‘Tell me you love me’ Jung Woo-sung “Precious Gift” [interview]

[Sports Today Reporter Si-ryeong Lim] Jung Woo-sung, who became the first actor to reach 10 million viewers with ‘Spring in Seoul,’, presented the melodrama he had kept for 13 years. A Jung Woo-sung-pyo melodrama that leaves a calm but warm impression. It became a precious gift for both the viewers and him.

Genie TV Original ‘Tell Me I Love You’ (written by Kim Min-jeong, directed by Kim Yun-jin) is a classic melodrama about the silent love between Cha Jin-woo (Jung Woo-sung), a painter who speaks with his hands, and actress Jeong Mo-eun (Shin Hyun-bin), who listens with her heart. It is based on the Japanese TV drama ‘Tell Me I Love You’ (written by Eriko Kitakawa, produced by TBS Television).

This work, for which Jung Woo-sung purchased and owned the copyright 13 years ago, attracted attention as his return to romance after 11 years.

This is a drama that holds special meaning to Jung Woo-sung. He said, “I happened to watch the original drama, and at the end of episode 2, the male protagonist’s voice came out as a narration. It was a voice that woke me up. I was shocked, thinking that that person also had an inner voice. “It left an impression on me, so I thought I had to do this drama,” he said.

However, it took 13 years for ‘Tell me I love you’ to be born. Jung Woo-sung said, “I was planning to start 13 years ago, but ‘is it okay if the hearing-impaired male protagonist doesn’t do voice acting until the end?’ He said, ‘Shouldn’t his voice be heard around the third part?’ “I thought it was a difficult environment to produce a drama like this, so I quit,” he began to reveal the secret behind the production.

He continued, “Then another writer who liked this work worked on it, and the script that had been floating around came into my hands. I thought I should try to be brave again. “At that time, I contacted the copyright again and purchased it,” he said. “I wondered if it was right for me to play Cha Jin-woo, but the original writer said, “I’m giving it to you because it’s Jung Woo-sung.” “I couldn’t get that story out of my head, so I thought I should do it quickly before I get older,”he said.

Jung Woo-sung played the role of Cha Jin-woo, a painter with acquired hearing impairment. In addition to natural sign language acting, he also delicately portrayed the scene of meeting and falling in love with Jeong Mo-eun.

In particular, by matching the ages of Cha Jin-woo in the original and Jung Woo-sung in real life to be similar, a drama with a different feel from the original was created under the sentiment of a classic melodrama. Jung Woo-sung said, “The original work is a love story of a man in his 30s. However, as the age setting changed to the mid-40s, I thought that everything, including concerns about relationships and the way to return emotions when accepted, should change. It seems that many of Cha Jin-woo’s personal concerns, which are similar to my physical age, are expressed. “Actually, the genre is a melodrama, but I think I wanted to portray a relationship as a human being rather than love for the opposite sex,” he said.

At the same time, Jung Woo-sung is constantly thinking about the meaning of love and the relationship between humans through ‘Tell me I love you’. He said, “I thought a lot about the value and meaning of love. Usually, young love is, “Why don’t you know how I feel?” Of course you have no choice but to not know. I love you because of my heart. It seemed like love was a longing for recognition. However, in this work, I tried to control and suppress those emotional feelings. Although it cannot be said to be maturity in love, it is a relationship between humans that goes beyond reason. He calmly said, “I had such concerns.”

In addition to sign language, Jung Woo-sung perfected his facial expressions and eyes to look like Cha Jin-woo. He said, “Acting in sign language was the biggest challenge. It was a language that the male protagonist had been using since he was 7 years old, so he had to be fluent in it. First of all, the word order is a bit different. “It was easy to access at first because there were a lot of intuitive expressions, but as the hand gestures and directions changed slightly, the meaning changed and it became difficult,” he confessed. Although he actively uses facial expressions, he restrains his expressions for Cha Jin-woo, who has a cautious personality. He said, “I don’t express much, so I didn’t think there was a need to actively reveal it.”However, he explained, “I left room for facial expressions in class scenes with students because they communicated emotions.”

‘Tell me you love me’ received favorable reviews for its sad adult melodrama starring Jung Woo-sung and Shin Hyun-bin. The two people understanding each other’s wounds, caring for each other, and communicating showed ‘calm but deep love’.

Regarding co-star Shin Hyun-bin, Jung Woo-sung said, “I hoped that Cha Jin-woo and I would not be physically older in the drama. We had to find actors within a limited age range, which made casting difficult. She happened to deliver it to actor Shin Hyun-bin, and she understood the theme of the script so clearly. “She was such a welcome and grateful partner,” he praised.

He continued, “I wondered what I would have done with this drama if it weren’t for Shin Hyun-bin. She is a very grateful actress. “From the beginning, she said it was about communication, and it was so nice and nice to meet her,” she said. “She was a person who accepted the time of conversation very calmly.” Although it is a job that expresses emotions, Shin Hyun-bin and her work felt stable, calm, and organized. “It felt like a healing time,” she added.

Jung Woo-sung starred in the 2011 drama ‘Padam Padam’ Even though it has been 13 years since the last romantic drama was shown, it was still expressed with Jung Woo-sung’s unique excitement. He said, “I acted like I was on the last train. “That’s why I tried to capture Cha Jin-woo’s emotional hesitation and distance from trying to take time,” he said, laughing, adding, “I don’t think you should get caught up in it just because there is demand (from female fans in their 50s).”

Jung Woo-sung, who recently became the first actor in his filmography to reach 10 million with his film ‘Spring in Seoul’ He was so passionate about communicating with the audience that he participated in stage greetings 232 times. During his stage greeting, Jung Woo-sung confessed an embarrassing moment, saying, “Young friends asked me to get married with a placard.”He continued, “So many of my friends are asking me to get married, to the point where I wonder if it’s a game or a play.”I saw, “My mom was born in 1973, let’s get married,” and “My mom was born in 1973, and I’m ready to get married.” I want to tell you to come to your senses. “I wondered if the concept of the word marriage had changed from now on,” he said.

At the same time, Jung Woo-sung said, “A meeting with the audience can only be created under certain circumstances.” “For ‘Spring in Seoul,’ the conditions were met, so I was able to naturally do more stage greetings,” he said. “I think the purpose of movies is to meet more audiences in theaters.” “Movies exist because they fill theaters, so (stage greetings) are a natural thing for me,” he said.

Even though ‘Tell Me I Love You’ did not achieve dramatic viewership success, I am thankful because it has great meaning in its own way. Jung Woo-sung said, “Due to its nature, it was a drama that could not be watched quickly, and it was also a very unique drama. It was a great gift to me to have viewers who thoroughly enjoyed my characteristics and steadily supported me. “It was a drama I wanted to own,” he said with a laugh.

Last year’s movie ‘Woongnam’ ‘Sweet Sea:7510’ ‘Cobweb’ Special appearance, ‘Guardian’ ‘Spring in Seoul’ Jung Woo-sung’s plan for this year, which audiences have met through numerous works including starring roles, is to “rest”. Jung Woo-sung said, “For now, I will rest without thinking about anything. He tried to hastily put together his next work, but admitted to himself that it was overload. “I stopped working out for a while, but I’m going to do it again, and I’m thinking of working on the project I’m talking about at my leisure,” he said calmly.

[Sports Today Reporter Im Si-ryeong ent@stoo.com]