The Chung-Ang Herald met actress, Lee yoon-ji (Theatre department 03). On the TV programs, Lee's character is always full of vigor. Actually, she is very alive with an open mind. Also Lee has a lot of love for CAU.

CAU : Do you have a special motivation for being an actress?

Lee Yoon-ji(Lee): Frankly speaking, I didn't have a special motivation to be a actress. From early childhood, I had accessed to the mass media, and thought that "Maybe someday I will appear on television."

 Many people think that I became an actress suddenly, but I had prepared for being a actress during 4 years, since I was 16 years old. In fact because I was a very common student, some friends failed to recognize me as an actress. Moreover most people who had known me were surprised at the news I became a actress.

CAH : Can you tell me about your schooldays in CAU?

Lee : In the situation comedy Non-stop4, I wore clothes just like miniskirts, pink shoes, yellow shirts. In fact, I didn't wear most of those clothes until that time. Moreover, my character was a different college women. Maybe people remember me as that character. However, I attended school commonly wearing casual clothes like other students.

 Anyway, there were many common projects in the CAU theatre department more than in other departments. It was a very enjoyable time to me. I was really exciting when I had joint activities on campus: studying my major, preparing a play, putting up a play poster in the Art Center on the Seoul campus and etc.

CAH : What was your favorite class or profession in the CAU theatre department?

Lee : I have a great memory about a lecturer, Kang Min-ho. Because he was a senior to us, he was very familiar with students. Thus he could make the atmosphere of the class free without formality, and taught us about not only skills of acting but also mental attitudes before being actors. Most of all, he was literally a senior of life. Until now, I think deeply about what he said at that time. 

CAH : If you were a common student and not a actress, what would you want to do?

Lee : There are so many things! I can't tell you everything because it is countless. I just want to do what common students do. For example, I hope to have a meeting with my friends. Frankly speaking, I haven't done it yet. In addition if I can find an opportunity, I want to be a C.C (a Campus Couple). I really want to have a boyfriend within campus! the thing I envy most is to study something in the library with my boyfriend.

CAU : In reality, are you as bubbly and womanly as on TV?

Lee : When I acted in Non-stop4, Yoon Jong-sin said to me "Please call me a big brother, you need to have a more feminine aspect." In fact, when I thought about myself, I seem to have a more manly and strong  personality than womanly personality. However, maybe there are many other personalities with a strong and womanly personality in my mind. As an actress, I think that it is very important to use these multifarious personalities according to the cast of a play. Choi Min-su said to me "An actor can't have different aspects between the inside and the outside, and an actor's inward nature always reflects on his acting. So a man who has multiple personalities can better than common people." I really agree with his opinion.

CAH : After you acted in the situation comedy Nos-stop4, you started to act in the traditional drama Hangansu Taryeng. Wasn't it difficult to act in a traditional drama?

Lee : It is true that both situation comedy and traditional drama is difficult to act, but the situation comedy is more difficult for me than the traditional drama. First, it was so hard to make people laugh. For making laughing, I took a long time to fit me to a  character  of marked individuality like over actions. After I had taken a part in the situation comedy for 1 year, it also took me a long time to adjust to traditional drama. Now I'm trying to reduce those long adaptation period to act variously in any situation.

CAH : In 'Hangangsu Taryeng (A ballad of Han-river)', there were many great seniors like Go Du-sim, Choi Min-su, Kim Hye-soo, and so on. Wasn't it hard to act with them?

Lee : In fact, acting in 'Hangansu Taryeng' with great seniors was suffocatingly hard for me. However, it was a great honor to practice script reading with them. I used to be enchanted by their smiling at my greetings. Although when I played a role in 'Hangangsu Taryeng', I was in temporary absence from school, acting with seniors was like going to another school. It could be called as 'Hangansu school'. I could learn a lot of things from acting with great seniors. That's why I have kept all fifty scripts (from 1 to 50) on my shelf. In those scripts, there are seniors' speeches and my impressions I had written down. I could say that these scripts are my textbooks. I don't think what I learned from 'Hangansu Taryeng' will show me a sudden growth of acting. However, it might make me grow in the long-run. Someday, if I become a good senior, I want to teach my juniors about acting.

CAU :　Who is your model of acting?

Lee : I want to be an actress like Ko Du-sim. I couldn't even tell "I am an actress" when I acted with her in 'Hangangsu Taryeng'. Most actosr acted with staring at other actors in a stereotyped way, but Ko acted with sincere eye contact. As a result, Ko makes other actors regard acting as in real situations. In my case, when I played the role of her daughter in the drama, I really thought of her as my mother, and I became a real person in front of her. It allow me to cry when she told a sad story, and laugh when she said joyful remarks. I think making other actors to be comfortable like this is a great skill.

CAH : A number of people have tried to imitate your style. What is the most trying point to become a fashion leader?

Lee : 'Fashion leader' is an expression I don't deserve. I just wear comfortable clothes, that's all. I don't have greed about improper dresses. It is undesirable to wear  clothes which are not matched with the roles in a drama. These days, my role in the drama needs to act within a room. Thus many times I wear casual clothes or sportswear. Although these clothes were not very pretty, it is more proper to the scene of the drama.

 The most importantly point is to have a capacity for judgement, whether some clothes suit me well or not. No matter how pretty the clothes, it can be not pretty when I put it on, because it doesn't suit me. Thus, I never have greed about clothing. I think that these reasons make me  look better.

CAH : Would you like to tell something to CAU students?

Lee : CAU helps me to become an actress. There are many seniors to me who are actors or actresses in my major, theatre department. Thus I can't tell my university easily, because someone  can be a senior to me. It makes me to act more carefully. However I think that having a lot of seniors can have a good effect when I have pride in CAU. Although now I am a student who stays out of school temporarily, CAU is the place where I will come back and is seated in my mind every moment.

 By Jung Ri-na

News reporter