Seoul NTN recently sat down with T-ara’s Jiyeon to take part in an interview about ‘Responsibility’. They received her thoughts on the pressure of working as an idol, actress, and a variety star.
Check out the interview below!
Q. “This is your first time dubbing with ‘Gnomeo and Juliet‘, right?”
Jiyeon: It is. With regular acting, I usually focus on how to look the prettiest in front of the camera, but it’s different with dubbing because you have to pour everything into just your voice. I think I overdid a bit with my voice acting (laughter). It was hard, but I think the career itself is extremely charming since you’re expressing your emotions through your voice. I was actually really worried about whether my voice would be lower in tone to my co-star’s, MBLAQ’s Lee Joon.
Q. “We heard from your company that you’re better at picking things up as opposed to rehearsing.”
Jiyeon: I don’t think it’s true (laughter). I’m the result of my practice.
Q. “Before, gagmen usually did voice acting for animations. Now, a lot of idols like SNSD’s Taeyeonand Seohyun, f(x)’s Sulli, KARA’s Gyuri and others are starting to take part in it.”
Jiyeon: I think using idol members creates a bigger effect in terms of headlines. But that also means there’s more responsibility for idols to do well since the focus is now on us and on whether we’ll be able to pull through.
Q. “Idols truly are ‘almighty’ in that sense. Out of music and acting, which career path are you more interested in?”
Jiyeon: I can’t choose, they’re both charming careers. I love working as a singer, and I love working as an actress. It’s cruel to ask me to choose. Of course, I do feel the pressure to do well in both.
Q. “Are you close to any idol members?”
Jiyeon: Lee Joon. I worked with him in “Jungle Fish 2” and we’re working together as lovers in “Gnomeo and Juliet” now (laughter). In a variety program, we chose each other as the idols we were closest to as well. I’m not close to that many celebrities, actually. They say that I have a cold first impression.
Q. “You have such doll-like looks. You’re lovely, not cold.”
Jiyeon: They think I’m mad when I don’t have an expression on my face. I’m also really shy so you won’t be seeing any aegyo out of me until we’ve seen each other for a while (laughter). It took me a long time to get closer to Lee Joon as well. Lee Joon said that he thought I had a bad attitude when he first saw me (laughter).
Q. “You said you don’t have aegyo. If so, how can you act out romantic scenes in ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’?”
Jiyeon: It was really difficult. My voice is also on the husky side, so the voice actors on set always told me to raise my tone.
Q. “Starting with your movie and leading up to ‘Jungle Fish 2′, you’ve mainly played roles that were kind of depressed, but you’re actually known for being bright and outgoing on variety programs and such. Which personality is easier to act?”
Jiyeon: I actually have a lot of ups and downs emotionally. When I’m feeling outgoing, it’s easier for me to play outgoing characters. I also like showing the colder side of me too. I think it goes back and forth (laughter).”
Q. “What’s your ideal man like?”
Jiyeon: I like a sensible man who knows how to do aegyo. Lee Chun Hee, who recently got married, is the closest to my ideal man. I’ve never actually met him though.
Q. “We asked Lee Joon who is ideal woman was, and he said, ‘A nice person.’ When pestered for a name, he replied, ‘I’ll just say it’s Jiyeon.’ He also chose Jiyeon as the prettiest girl group member.”
Jiyeon: I take care of him a lot. During “Jungle Fish 2″, I let him borrow my gloves.. but he just left with it (laughter).”
