Kim Junsu, who appears in the musical ‘Elisabeth’“Got to perform interlude songs early on, and hoped to perform”
“Though there was controversy over my high salary, I’ll continue to contribute to the musical market in return”
This man really confuses people. It feels as though he grew up too quickly from the aftereffects of the struggle that happened earlier with his former management agency when he says things that are beyond his years. Then, he breaks into laughter and returns to a mischievous youth in his twenties.
I’m talking about the JYJ member and musical actor Kim Junsu (Xiah Junsu, 25). We met him on the 30th of January, 10 days before the opening of the musical “Elisabeth”. Debuting with ‘Mozart!’ in 2010, he performed in ‘Tears of Heaven’ and the encore performances of ‘Mozart!’ last year, and is now ready to tackle his third production.
He’s entrance into the musical industry was like that of a shooting star. Not only has his popularity been compared to that of Jo Seung Woo, a well-known top star in the industry, but his works so far have been critiqued favorably as well. His entrance was a welcome gift to the musical industry that was searching for a star who would help expand their market, and in return, musicals became a great gift to him as well.
“(After leaving TVXQ) No one would look for me and I was even scared to meet people, but musicals gave me a new sense of hope. It was the only way I could communicate with the audience, so I began my career in the musical industry with desperation in my heart.”
Of course, he was also filled with fear as the vague dream of “I’d like to appear in musicals in my thirties or forties,” was suddenly upon him so early on in his life. “It was because I was in a state of worry and fear and I had to stand on stage for the first time in a while, not as a great singer, but as a musical actor.”
Luckily, the first role he took on was that of Mozart, a musician who also worried about his life of fame. “I gained a lot of courage from playing the role of Mozart, who could never attain freedom in his own life because he was a genius.” After appearing in the production, he became a top star in the field, receiving offers to appear in just about every musical out there.
Of all the choices he had, Kim Junsu chose ‘Elisabeth’. He said that he had wanted to appear in the musical ever since he performed a couple of the track songs two years ago at his musical concert. The production is based on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Kim Junsu will be playing the role of Tod, the personification of death. Tod falls for young Elisabeth’s beauty and stays by her side for her entire life, enticing her to follow him. The reason he chose ‘Elisabeth’ was because he wanted to, “Don’t be complacent and always greet the audience with a different image every production.” He smiled and said, “But you know how it goes, the role you want to play and the role you actually play are always different,” and “I think things will really get kicking once I perform extremely well in a production like ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, one that many great seniors in the industry have gone through.”
“Because I’m not a musical actor who worked his way up to the lead role from a member of the ensemble, there are still some musical fans who see me in a negative light. My job is to work hard enough to change their perspective of me.”Another aspect of his musical career that fans of the industry looked upon unfavorably was his high salary. With a running guaranty, Kim Junsu received 30 million Won for every performance of ‘Mozart!’ when it first opened two years ago. He stated, “I think the controversy came about because the musical industry has such a smaller market than other genres,” and “I want to contribute to the expansion of the musical industry so that the high salary that I received is justified.”
We were curious of his future plans as he has tasted both the sweet and sour flavors of life so early on in his life.
“Life isn’t something that will go in the direction that you want it to. I don’t have any concrete plans but I’d like to be a person who always takes on new challenges and keeps learning, even into his sixties or seventies. I first have to find a way to repay the musical industry for giving me a new sense of hope.”
The musical will be held from the 9th of February till the 13th of May at the Blue Square Samsung Electronics Hall.
Source: [Hankook Ilbo]
Translated & Shared by: dongbangdata.net
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