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Actress Soo Ae poses for a photo prior to an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald) |
“저는 항상 속은 강하지만 겉으로는 부드러운 사람들을 동경해왔어요. 그런 성격을 닮고 싶어 롤 모델과 비슷한 역할들을 맡아왔어요. 하지만 실제로는 농담도 자주하고 활발한 편이에요.”
그녀가 김성수 감독의 재난영화 ‘감기’에서 연기하는 미르 엄마는 미혼모이자 감염내과 전문의로서 전염병으로부터 딸을 지키기 위해 고군분투하는 역할이다. “인해는 이상적인 엄마와는 거리가 멀어요. 하지만 그녀가 보여주는 이기적이지만 인간적인 모습들이 더 와 닿을 것이라고 생각해요.” 수애는 “현실적으로 그런 상황이 벌어진다면 누구나 가족을 먼저 감쌀 것 같다”고 동의했다.
‘감기’는 분당을 배경으로 감염 후 36시간 이내에 죽는 치명적인 바이러스가 시간당 2000명에게 퍼져나가며 벌어지는 상황들을 보여준다. 정부는 도시 전체를 패쇄하기로 결정하고 감염이 된 시민들은 격리시키는 조치를 취한다.
“인간의 존엄성에 대해 말하고자 하는 영화에요. 현실이라면 사람들이 어떤 결정을 내렸을지 고민하게 만들어요.” 인해는 의사의 사명감보다 먼저 딸과 자신을 구하기 위해 도시를 벗어나려 시도하지만 실패로 돌아간다. 그녀는 격리된 후 딸을 구하기 위해 치료 방법을 찾기 시작한다.
수애는 무엇보다 자신과 가족을 살리는 것을 우선시하는 인해의 마음에 공감하지만 한편으로는 역할에 몰입하기 힘들었다고 전했다. “보통 어머니를 떠올리면 무조건적 사랑으로 보살펴주는 사람인데 미르 엄마는 오히려 6살짜리 딸에게 의지를 많이 해요. 감독님이 주문한 친구 같은 엄마를 연기하는 것은 저한테 새로운 도전이었어요.”
(윤하연 인턴기자/코리아 헤럴드)
<관련 영문 기사>
Soo Ae: Best characters have iron fist in a velvet glove
Actress Soo Ae says she is drawn to roles that are “oeyunaegang,” a four-character idiom that translates to an iron fist in a velvet glove.
“The quality is what I consider to be ideal,” the actress said in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul last week. “I’ve always admired those who appear gentle but are determined and strong underneath. They are my role models. So naturally, I chose to play a lot of characters that have that quality.”
The 34-year-old’s past roles are evidence of the professed preference. In 2011 TV drama “A Thousand Days’ Promise,” she played the calm, strong professional woman who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at a young age. In director Lee Joon-ik’s 2008 film “My Dear is Far Away,” she played the quiet, dutiful wife who bravely heads off to Vietnam during the Vietnam War as a singer, to find her missing husband who had been sent there to fight as a soldier.
Her latest role, however, is a move away from her past characters, the actress says. She plays In-hae, a single mother and medical doctor, in director Kim Seong-soo’s pandemic disaster thriller “The Flu.” The movie opened in local theaters on Aug. 14.
“In-hae is, I think, the most flawed character that I’ve ever played,” the actress says. “She is often selfish. It’s hard to argue that she is an ideal mother. But I guess it is also her flaws that make this character engaging and attractive.”
The film takes place in current-day Bundang, a satellite city of Seoul. The plot of the movie develops as a deadly strain of H5N1 spreads in the city, with death occurring within 36 hours of infection. As the disease spreads at a rate of 2,000 new cases each hour in Bundang, without a cure, the government decides to close down the city and those who are infected are quarantined.
“I think the movie ultimately talks about human dignity,” the actress said. “The situation in the movie is scary because it requires a number of very difficult decisions. It would be difficult for anyone to really imagine how they would react and cope with the situation if such a pandemic happens in real life.”
Director Kim is said to have been inspired by the 2010 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak which brought the infamous mass cull of approximately 12 percent of the entire domestic pig population.
“I happened to watch the video of the mass killing of the pigs and it pretty much traumatized me,” he said during a news meeting after the press screening of the film. “I could not help but wonder what would’ve happened if humans were infected with such an incurable epidemic, not pigs.”
In-hae, a Bundang resident and a physician specializing in infectious diseases, at first tries to escape the city alone with her 6-year-old daughter Mi-ru (played by child actress Park Min-ha). She does not care about those who are infected in her own city, despite her specialization. Her escape plan fails, however, as Mi-ru is ordered to move to the quarantine area when she starts coughing. Stuck in the devastating quarantine camp with her potentially infected daughter, In-hae finally and desperately tries to find a cure for the disease.
“I guess her selfishness is her biggest flaw,” Soo Ae said. “But I think my priority would also be my family if I were in her shoes.”
One of the biggest challenges for Soo Ae was playing a mother. The actress said she was raised by her mother, who, in her own words, is very “strong, giving and sacrificing.” In other words, “oeyunaegang.”
“But In-hae is different,” she said. “In many ways, she very much relies on her 6-year-old daughter. As a full-time doctor In-hae needs her daughter’s help. What director Kim wanted was a mother who is more like a friend to her kid. That was very challenging, because what I understood from my own upbringing was that mothers are supposed to be nurturing and providing unconditional love and support.”
Having played many “oeyunaegang” characters, Soo Ae is often regarded as calm, poised and reserved by the public. But the actress says she is in fact far from “oeyunaegang” or “reserved” off-screen.
“My public image certainly has a lot to do with my character choices, many of which were conscious decisions,” the actress said. “But I don’t consider myself to be strong. I selected those ‘oeyunaegang’ characters not because they resemble me in real life, but because I want to and strive to be like them. I am still working on being strong ― I am no way near how strong my mother has been. And I am often silly and fun as well. I’m not that quiet once you get to know me.”
When asked what her best cure is for a cold ― the film’s Korean title is “A Cold” ― the actress said she sees her doctor as soon as possible, while lemons can help, too.
“I get a cold very often,” she said. “For other things, say migraine, I could just take some medicine and stay home. But a cold and indigestion should be taken care of as quickly as possible. That’s what my mother always said. ”
By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)
