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[Interview] ‘Moon Embraces the Sun’ Kyuhyun “grows with criticism, and feels blissful when there are good reviews”

It has been 4 years since making his musical debut. Super Junior’s Kyuhyun (26) is gradually showing the face of a musical actor.

It wasn’t easy in the beginning. Kyuhyun, like other idol singers, started on the musical path amidst judgements and criticisms. There were also comments like “Even though I know Super Junior, I don’t know who Kyuhyun is.”

“When I debuted with “The Three Musketeers”, 90% of the people were criticizing me, and the other 10% had just dismissed me. I’ve also heard people say, “Let’s see how far he can go.” I read many bad comments on the internet. Even though I was hurt, I worked hard with the aim of getting good reviews, because good reviews are the recognition of my acting.”

To Kyuhyun, who had been criticized growing up (as a musical actor), he was very happy with all the good reviews received for ‘Moon Embraces the Sun’. He said, “The more I act, the critical comments slowly turned into good ones. I recently saw many comments like “It is worth watching”.”

The musical ‘Moon Embraces the Sun’ is not only his first produced musical, but his character is also different from his past, more cheerful ones. And is instead one that is more serious. He said, “I’ve actually wanted to attempt a serious character for a long time, but found it very difficult when I really tried it out. If it wasn’t for my fellow actors, I wouldn’t have succeeded.”

“I recently went to watch (Eom) Kijoon hyung’s ‘Werther’, the role he played was really a very serious one, and even I, as an audience, felt depressed. I suddenly felt worried for my character ‘Hwon’. My personality is originally very bright and cheerful, how would I portray this king with a solemn character? I was very troubled over that. So I really worked extremely hard on practicing my acting. I even recited my lines in front of the mirror in the shower. And those lines I had to say to Moon (Yeonwoo) made my toes curl up... Even though my heart was jumpy, I still whipped (forced) myself to practice.”

In ‘Moon Embraces the Sun’, Hwon had to do some swordplay, even though you’d think after during ‘The Three Musketeers’ for 4 years, he’d be familiar with swordplay, he unexpectedly said that it isn’t the case. He said, “I’m really an idol who cannot dance or use his body.”

“My nickname is ‘Dancing Kyu’ because my body is very stiff. The Super Junior members probably gave me this nickname to tease me. When I acted in ‘The Three Musketeers’, because I really couldn't to use my body, I heard comments like, ‘The D’artagnan who doesn’t know swordplay’. Even though I tried very hard to get better at it, but I wasn’t that easy. I have to put in a lot of effort. Haha.”

Nowadays, idols acting in musicals is nothing new. The audience who would use to look at idols with a judgemental gaze have now started to applaud their hard work. At this, Kyuhyun emphasizes, “But idol singers cannot stop at just the applause.”

“When I first made my debut in musicals, there weren’t many idols acting in musicals. And at that time, many people looked at idols (in musicals) in a bad light, so I received a lot criticism. The reason why idol singers who take on the challenge of musicals nowadays are able to receive good comments, is because seniors like Ock Juhyun noona have paved the way. But we should do even better, so we have to work harder. I hope that the idol singers who take on the challenge of musicals do not neglect practice, and give all that they’ve got.”

Of course, you can’t leave out the topic of the MBC programme, ‘Golden Fishery- Radio Star’ when interviewing Kyuhyun. In the 2 years since joining ‘Radio Star’, Kyuhyun has been dubbed ‘Kim Gura junior’ by those who have guested on the show. And has appealed to viewers with this friendly/recognisable image. Now Kyuhyun also has a more significant presence within Super Junior.

“I am really thankful for so much love and enthusiasm. You ask if being poison-tongued is tough? At first I was worried if the guests may misunderstand, but I’m a bit more assured now. Also, I’m not someone who carries a gun right? Haha.”

When asked if he invited the other members of ‘Radio Star’ to see his performances, he said, “(Kim) Gukjin hyung likes to stay at home, (Yoon) Jongshin hyung is always busy, and (Kim) Gura hyung also has a lot of shows to do, so I couldn’t invite them.” I think that no matter how busy they are, they should be able to take some time off to attend.

Kyuhyun has thoughts on continuing as a musical actor in the future. He wants to present even more types of characters in front of the audiences, and wants to continue doing musicals for a long time. When he came to talking about reaching the age where he can no longer be an idol singer, he still wants to have a secure place as an actor.

“I want to be a musical actor who always brings memories to people’s minds. My dream is to be an actor where people have to ‘see to believe’. As for Super Junior activities? Like Leeteuk hyung says, to ‘eussha eussha’ work hard to produce albums. ”


translated by @kikiikyu
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