In the trailer for his new film, “The Alumni,” BigBang’s T.O.P. has managed to tone down his usual fierce stare to convey a hesitant mixture of sadness and fear.
To portray the conflicted young spy, he drew on his own feelings of insecurity. It’s a technique he has used before.
T.O.P., whose birth name is Choi Seung Hyun, has never taken acting lessons. Instead he tries to find something inside himself to draw on to create each new character. He drew on his own emotions to portray the cold-blooded killer Vick in the drama “Iris,” to play a heroic soldier in “71: Into The Fire,” and the runaway Seo Jung Hun in the film “Nineteen.”
“Everyone has different thoughts on acting, but I think that this is right for me considering my personality,” said Choi. “I prefer touching on the experiences I’ve had or the emotions I felt and reflecting them in my acting, rather than learning something in a standardized way.”
In the film T.O.P, plays Myung Hoon, a reluctant assassin. Myung, 19, always dreamt of becoming a concert pianist, but his fingers no longer stroke the keyboard of a piano. They are wrapped around the trigger of a gun.
Myung was forced to become an assassin after his father, a North Korean spy, failed at his mission. As punishment, Myung Hoon and his sick younger sister, Hye In, played by Kim You Jung, are sent to a labor camp. To save his sister’s life, Myung Hoon volunteers to become a spy in South Korea.
While undercover in South Korea, he befriends a young girl, played by Han Ye Ri. She is a victim of bullying. The two have a lot in common but politics will interfere with the development of their relationship. Once the South Korean government becomes aware of Myung Hoon’s existence, the North Korean government decides to abort the mission and kill him.
Myung will have some serious decisions to make.
As to T.O.P., he already decided that he wants to do more acting. When he was interviewed for his role in “71: Into The Fire,” he said, that although acting was still a new thing for him he felt compelled to keep learning more about it.
“I want to get better in areas where I am lacking,” he said. “A real thirst for acting is slowly growing in me.”
And the opportunities to grow keep presenting themselves.