Blogged By: La Tray
Blog Source: KBS
Photo Credit: KBS
Posted: Tuesday January 31, 2012 @ 5:30 pm PST
Topic: Junsu (JYJ)
JYJ’s Kim Junsu plays Tod in the musical “Elizabeth” which is based on a real story.
This role is challenging for Kim said of his role, “Doing something that I want to do and something that I can do is another story. I thought that ‘Death’ has to be grave and dignified, and the actor who plays this role has to have enough acting experience. I agonized greatly whether I could successfully play the role. But I realized that ‘death’ does not exist and there will be no correct answer.”
He made the decision to play this role of death and how he would make the character his own, Kim explained, “The head of our agency asked me, ‘Why do you think that the character should be dignified even though it does not exist?’ After I listened to his question, I realized that it could be young or innocent, and I decided to present ‘Death’ my own way, according to how I think.”
Kim asked himself questions on how to approach his difficult role, Kim said, “What is after death?” and “Do I really die someday?” and he further explained his definition of death to be, “Death is something that makes people feel that they are only human who inevitably die, which makes people feel miserable.”
Kim put a lot of thought and feelings into the entire play including the thoughts and feelings of Elizabeth, how she felt and thought before death. He said, “Death asked Elizabeth what ‘death’ meant to her, and she answered that she, who had been dreaming of free life, felt pessimistic when she became the empress. I thought that ‘death’ might have brought her a kind of freedom, comfort, and peace.”
Kim will be playing the role Tod which death in twenties and two other actors will take over the role in their thirties and forties, Kim said, “Watching different acting by different actors who play the same character is a very exciting element and the power of the musical.”
The singer expressed he wants his critics to see him as a musical lover not just a pop idol, “I knew that some people criticized me that I had been cast as the protagonist only because I came from a star idol group, and I had been very cautious. I did not know about musicals at all when I appeared in the musical ‘Mozart’ as the protagonist, but musicals gave me strength and hope when I had gone through a very difficult situation, so I do not want to give up appearing in musicals. Now I only think that I have to repay the audience and the producer who have shown trust to me. It is true that I come from an idol group, and I am trying my best to change people’s prejudice about me. I want to be regarded as a musical actor who really loves musicals.”
Kim is the third member of the music group JYJ which is working on a new album set to release in 2012 and one of the original members of the super group TVXQ, the most talked about groups from fans to reunite.
According to KBS and history, this is what the play is about:The musical “Elizabeth” is based on a true life story of Austria’s Empress Elizabeth, and the other protagonist besides Elizabeth is Tod, which is the personified character of death. “Tod,” who met Elizabeth when she was young, fell in love with her and came to stay right beside her during her lifetime while tempting her. Elizabeth, who came to be destined to live in the cage of the palace even though she had been pursuing her free life and love, became weakened by Tod’s temptations.
The musical will run for three months February to May 2012.
