She was once nicknamed "Randy Shin-hye (Randy Jackson + Park Shin-hye)" for the left-handed fastball pitch she threw as the first ball at a game in 2006. Between her as "Randy Shin-hye" and an actress, and the reason why viewers can quite easily close in on the gap between the Go Mi-nam in SBS TV series "Minamishineyo" as a girl in disguise as a guy always causing trouble versus the main lead actress stuck in a love triangle, is because that is who the true Park Shin-hye is. That is why 10Asia's interview with this girl -- one who is more delighted to watch the Korean pro baseball series than eat dinner after an overnight shoot -- was that much more delightful. Below is the conversation with the 20-year-old actress who, better than anyone else, knows where she came from and where she is headed.



10: You were in shoot early this morning. What was the scene about?
Park: It's a scene where Mi-nam becomes heartbroken after U Hae-ee and Tae-kyung become officially recognized as a couple at U Hae-ee's film premiere. I know we were in shooting but I sort of felt a bitterness too -- I think I'm really becoming assimilated with my character. (laugh) And Uee is so pretty and beautiful that I really do think 'Wow, all guys must really like pretty girls like her'. Even the staff on set don't see me as a guy anymore. (laugh)

10: But the reaction from female fans are hot. (laugh)
Park: I'm lucky. There can be anti-fans when there is one female actress amongst four actors but I think "Minamishineyo" is getting good response because it's about a story where a girl tries to live amongst guys as a guy. I recently was in Gapyeong for a shoot in front of a high school and I had fallen asleep while waiting for my scene when I heard several hundreds of girls scream at me. And they were shouting "Mi-nam oppa! (a title girls use to refer to older guys)" They weren't calling me "Shin-hye unni! (a title girls use to refer to older girls)" Oh, but that doesn't mean I don't have anymore guy fans. I was once shooting in downtown Seoul when businessmen in suits recognized me and said I was cute which made me feel good. Another man I met while shopping for props for the drama, remembered me from the first episode and called me a nun. I was happy because he said he enjoys watching the show.

10: Your character though, is actually very different from what we had expected her to be like. How did you approach Mi-nam's character who is a girl in man disguise but is actually not even manly or easy going in personality?
Park: I think that's because of the images that were fixed from previous dramas where women disguise as men. There actually are a lot of feminine guys too, even amongst my own friends or stylists and artists that I know. So if I pretend to be a guy, it doesn't mean I have to be manly and my character is originally very ladylike so I thought she would become someone different altogether if she suddenly became really manly. The producer and writers too thought that I need to pretend to be a guy, not actually become one, so they asked that my tone of voice be somewhere in the middle where it would be bright as a girl but not too low or boyish as a guy. That was really hard (laugh). I know the viewers probably also thought my character was weird in the beginning because they've never seen anything like it before but I think they've come to like Mi-nam for who she is and start to understand the character.

10: What's the atmosphere like on set? You're acting with actors your own age in comparison to other dramas these days where the average age of actors is pretty high.
Park: A lot of things which would never happen on other sets happen on ours. (laugh) It probably would've been quieter if our seniors were here but we make a lot of bloopers because we laugh a lot. (laugh) If one person thinks of the prank he played on another person and his lips start quivering, then the other person will go off and start laughing. And each character has his or her own lingo which we keep copying and that really sets us off.



10: The scene where you danced a parody version of Girls' Generation's "Genie" in the epilogue became a sensation.
Park: We shot various versions for Girls' Generation, 2NE1, Roo'ra etc all in one day. If you look at it closely, you'll notice that the choreography is wrong in parts. (laugh) Oh, by the way, I did Jung Yong-hwa's make-up for "Genie" as well as mine. I thought the guys wouldn't put on make-up but Jang Keun-suk and Lee Hong-ki were so I told Yong-hwa that I would turn him into Tiffany and used pink eye shadow on him. How everyone looked so pretty!

10: Wasn't it difficult becoming close with your fellow actors as the only actress?
Park: It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I have an older brother at home and my cousins are mostly guys so all my memories from my childhood are of me playing soccer, basketball or tetris with them. I think that's why I have a lot of guy friends at school too. Both Jang and Park are quite friendly and Lee was a little shy at first but everyone soon became surprised at how quickly we became friends. He says he's not even worried about being misunderstood as dating me even if we went on a trip together! It's sort of sad in a way. (laugh)

10: You had shot a TV commercial with Jang before and you're working with him again. It seems that you two seem to hold the drama together.
Park: I think JGS is probably doing it better than I am. He's very playful and likes to pull pranks but is also very sweet. You'd think he'd be more individualistic because he's very ambitious about acting but he is good at controlling the atmosphere on set and takes good care of the team. I think I know why so many producers and writers like him so much. And I get goosebumps when I see him concentrate. I guess we do work together pretty well. When he throws lines at me which weren't in the script, I'll throw lines back at him and our acting will keep flowing. I think he knows how I'll respond to what he does.



10: This is the first drama you're appearing in since "Kimchee Radish Cubes" a year and a half ago. The break was relatively long this time considering the fact that you debuted in middle school and had appeared in several dramas and films throughout your high school years.
Park Shin-hye: I had taken only very short breaks after appearing in "Stairway to Heaven" in 2003 so I wanted to take a rest and go to school after "Kimchee". There were some achievements I made while showing myself to people but I myself had a hard time. I'm still young but I was even younger back then. And if I come to think about it, I was just so happy and was having fun about playing the lead role in a movie when I was in high school but if I think about it now, I think I just went for it without knowing anything. I just had so much fun acting back then, not knowing anything about the reality of the entertainment industry or what TV is about. I sometimes think I must've been very stupid or simple-minded. (laugh)

10: I think you were able to be under relatively less stress and have more freedom compared to other celebrities your age because you debuted and spent your teens under singer Lee Seung-hwan's company, also your former agency Dream Factory.
Park: Lee didn't like making young people do this and that. He was always under the belief that I would make it even if my ratings were bad so I think I too was able not to be pressured about it. I also believed that I needed to experience everything that people my age to in order to express it in my acting and everyone -- my parents, managers and Lee -- all supported me in that aspect. No matter how much I would hang out with my friends, go watch baseball, go to the theatres and amusement park, they all believed in me. And that I wouldn't cause any trouble. I don't think it's good to keep myself trapped up too much before I turn 20. No matter how often people recognize me and point at me, I like it that I can be just myself when I'm with my friends. And I think it's a blessing that I can have people around me who help me to do that.

10: You got into Joongang University's acting major last year and it became a sensation because there are a lot of actors including Ara, Kim Bum and Kim So-eun.
Park: All four of us went to our classes so well during our first semester of our first year that people around us thought it was weird. That's how much we were attached to our school life. Ara was even shooting a drama during that time. And then as Bum and So-eun took leaves to shoot "Boys Over Flowers" and I saw that everyone else was acting, I became a little worried because I was the only one left in school. But I think everyone has a time when they get to do their thing.

10: Then how did you spend your past year in school?
Park: I prepared for exams, wrote reports and was busy in my own way with friends. I also learned to do a bit of swimming, dance ballet and Chinese characters. And I watched a lot of plays at work but also stagework behind the scenes which was a lot of fun. I'm on a leave right now but I'm going to go to my classes well once I return last year.



10: You have been called an 'up and coming star' for the past couple of years but I think you must have also worried about having to grow as an actor.
Park: I did a lot. Back then, I used to think it would be advantageous taking on roles older than my age, and I actually still do, but I hit a wall because I was trying to act out some things I had never experienced before. I felt that even more so when shooting "Kimchee Radish Cubes" and on the other hand, I didn't want to play the role of someone who is depressed. I know some people may have thought it would have been better if I had taken on an older role but I thought I would be going around in circles. I really wanted to do "Minamishineyo" because it's about people my age and my actual personality is very similar to my character's. (laugh) So I think it actually may take me a step forward from being an 'up and coming star'.

10: I think you will probably also be able to related better with the romance between Tae-kyung, Mi-nam and Shin-woo than in the sad melodrama roles you played previously in "Stairway to Heaven" or "Goong S".
Park: I had a friend in a similar situation. Two guys liked one of my friends but she was the only one who didn't know about it. Mi-nam's personality is very similar to hers so there actually are parts where I gained ideas from her. Having seen the process myself helps in trying to understand and imagine the emotions.

10: You must have been pressured about the rating though since this is your first drama in a while and you're the main female character.
Park: I would be lying if I said I hadn't been in the beginning but I think we're doing pretty well now. And it's continuing to go up so I'm thinking that we just need to keep trying harder. Thankfully, the evaluations are good and people are talking about it so I think that pressure has gone now. I don't have time to worry about the ratings anymore anyway so if I keep working hard, I believe it will be reflected in the drama.

10: "Minamishineyo" could be set as the start to the second chapter of your acting career. What dreams do you have, now that you're just about to enter your 20s?
Park: I'm going to be an adult soon so I want to try going on a backpacking trip. And I think I've slightly surpassed the point of being called a 'up and coming star' in regards to my work. So it's my goal, for this year and the years to come between the years of 20 and 25, to become an actress who can do a wide range of acting with my own character. I want to show more of my possibilities as actress Park Shin-hye.

Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Photographer : Chae ki-won This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Editor : Jessica Kim This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Lee Ji-Hye This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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I know that most of you have read this interview already, but I thought that we should post all her interviews also.