Fan Club Goodies

Translated article from Singapore's i-weekly 2006 by Shirley at leebyunghun.com & image from chosun.com

The Unbelievable Idol

how can it be ..this is too much of a surprise? did i hear correctly

10 fans were questioned and 10 of them had the same response
to fans ..Lee Byung Hun is 100% truthful (faithful --;; ) .and hence in return he secured their unwavering followship

He will personally write on the site : Hello ..everybody ! this is Lee Byung Hun " or just phone the chairperson of the fan club . Hi. This is Lee Byung hun, shocking his fans and their reactions are the same ..mind went blank ..blood flow stop ..motion freeze and followed by a series of screams of excitement.

Korean and Japanese stars have always been rather hard to get near with their managers in between forming a solid castle ..even a fly cannot get near. Fans who want to have direct contact with their idols is near impossible. To have such direct communication with his fans, Lee Byung Hun seems to be the unique one among Korean stars.

"In Korea normally.. the actors don't really interact so directly with their fans but ...seeing that they (Singapore fans) are so supportive, I cannot bear not to reply them personally but indeed.. this is not commonly done in Korea "

He said: as long as time and the situation permit he will find the time to meet his fans even regarding his popularity in Japan .. he also did not take it for granted.

I am extremely grateful to those Japanese fans who support me based on my background as a Korean and my works are technically very Korean style . It can receive such overwhelming respond from Japanese fans it was truly surprising ...very grateful for such support . .

The hallmark of fame or the home of a ordinary commoner.. Lee Byung Hun obivously choose the later.. no wonder that at least explain why the fans give their unwavering devotion.

During the interview, Lee Byung Hun ate half of a green apple, placed it on the table. The apple have three tooth marks making one wonder ...i have such an impulse bring the apple to the Lee Byung Hun fans downstairs who await so eagerly ...treat it as redemption.

Planting the seed of acting in Lee Byung Hun little mind ..was a 1973 movie directed by Franklin K Schaffner with Dustin Hoffman as the lead .a thriller by the name of Papillon . During high school ..watching Jackie Chan "Drunken Master" writing dilgiently on the front page of his diary ..When i grow up .i want to be Jackie Chan.

And when by some "mistakes" ..he got picked by KBS.. entering the entertainment industry making Lee Byung Hun realised that life is full of coincidence (or fortuitious chances ?)

At that time, the director was scolding in front of everyone ...saying i was not even fit to be an actor ...my pride was wounded and don't even dare to watch the playback ..and even thought of giving it all up ..but now looking back ..thinking ..actually it was not that bad and continue till now.

Being in so many works ...the one which give lee byung hun the deepest impression, is actually his earlier works "White Night 3.98" ..shooting went on continously ..day and night making him pushed himself to the extreme ..and finally he collapsed ..ending up in hospital for 10 days.

According to some reports .. Lee Byung Hun also suffered a lot of punches during the filming of his new movie "Bittersweet Life" ending up with bruises everyday ...the long training of acting enabled Lee Byung Hun opportunities to wonder happily among different characters. When he is not filming, he doesn't like to drink coffee but when he starts work ..and due to pressure he will be consuming coffee in huge dosage ...and his personality become even more sensitive ... strangers better beware.

I don't even know if I am a very sensitive and emotional person ..sometimes even my close friends ..even myself cannot exactly describe what type of personailty am I.. haha

The countless lines in All In is not a diffcult task for him as he memorised the characters emotions not the lines. But as this continue for long period of time ..the drain on emotions is enmourous and hence making him felt lost

As you are constantly wandering between different roles ..and hence there is the risk of losing yourself ...even sometimes you dont even know who you are anymore .ha but sometimes that is a good thing ...as you can observe this world through the eyes and viewpoints of different characters ..I think that is the privilege and merits of being an actor.

As time goes by... Lee Byung Hun have mastered "the Lee resistance theory " when feeling that "your self " have been processed by your role .and cannot take it anymore he will withdraw fully ...find some close friends and enjoy themselves..or go for a trip ... and completely restraint yourself to come into contact with anything related to acting

He often also appeared in his various roles but that is also just a coincidence. I don't usually set myself within a certain model ..as in the way that i dont purposely choose different roles to differentiate my acting style . this is completely dependent on my feeling towards the script . Actually .....i do believe in instinct and fate when it come to this Of course, as an actor, i cannot self imposed my own restriction when choosing my roles

Lee Byung Hun enter this show business by chance ..within this uncontrollable industry system, he do have a small hope ...to open an unique movie theater.

I already developed extreme passion towards movie industry and the art of movie and hope to one day be directing, making my own movies. More than that i wish to own my own theater. Yes ..it does not need to be profitable ..or just showing commercial movies ..i can show movies i like ..or movies i feel are of high quality ...i like to share what i like with other people.

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Before his pal Song Seung Hun went for army service, Lee Byung Hun met him twice .. no tone of sympathy and not even thoughts of that this will create any adverse impact on his career .."this will let him have an entire new experience . for an actor he should encounter such different life experiences to enrich himself ..in this way ..when he portray other roles ..in future ...there will be more depth and dimension to his roles ...

A man should act like a man ..and hence ..Lee Byung Hun just took over his father debt without much word ..when the debt was cleared ..he make a date with his Korean fans ..and treat them to ice cream ..giving himself a sweet reward

"That is now things of the past ..i dont really want to talk too much about it. My feelings towards my father.. is just like in Beautiful Days ..how Minchul feels towards his father.. when i was little ..i believe my father was invincible .. a hero but then later (the debts ).. i fully understand that was just my illusion of my father image .. he too is human... and have his vulnerable side ...i just have such heart ache thinking of this.

Gratitude
Translated from Singapore's Chinese magazine I-weekly No 386
by Shirley @ dotcom & image from chosun.com