U-KISS's Jun Explains Why He Chose Happiness Over Perfection And His Unique Process Of Preparing For His Characters

U-KISS’s Jun shared his thoughts on his latest drama and career thus far.

On September 25, Singles magazine released its pictorial with Jun. Speaking about the location of the shoot, he said, “It seems like a place where it would perfectly match ‘Kingsman’ really well. The image I have of ‘Kingsman’ is a really charismatic character who’s neat and wears a suit with sharp creases. The interior design of this place is different from my expectations, but I like it because it’s refreshing. As soon as I walked in here, I also thought of the foreshadowing of the kingdom that Yoo Bum Jin had dreamt of in ‘Mr. Temporary.'”

Jun joined U-KISS at a young age in 2014. When asked if he was worried about feeling distant from the older members, Jun said, “I was 17 or 18 years old. Wow, I was a minor. Before I joined, U-KISS was already a group that had been promoting for five years. Before prioritizing my desperate hopes and emotions about wanting to debut, I had a lot of uneasiness and questions about whether or not they’d accept me because we have to appear as one team when I’m with them as U-KISS. It was a difficult task and we underwent trial and error, but I think we resolved it amicably.”

The U-KISS member is not only talented at dancing, singing, and rapping onstage, but at acting as well. “There was a time when I wanted to be a perfectionist and worked hard to become that,” said Jun. “I had an endless amount of ambition and wanted to do well at everything. But I’ve let a lot of those ambitions go, so I’m confident that I can be happy even if I don’t do this line of work. Someone can worriedly say that I’m letting things go because I’ve been knocked down by hardships of life, but those difficult times were actually a plus for me. When you get rid of your ambition and try your best at your given situation, then your thoughts become organized and you become mature. I gained a wider perspective on everything.”

He continued, “The words, ‘You’re doing well. You have passion,’ actually tore me down. When I debuted, I hoped for success and acknowledgment as a singer. But every time I hit the great wall of reality, I punished myself a lot. There were long, repetitive periods of time where I got hurt knowing something wouldn’t happen but I still hoped for it. The word ‘ambition’ wore me out. So I think I’ve now become a slightly less-shaped statue. I want to let go of more of my ambitions and be completed as a beautiful statue.”

Spoiler for “Mr. Temporary”

In “Mr. Temporary,” Jun portrayed a seemingly perfect high school student named Yoo Beom Jin who was in the top of his class. Describing how he prepared for his character, he explained, “At musical rehearsals, we used one script to repetitively practice for a long time for live performances. The details of the characters were definitely different when I looked at them at the beginning of the performance, middle, and end. Using the way I analyzed the characters in the musical, I studied Yoo Beom Jin in a new way. Using the set-up that there were many left-handed geniuses, I ate and wrote with my left hand. I thought that these additional details would complete the character, so I looked at things that geniuses might do. But the basics are the most important. I stayed true to the script, memorized the script, and studied a lot about law because I need to know what it’s about in order for the lines to come out naturally.”

“Despite the fact that Yoo Beom Jin is a sociopath who doesn’t make a fuss while murdering others, he explodes at the end,” said Jun. “He, who was the king of the kingdom at school, starts to go insane because he’s never experienced a relationship where people turned their backs on him. He goes crazy with rage when his perfect plan goes wrong. Yoo Beom Jin was a perfectionist but an inexperienced sociopath, so the last scene made me tear up out of frustration and anger that he died without resolving what he had started. I think I wasn’t able to let him go very well because I felt sad.”

Jun stated that he doesn’t receive acting lessons, and discussed how he gets into character in his own way. “I received about five [lessons], but thinking about and analyzing the character on my own instead of learning from a teacher made me enjoy it a lot more,” said the actor. “First, I analyze the script more than the character because I need to be able to express my thoughts when speaking with the producer or director. To tell a behind-the-scenes story about auditioning for Yoo Beom Jin, I answered, ‘I know that he’s perfect and everything, but I don’t really know what he’s thinking’ when asked what kind of character Yoo Beom Jin is. The director hit his knee and said, ‘That’s it!’ I think I get honest results because I always use honesty as my weapon. Instead of lying to appear better, I think it’s more important to clearly express my perspective.”

The U-KISS member will next appear in SBS’s upcoming drama “Good Casting.”

“It’s about the undercover investigation of intelligence officers, and I’m portraying a top star actor,” explained Jun. “He’s a bit rude but a lovable character, so the most important thing is to appear rude. Hand movements and gestures are details that show the personality of a character.” He added with a laugh, “Yoo In Young who plays opposite my character had a hard time because of my rude lines and facial expressions.”

Check out Jun in “Mr. Temporary” now!

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