Director Ku Hye Sun: “If I came to BIFF as an actress, I would feel awkward.
She is an actress, artist, composer and author. She is also a movie director and a producer. She is a director at the 16th BIFF.
On the red carpet among all the actresses who wore dresses that showed so much skin, Ku Hye Sun came wearing simple and neat one-piece dress. When she introduced herself as Director Ku Hye Sun, it was a unique feeling.
I met her at an enclosed corner of a cafe for a chat. She is pretty yet ?dangchan?(maybe down to earth?), an actress yet also a director, cheerful and yet profound~she is multi-talented yet so very friendly. She is 27 years old.
You must have been very upset about the first screening accident.
▶ It is not just me. All the people who came to watch the movie. It was upsetting because we had no idea what was wrong. The audience did not feel relieved about just getting the refund. They wanted to see the movie and refused to leave the theatre. I felt like crying. I know that such screening accidents do occur but I never thought it would happen to me. Even if the accident may not be my fault, I do have responsibility for that project work. And that is where I felt bad. I know that things can happen to me. But if those events also harm other people and I have no way of explaining, I felt even more confused. Anyway, what I may say could be different from what the audience may say…I experienced what panic means.
I am thinking about your dress on the red carpet. Although it is not a perfect dress, it suited well. Did you take time to select it?
▶ We tried the best to fit in. Stylist unnie took much time and consideration. People were bored with pants suit. Someone told me that T-shirts and jeans would be ideal to any movie festivals. I really wanted to try it but I realized that people would think me too rude. Dress may look pretty but it feels too distant as if I am going to a separate and exclusive party or something. I hope one day I can come with T-shirt and jeans and really enjoy the whole thing.
Do you conciously avoid getting dressed up?
▶ I have worn a dress to an award ceremony. I feel the pressure and burden to be sexy as an actress. I would experience the extreme difficulty of the pressure to look pretty on TV. Then one day, I thought to myself, why am I obsessed with appearance? I realized that obsession and good management of oneself are two different things.
It is good to take care of oneself to further develp. However, it is not good to be obsessed about it. It is similar to having a boyfriend who says he likes long hair and skirts and I would continue to grow my hair and wear skirts. While doing that I would feel as if I am disappearing.
What is it like to come to BIFF as a director? This time you came here also as the producer/owner of your company Ku Hye Sun FILM.
▶ Everybody thinks that the agency still supports me. But that is no longer true. While carrying on YOSOOL, most likely the agency was having a hard time. The fact is that reality is cold. Just because you are a celebrity, investment does not come easily. However, I have the people. Except for the production money, I had everything. And it was possible with just that. Even if you have the money, you cannot make a movie without the people. That is a fact. These are the people who worked with me on the first short film, Cheerful Caretaker. There are more than 50 people. They waited until everything is ready and worked with me together. Those people are raising me. Even when there was no investment and no cast actors, the staff was there and ready. In that situation, when I told them that Jo SeungWoo-ssi was cast, they were all saying nonchallantly, euheng? Jo SeungWoo? (laughter)
How do you feel about doing the producing work? You have to deal with the money.
▶ Ahh, I don’t think that I can do it. Since I am a person who make things, I am not specific about exchanges and uses of money. I absolutely cannot do it. I will not be able to do it in the future either. Everything cost money~in summer, airconditioner costs money and in winter, heater cost money. Money is always needed. People may say, since I am celebrity and I have the money, I can make the movie. However, I am the head of my family–i have a retired father and family to support. I have to make the living like everybody else. There is no way one can do the work one loves without putting the reality into the equation. If I invest, my own financial life becomes very difficult. It really feels hard. This movie has do well. Only then, I will have the chance to do more next time. Acting is good too. If this was a regular movie, I would have pulled through with the production cost with just a guarantee.
It must have been hard to deal with much prejudices about the fact that you do so many things….even though you had been working on your projects for a long time.
▶ Whenever one of my work gets exposed, people tend to think that I just started doing it. In fact, I started working on the movie long time ago. I drew pictures from very long ago. I started composing from long ago as well. But people do not know that. They assume that I just recently started doing it. Even though I prepared and trained long time to become a singer before making the debut as an actress, people think that I made the sudden debut as an actress due to the ulzzang status. I hear all the time about my being part of the original first generation ulzzangs. I cannot do anything but to just leave it alone. When I become middle aged and old, maybe things can become different then. Or not. I just need to do my best. Just because I try to change things does not mean that it will be so.
It seems like something philosophical..
▶ If necessary, I have washed my hair with regular soap bar at the ourdoor faucet (it is only cold water). If I start to think that I need this and warm water to wash my hair or that I need to have everything to live, I would become tragic. I feel gratitude for having things that make life easier. In the past, I used to think that it is fundamental and natural to have everything. But I realized that is not true. Instead I realized that those are things to be grateful for. After that realization, I became comfortable. Even if I don’t have it, I am grateful. Such a realization also made me understand that it is a way to love myself.
▶ I was invited to overseas festival for YOSOOL. But BUSAN is the first time. It is the biggest movie festival in Korea and it is also an international festival. So it definitely feels heavier. I am honered. Since this movie has not yet opened, I am very tense. I have not yet relieved that tension.
You have never come to BIFF as an actress.
▶ After having made movies, I think I would feel awkward if I return to BIFF as an actress. All the movie-related people are connected and would refer to me as Dir Ku. And I would be going around in comfortable jeans. But if I were to appear in a movie and all our staff will be there…..
▶ I will be completely ignored. Our staff all look away from me if someone yells out that I am pretty. They just ignore me. Yesterday we were drinking and somebody wanted my pix. But our staff just wonders why people would want my pix. People may think it would be different to work with a celebrity. However, after two days of working with me, your will have completely different opinion.
How is that possible when the director is so flowery-pretty?
▶ Flower is absolute NO. I carry around a hammer and a square bar while working. ?sooshiro? I wear clothes that I oftern wear. One fan posted that, “If you see a person in Busan wearing a stretched out hoodie over her head with pair of knee-torn skinny jeans, then just try to grab her.” My work bag is a bag that my sister bought for me when I went to college. I still use it.
This is already your second feature film.
▶ But many times, people still call it my debut movie.
I was surprised to hear about Peach Tree. I thought you were writing a story about vampires.
▶ I sort of postponed that story. Then I suddenly had thoughts about stories. I thought about a person with two heads and appear like two people but in reality they are same person. In the past, I liked cruel/hard stories. Even my color preferences are the same. But as I get older and I have grown older, it became harder for me to watch such films as well as to make one. There are so many murder stories which are popular. Even though I only made two shorts and two long ones, I still asked myself what is my true color. I pondered over what do I really like. In reality, I tend to watch warm hearted movies. I wanted such a warm movie with a fantasy style that I like and with something that does not cost that much to make. Our staff and actors hardly get paid and still worked hard. I receive so much help. One reporter wrote that, “I am blessed with good people around me. Where did you meet such a staff.” I am truly grateful for them and I have not even properly expressed that at this time.
Your Peach Tree about Siamese twins seem like a grotesque fantasy tale.
▶ I get attached to pictures. Even if the reality on the outside may not be, I still feel that way inside the house. With YOSOOL, I wanted to make a movie that is difficult to explain. I wanted a movie that nobody can answer. However, now, I wanted to have answers.
How did you get the casting for the Peach Tree? They are quite a cast!
▶ It is the same. I sent the script to the agency of Jo Seung Woo and Ryu DukHwan. I would not dare give the scripts directly to them. I felt that it is too much to give the scripts directly to actors just because I may have close relationship with them. Both actors read the script and agreed to participate. There was another script that I wrote with Nam SangMi in mind and I gave that to her. But I was not able to talk with her about it comfortably. If we do the film together it would have been our project but until that time, it is just my script and my work. I was clear and formal in my delivery of the script.
Source: Star News, Nate
Translation: cheerkoo@soompi.com
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