Although Lee Min Ho is busy preparing for his new film "Gangnam Blues," whenever he's interviewed these days he's asked about his last performance in hit drama "The Heirs."
In a recent interview in @Star1 magazine, the interviewer wanted to know how he felt about delivering the lines he had to say as the drama's chaebol Kim Tan. A few of the lines have been made fun of for being a little corny.
For example, in a scene with his co-star Park Shin Hye, the actor had to say, "Do I like you?" He delivered the line in a cool way that expressed both the haughtiness and vulnerability of his character. But thereafter it was much parodied.
Was it a hard line for the star to deliver?
Yes and no. Lee Min Ho actually didn't have a problem with the line at first. He thought it was original
"When I first received the script, I felt it was really fresh," he said. "I thought, oh wow, I can confess my feelings in this way. I can create this effect and convey my emotions."
However, other people did not hear the line the same way.
"When the staff first saw that line, they thought it was a typo because of the way it was written," he said.
The line generated some laughs but it was not changed. Despite the on-set reaction, the actor managed to deliver the line in a cool way that won many viewers' hearts.
The magazine also asked him about the kiss scenes he had with Park Shin Hye, who played his girlfriend Cha Eun Sang. Was he shy about kissing her?
No. Lee Min Ho has had some experience kissing his co-stars. He kissed Gu Hye Sun in "Boys Over Flowers," Park Min Young in "City Hunter," Son Ye Jin in "Personal Taste" and Kim Hee Sun in "Faith." He also chose to focus on the kisses and affectionate scenes as part of his role. Kim Tan is a character that at the beginning of the drama has done a good job of stifling his feelings. His feelings for Cha Eun Sang change him.
"Rather than feeling shy, I felt determined to have the affectionate scenes and the kiss scene feel natural and show whom Kim Tan really was," he said.
But as much as fans like to imagine a real romance between Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye, the scene was hardly romantic to film.
"When I filmed the wine cellar kiss scene, there was staff crammed into that tiny space. I remember them peeking out and looking at us from behind the shelves, above us and from behind the door."
He will play a completely different kind of character in "Gangnam Blues," which has been described as a gangster noir film. He was asked which of his previous roles was the best fit.
"There are characters that you can only play at a certain age," he said of his decision to play Kim Tan. "I'm at a place in my life where I look for new roles, instead of trying to find roles that I feel fit me best. I want to try roles that aren't fixed in a certain genre."
