King and the Clown, even his
everyday expression looked different. Afterwards, I watched King and
the Clown three times, brother Jun Ki’s acting in it was on par to many
other established actors, this is admirable.
"Although he looks
very pretty, his personality is in actual fact very manly, and he seems
to like it that way. He’s not afraid to love or hate, is very
straightforward and is likable among his friends."
Lee Da Hae (My Girl):
"If I were Ju Yoo Rin in My Girl, I would have been attracted to Lee Jun Ki."
Park Si Yeon (My Girl):
"Lee
Jun Ki is a very dominant guy! The real life Lee Jun Ki does not have a
girly side to him at all, and instead you can clearly see the dominant,
manly side of him very well!"
Kang Seong Yeon (concubine in K&C):
"At
the start I thought I was the lone ‘rose’ in the movie, but later I
realised I was wrong. Whether it was the production crew or audience,
few were my fans and I had no choice but to concede defeat to Lee Jun
Ki’s looks! His charisma lies in that he never lets up on his
concentration or his alluring, deep gaze!"
"The entire crew
liked Lee Jun Ki very much, but this caused a lot of problems for him.
At that time I was concurrently filming a drama serial, so the moment I
left the set there were no more women. The female-deprived crew thus
lavished their attention on Jun Ki, if they were drinking alcohol Jun
Ki was even worse off."
Andre Kim:
"I have worked with
many movie stars in the past years, but his performance is detailed, he
has a typical western face shape and eyes right out of a Japanese
manga[comic]. It can be said that he is Korea’s prettiest, most exotic
young man."
and from Jun Ki himself…a random quote. [Page 13]
"I
detest people who chide or scold me, but if this person is someone who
deserves my respect, then that’s fine. However, not everyone who is old
deserves respect, they should have some aspect or quality worth
admiring. Only then will I recognize them and their words for me. If
that’s not the case and they’re simply taking advantage of their age to
scold others, then I will not be polite to them either.
———————————————————————-
last bit of nonsense and i’m DONE!
From badboy to a modern idol[Page 60] biography-essay
On
the third-last day of 2005, a prettier-than-women man caused a lot of
gasps - Lee Jun Ki is an unexplainable, unhypothesizable,
uninterpretable, unsolvable mystery. We tried to get closer and were
astonished and stupefied, and we knew that the King’s Man had ambition
and he believed 2006 to be his year.
On the 17th of April, 1982,
a warm, calm day in South Korea’s beautiful city of Busan, in a typical
family, a healthy baby boy was born - destined by the heavens to be a
superstar, the pride of his family, his existence giving many
happiness, he is Lee Jun Ki.
Lee Jun Ki’s father is a mechanic
and his mother, a nurse. His name was given to him by his dad, who
followed family tradition. First given was Ki (基) and then in front of
it came a word that means accurate, Jun or 准. [Translator's note:
The next part I took out talks about how China fans pronounce his name
as 李 俊基 instead of 李准基. Note the second word in both names, it's
different and that makes its pronunciation different too. China fans
pronounce his name the first way as a pun, because the word 俊 means
handsome. It's a compliment to Jun Ki.
In his hometown, a
young Lee Jun Ki grew up like a normal kid, and when studying in junior
high, was full of youthful self-confidence, a little naughty, wanting
to grow up quickly (perhaps Lee Jun Ki then did not expect to be a
famous celebrity), and joined his friends to play soccer, and run on
the school's track, though he hated classes and the loads of homework.
And so time passed by...
After graduating from junior high, Lee
Jun Ki moved on to high school, and by then the teenager had begun to
slowly advance into the adult world. In school, he was a member of the
school's broadcasting station and dance troupe, and at this point in
time he found his dream - to be an actor. At that time, a teacher
thought Lee Jun Ki had actin talent and asked him to act in a play.
After that, he began to seriously consider his existence. He wanted
more experiences, wanted to learn more, see more, and know more - these
are Lee Jun Ki's mottos that have always been burning in his heart. He
knew he had to go to a larger world to expand his horizons, and
although his father refused, calling acting 'sport', saying 'one cannot
survive in the acting profession', Lee Jun Ki stubbornly insisted on
following his dream. The two thus fought, and in one such situation Lee
Jun Ki accidentally broke his father's nose and left home.
After
graduating from high school, Lee Jun Ki determinedly took the 30,000
won (2400 RMB) he earned from working in his aunt's restaurant and came
to Seoul, studying and trying to survive at the same time by working.
Due to the fact that his father did not give him a single cent, Lee Jun
Ki had no choice but to work. He once stayed in a pavilion (shelter),
worked as a waiter in a bar, a carwasher, pool hall cashier, errandboy
in a restaurant's kitchen, and a gas station employee. During that
period he worked 10-hour days, desperately earning as much as he could.
Before he found a job, he ate kimchi at every meal, and when he once
ran out of rice, ate only kimchi for a number of days, because his
money went to his school fees, and so he had to be as thrifty as
possible, even to the point of starvation. At his lowest, Lee Jun Ki
would roam the parks, picking up other people's leftover cigarette butt
ends to smoke. He had no choice, since he couldn't even afford a full
meal, let alone cigarettes...
In this period of more than a
year, Lee Jun Ki has not dared to call home. But although his road has
been cocky, he has had one supporter to encourage him - his kind
grandmother. As a Christian, she prayed for him and occasionally sent
him some money. Though it was not a lot, it allowed Lee Jun Ki to feel
loved. In telephone conversations with her, he would vow, "I will
definitely succeed, I don't want to disappoint you!" After a number of
hard, difficult years, Lee Jun Ki finally made it into Seoul Arts
University's acting faculty in 2002. A fellow classmate of Lee Jun Ki,
JEWELRY's Jo Min-Ah recalls, "In school last time, I saw him often, he
would be playing or practicing with his close friends. He was very
handsome, a lot of girls liked him, but he wasn't the type of guy that
purposely diverted attention to himself. He is very quiet, and thus I
didn't believe he would become a superstar, but I can imagine the kind
of hard work he put in."
In order to find his entree into the
acting world, Lee Jun Ki tirelessly went for many auditions, attending
more than 200 of them. Many directors and people he knew said his
features were very distinct and unforgettable, very suitable to play
villains. But Lee Jun Ki said instead, "I need to take on more
different or varies roles, constantly challenging myself, I will not
let go of any chance. And he has always been waiting for opportunities.
In 2003, he debuted in the Japan-Korea collaboration Hotel Venus.
The character he played, "BOY", was very suitable for him and "BOY"'s
image fascinated many, who found it hard to believe he had never been
in a movie before. However, a storm broke then, while in the midst of
shooting he found out his grandmother had passed away. While grieving
he vowed inwardly that he would work hard and become a good actor,
dedicating his first award to his grandmother. After shooting a number
of comedies, commercials and magazines, Lee Jun Ki steadily increased
his popularity. In 2004's Flying Boys, the character he played also helped him to understand more about making movies.
People
who have worked with Lee Jun Ki have said he is an ambitious man,
waiting for his opportunity. His life-changing experience finally came
in the form of King and the Clown. Althought Lee Jun Ki said he
didn't have enough faith in himself, he still wanted to act as Gong
gil. A wealth of acting experience and his background in taekwondo
enabled Lee Jun Ki to beat almost 1000 people for the role of Gong gil.
He was extremely happy! Perhaps we would have imagined him calling his
relatives or friends, and go celebrate at a bar, but he didn't. From
that day onwards, Lee Jun Ki prepared for two months to play Gong gil.
While filming, he didn't meet his friends, he simply lived like Gong
gil, behaved like Gong gil, saying little. King and the Clown's crew recalled, "He was Gong gil, so we couldn't enter his room."
On the 29th of December, 2005, King and the Clown
finally appeared in theatres, and no one could have predicted its
success, due to its lack of uniqueness. But that day, close to 3000
people entered the theatres to watch it, surprising everyone. And after
watching the movie, just about everyone were captivated by Lee Jun Ki,
encouraging others to watch the film. In the end, this film made
history - watched by over 10 million, becoming the most-watched local
film in Korea's history. Therefore, we believe that Lee Jun Ki will
work more miracles in the future. This is only the beginning...
--
Random quotes from Lee Jun Ki: [Page 93]
I’m begging you, don’t leave me, I’m sincere, you can freely cry in front of me, but why must you look so beautiful to me? I think this is from My Girl.
When in true love, the line between fan and celebrity no longer matters.
No matter how immense the rewards I will not model professionally, an actor should use movies or dramas to showcase himself.
I’m worried that with the reduction in Korea movie quotas, I won’t even have a chance to act for audiences.
As an actor I want to make outstanding films.
Perhaps
due to my being an actor, I’ve softened a great deal, becoming more
mellow. If my personality’s too dominant, and I have too many ideas,
acting becomes tedious.
There was once a fan who used 38 pages
of A4 paper to write an essay about me, and mailed it to me via post.
She analysed me in detail, including my relationship with other
artistes.
The process of becoming famous has encouraged and taught me a lot. I am grateful for it and it has left an indelible mark on me.
[Page 104]
I have never been picky, I like to eat any type of food.
I love soccer the most of all.
Nomally I wear casual clothes, I have no special sense of style.
I
don’t really like playing computer games, but I prefer shooting more.
When resting, my favourite game is using a gun to shoot metal boards.
My record isn’t too bad. See images forum for more info.
I really enjoy singing and dancing. But it’s hard to find time to play now.
I’m
not too happy with my legs. My calves are thick and so they look
shorter. Probably because when I was younger I liked to play a lot of
sports. So my calf muscles are very defined and thick. Even if I went
for surgery to remove them my legs still wouldn’t look any better.
I
like to be straightforward, to say whatever’s on my mind and I can
sound pretty critical. I’m also very stubborn, when I get angry I can
become very explosive.
I don’t want to be an actor who’s called "Korea’s representative".
With respect to relationships, I believe in fate, so I don’t really have a unique type I go for.
Nowadays I rarely smoke, the most is a pack a day. The brand is Dunhill.
I
like drinking soju, but I haven’t gotten drunk before. Although I don’t
drink frequently, when I start I will not stop halfway, I’m a champion
that way. A few times I almost got drunk, but after I focused myself I
sobered, by going to the toilet to his my face repeatedly.
Not the face!
–
Interview with Jun Ki:I believe in love at first sight.[Page 105]
What’s your secret to maintaining your skin?
I’m born like that, I don’t specially take care of it.
Your type of girl is?
Pretty
girls that are kind in nature. My ‘type’ is always changing, most
important is the feeling I get from the first meeting. I also like
happy, outgoing girls, because I’m quiet, so a lively girl’s good. I
don’t mind if the girl’s older than me, last time I went out with a
girl four years older than me. As long as there’s love, age isn’t a
problem. A big sister can fill up the parts I don’t have enough of, and
sometimes I can depend on her.
How many relationships have you had?
At this point, [I've gone out with] 3 girls. All of them were pretty different.
When was your first love?
If
considering a serious love relationship as one’s first love, then it
would be the relationship I had in university. Our meeting seemed
predestined by fate, and during the relationship we were as close as
husband and wife, meeting everyday.
First kiss?
It was in my second year of junior high, with a third year female senior. We were both a little drunk and so kissed.
What do you do after the relationship ends?
Drink or cry uncontrollably.
It’s said you wanted to be a chef?
When
I worked in a restaurant as an errand boy I thought chefs were cool,
the way they held knives and cut vegetables and fruits was so cool! So
I had dreams of becoming a chef, and I wanted to get a license to cook.
Usually what do you wear?
Casual clothes. I don’t have much interest in current trends.
Enjoy shopping?
I hate shopping the most of all.
What do you do when on break?
Sleep an entire day or exercise.
Do you smoke?
I haven’t smoked much recently.
Do you think you’re mature?
No, still not mature at all.
Credits for all articles:belchan@LJK.net… thanks
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