[Individual Interview] Lee Ji Hoon, the actor who starred in the movie ”Under YOO A Bed”, ”I want to appear in a Japanese TV series while eating beef cutlet in Japan (laughs)”

We interviewed Lee Ji Hoon, who plays the lead role in the movie "Under YOO A Bed," which will be released nationwide on Friday, May 31st. The original work is by Lee Ji Hoon, who has written many Hot Topic works such as "The Woman Who Keeps a Murderer" and "The Grudge."
Kei Oishi's debut work for the Kadokawa Horror Bunko series, Under Yoo A Bed (2001), was released in 2019 starring Kengo Kora, and became a hot topic among movie fans.
The film is directed by SABU, who is highly acclaimed in Japan for his work on films such as "The Crab Cannery Ship" (2009), "Rabbit Drop" (2011), and "I'll Show You Where I Break It" (2020).
In the interview, he answered questions about the film, such as how he ended up starring in it and episodes from filming, as well as his impressions of Japan and what he would like to do with Japanese fans.
Lee Ji Hoon made her debut in the TV series "School 2013" (KBS2) in 2013. Since then, she has appeared in "Six Flying Dragons" (2015-2016 SBS), "Witch's Mirror: Heojun, Young
She has been gaining attention for her solid acting skills in various TV series such as "Love in the Past" (2016 JTBC), and in 2019, she appeared as a beautiful and mature actress in the TV series "Rookie Historian Goo Hyeri-yeon" (MBC).
He played the role of a military officer named Min Woo Won and won the Best Supporting Actor award at the MBC Drama Awards Wed-Thu TV Series category. In addition, in his first feature film, "Unbroken Relationship," released in July 2023, he will play the singer
He perfectly played the role of Seung-jin, who is auditioning for the top spot in the movie. He is known for his refreshing and gentle smile, but in this film he plays the role of a lonely stalker with a strong obsession.
When asked why he decided to appear in the film, he said, "Rather than receiving an offer to appear, I had the opportunity to read the script, and since it had a special plot, I looked for the original and watched the film adaptation.
I watched it. When I heard that the special scenario was going to be directed by my favorite director, SABU, I felt like I wanted to go to the set and act, and I also felt like I wanted to learn.
So I told him without any hesitation that I wanted to appear in the film." His debut film also had the character name Ji-hoon, and his character's name in this film is also Ji-hoon. Regarding this, he said, "The character's name was a coincidence.
"We have the same name, so when I met with Director SABU, he told me it was fate," he said. The screenwriter said that Ji Hoon is the most typical and common name in Korea.
As you can see from the movie poster, the main character Ji Hoon hiding under the bed is strange and scary. There is no trace of Lee Ji Hoon's charm of freshness.
Regarding his role, director SABU requested that he make the character as uncool as possible.
I prepared for the role while thinking about how I had lived my life. However, when I went to the set, the director seemed to sense that I was over-preparing, and told me, "Just don't do anything, just express what you feel.
"I want to focus on the story," he said, creating an environment where I could concentrate, and thanks to that I was able to immerse myself in the character of Ji Hoon and act. It's difficult to differentiate from the original work.
It was a difficult situation, but I tried my best to act in a way that would not interfere with the original story. I trusted Director SABU and acted."
This was the director's first foray into Korean filmmaking, and when asked about his impressions of working with him, he said, "My father
"When we were on set, he was very strict and professional, but when the cameras weren't rolling and we were just having coffee together,
He was a very warm-hearted man, like a father or an uncle. I was also able to learn a lot about his unique worldview and the cultural differences between Japan and Korea.
Also, he often smiles. Whenever I was worried or troubled and wanted to talk to him about it, he would always smile, pat me on the shoulder, and say, "You're doing well," which was great."
During the interview, he showed us a photo of the two of them together on his smartphone, saying that he had taken photos with the father-like director on set.
"When you watch the movie, the atmosphere is dark and the characters are harsh, but on the set, everyone was having fun.
Rather than that, Shin Soo-han, Lee Yoon-woo, and the director were all cheerful people, so everyone was smiling whether we were monitoring or rehearsing.
We had fun putting special makeup on our faces. The filming took place in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, during the winter when it snowed a lot.
We sometimes went out to eat, and it was a lot of fun." He said he also discovered a new side of himself while filming the movie. "What I discovered while filming this movie was that the filming environment was
I had a lot of fun filming on set, but when I got home after filming, I started thinking about the character Ji Hoon and my emotions became very dark and I felt depressed.
"It was the first time I'd ever felt that way," he said, revealing how immersed he was in the role. The film has many violent and brutal scenes, and it seems the filming was very difficult.
"There was a scene where Ye Eun went missing and we went to look for her, but the ground was frozen and slippery in places. I had to run at full speed for about 100 meters, and I was so emotional," he said.
Personally, it was a scene where it would have been okay if I had fallen, but I thought that if I had fallen I would have been seriously injured, so I tried to concentrate on running without falling, and that was really difficult.
Then, in the final fighting scene, it was difficult to coordinate my timing with the other person because we were shooting in a small space.
We rehearsed it many times, but it was a very difficult scene." When asked about the difficulty of acting, he said, "Rather than saying the lines, I had to convey my inner thoughts with my eyes.
It was difficult to not be like that. This is something I learned again from this movie. This is something I always think about when acting, not just in this film, but in my experience in this movie,
Therefore, I felt even more the difficulty of eye acting, and once again realized how difficult it is to express emotions with your eyes rather than with words."
He not only talked about the difficulties he faced, but also some funny anecdotes.
"There was a funny episode where I was hiding under the bed during the bed scene. Shin Soo-ha
Ng was concentrating and trying his best to act, so the support of the bed broke. It was so violent that a broken piece of wood fell on my back, and I was a little bit hurt at the time.
I was surprised, but fortunately I finished the job without any injuries. Shin Soo-han has great muscles and is a very strong actor (laughs)."
When asked about his experience watching the completed film, which he had enjoyed filming, he said,
When I first saw it, I was embarrassed and couldn't watch it. I watched it properly at a preview screening, but there were some bed scenes and violent scenes, so I was a little worried about those parts.
My mother said that I should have been more bold in showing those parts (laughs). However, there were a lot of violent scenes, so she was a bit hesitant to watch them.
"I was worried about the fact that some people find it difficult to read the film," he said. When asked what he would like people who are going to see the film to pay attention to, he said, "First of all, I want people to be aware that the film is being made in Japan.
I feel very happy and grateful that the film is going to be released. I hope that when you watch it at the cinema, you will pay attention to the environment, situation and emotions of each character.
I think you will enjoy the film even more if you watch it while thinking about why each character was only able to do what they did.
I think it's a work that you can indulge in. I hope you'll watch it with your friends, and I hope that couples will think about what it means to be a proper lover.
"It's also a story about family, so it would be good to watch it with your family," he said, expressing his strong desire for viewers to feel and think about various things without looking away throughout the film.
As Lee Ji Hoon says, after watching this film, you are reminded that there are many different people and thoughts in the world.
When I asked Lee Ji Hoon about such a "memorable person," he told me about director Lee Min-on, who directed his debut film "School 2003."
“It was director Lee Min-won of the KBS TV series ‘School 2013’ who cast me for the first time when I was 26 years old. When I met the director, he looked into my eyes and
After that, he asked me to talk about my first love. That day, I was nervous because I had to audition, but the director introduced me to the audition in a very unusual way.
I talked about my first love for an hour and a half, from when I fell in love to when we started dating and how we broke up. And I thought that this was the opportunity that gave me the chance.
I was able to appear in a TV series because of that. So, the person who left the biggest impression on me was director Lee Min-won. In the drama, the main character Ji-hoon spends his college life without anyone remembering his name.
However, Ye Eun was the only one who called Ji Hoon by his name, and it was the happiest moment of Ji Hoon's life.
What is a memorable moment? "Receiving an award for my acting. I received the Best Supporting Actor award for the TV series 'Rookie Officer Goo Hye-ryung,' and it was a TV series that I was really immersed in filming.
I went to the shooting site, didn't eat, and just slept when I got home. When I finished shooting, I had lost weight. Before shooting, I weighed about 73 kg, but after that,
After the shoot, I weighed myself and it was about 63kg. I was in bad shape while I was filming, but when I received the award at the end of the year after filming, I was told that it was my favorite performance.
When I received the award, I was deeply moved and it was the happiest moment of my life." When I asked him about the small happiness he had felt recently, he said, "When I woke up in the morning and saw my pet dog on my shoulder.
I have two pets, and I wake up feeling happy knowing that someone is by my side. Also, I recently started playing golf, so that has become a small source of happiness for me, too."
I smiled. In the drama, Ji Hoon plays an obsessive stalker who expresses a twisted love, but I was curious about Lee Ji Hoon's everyday way of expressing affection, so I asked him about it.
"I think we express ourselves to our family, friends, and loved ones in words. The more we say things like 'I miss you,' 'I love you,' the more we express ourselves to our loved ones.
I am also a physical person, so I often hold hands and hug. So, sometimes I hug my close male friends, but they tell me to stop (laughs)."
For him, his emotional support is his "family." "My emotional support is my mom and dad. I think it's my family. When I'm going through a tough time, or when I can't tell anyone,
Whenever I feel like I need someone to rely on, I talk to my sister. Just being with my family warms my heart."
When I look at Lee Ji Hoon's calm expression, I can see that he is truly filled with love.
I understand. That's why Ji Hoon looks like a completely different person in the drama, and I'm amazed by his acting ability again. I'm curious about his next work. What kind of roles and genres would you like to try in the future?
"Originally, I wanted to play a psychopathic villain, but I started to feel more and more like I wanted to play a romance. Recently, my emotions have become softer.
I've started to find myself crying more and more when I watch romance movies. My sensitivity has heightened, so I thought it was time to do a romance movie.
I have a lot of ambition in acting, so I want to try all the roles I've never played before." Lee Ji Hoon is scheduled to visit Japan on the release date of the movie.
When asked what he would like to do, he replied, "I want to have dinner with my fans. If I had the time and the space, I would even like to have coffee with them, but I can't.
It's a shame. If I have a chance in the future, I'll try to make it happen, even if it's just for a trip." When asked about his impression of Japan, he said, "I've traveled to Japan six times, and Osaka and
The other day, I went to Shibuya and walked from Shibuya to Daikanyama. The streets were very beautiful and the food was delicious. I went there during the fireworks festival.
However, it is a very beautiful country and I want to visit Japan many times. Also, the beef cutlet was really delicious! I stayed in Japan for a week on a trip, and spent 6 nights and 7 days eating only beef cutlets.
I ate it. Seriously (laughs). I woke up in the morning and there is a famous beef cutlet restaurant in Shibuya, but I just had a simple lunch of bread, and then I went back to that beef cutlet restaurant to eat at night (laughs).
After I first tried gyu-katsu, I was hooked and realized that it was so delicious. I ate it again after I returned to Korea, but it didn't taste like the one I had in Japan.
"I also like yabu-shabu!" she said, leaning forward. Finally, I asked her what she would like to try when she comes to Japan. "I've been to Disney before, and it was really fun.
It was crowded and I could only ride one attraction. So I want to go to Disney and ride about five attractions (laughs). And I've never been to Tokyo Tower.
I've never been there before, so I'd like to go. I can't handle alcohol and can only drink about half a glass of beer, but I recently saw on social media that there is an izakaya in Roppongi with a beautiful view.
I want to drink beer there. I also want to appear in a Japanese TV series. I can speak a little bit of Japanese, but I need to study it seriously.
I would like to appear in a TV series. When I went to Japan some time ago, I was on the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka, and someone noticed me.
There was an interpreter there, and we were talking about various things, and I asked him, "If I were to act in Japan, would I be popular?" Then, he said that if he appeared on a Japanese TV series, his fans would be happy.
He said he would do it, so I'd like to do a romance TV series while eating beef cutlet someday (laughs)." Title: "Under YOO A Bed"
Release Date: Friday, May 31st Nationwide Release [STORY] A lonely boy whose name was not even remembered by anyone since his school days.
There was a woman that Ji Hoon (Lee Ji Hoon) could never forget. That woman was Ye Eun (Lee Yoon Woo), who called him by his name for the first time during a university lecture.
Ji-hoon, still unable to forget even after several years, tracks her down and they are reunited, but she no longer remembers him.
Ji-hoon is once again strongly attracted to her and begins watching over her 24 hours a day. However, he learns that she is being subjected to severe domestic violence by her husband Hyun-oh (Shin Soo-han).
Cast: Lee Ji Hoon, Lee Yoon Woo, Shin Soo Han Original: Kei Oishi's "Under YOO A Bed" (Kadokawa Horror Bunko/Published by KADOKAWA) Director and Screenwriter: SABU
Distributor: KADOKAWA Film Rating: R18+ Copyright: ©2023, Mystery Pictures, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
2023 / Korea / Korean / 99 min. / Color / Standard / 5.1ch / Original title: Under YOO A Bed / Subtitles: Hiromi Kitamura
Official HP: https://movies.kadokawa.co.jp/underyourbed/
Official teaser: