Life as an actor is not a bed of roses. Park Sihoo-ssi has to work extremely hard to reach where he is today and still continuing to do so.
If anyone has ever entertained the idea that life as an actor is about the scintillating glitter and glamour under the spot lights, let me dispel this thought. It is anything but a bed of roses. This was reinforced the weekend past, when I went on the trail of Park Sihoo-ssi while he was filming his new drama “Neighborhood Hero” in Macau.
If you think life is a bed of roses, think again when you have to keep odd hours during the filming and production. When a project is on, you will be at the mercy of the producer, director and the crew members responsible for its planning and scheduling. Filming can be at all hours of the day, with no concept of day or night, no such thing as rest or sleep.
Life is not a bed of roses for actors like Park Sihoo-ssi!
Your schedule might only be confirmed daily and possibly the night before and subject to changes. Filming could be so tight, especially when filming overseas and every minute meant money, you would be in for crunch time. It is not unheard that your day starts at 5 am in the morning and ends at mid-night or the next day! So, if you are planning a hot date while you are working on a project, you can kiss it goodbye!
Other than the actual time spent on location, you will need to review, rehearse and know your role and script inside out and be ready for action when the cameras start to roll. Hardworking actors like Park Sihoo-ssi, will spend time reviewing and rehearsing their roles, even after an exhausting day or night of filming,! The Park Sihoo-ssi we know puts his heart and soul into building his characters to perfection, so imagine how much time and effort this would have to take him!
I saw him stumble in to the hotel after a full, taxing day of shoot last Friday after I checked-in to the hotel. He was visibly exhausted, but being who he is, he still smiled and waved in greeting at the lift lobby. My heart really felt for him then!
To get that perfect shot, there will be quite a number of re-takes
For the shoot itself, even if you are in tip-top condition, each small segment of the drama, which could be less than a minute long, might take many rounds of director’s cut before he is satisfied. Last Saturday, we saw a scene in “Neighborhood Hero” start shooting at round 8 pm and only got wrapped up around mid-night…it might have been, what? 20 takes? No offence to the actors but that was a difficult scene and to get it perfect, all elements, not just the acting, but the lighting, sound, movements…all the minute details, have to be aligned and balanced. So, tough work!
Park Sihoo having an engaging conversation with fellow actor in Macau
And of course, as a good actor, you would know you cannot be a prima donna. How successful the drama is, is not just due to you alone. Your co-stars, producers, directors and the rest of the cast and crew all play a part. So your relationships and interactions with them to build strong synergy is crucial. For these relationships to blossom and grow, you will need to work hard at building them and spending time to get to know your fellow cast and crew.
So many things that are important to the success of an actor. There must be much more and as an outsider, I am sure I barely scratched the surface.
I was totally exhausted just standing and hanging around the film set last weekend. For Park Sihoo-ssi, his co-actors and the film and production crew, it must have been much, much, much more exhausting!
Life is definitely not a bed of roses in the supposedly glamorous entertainment industry! It is one that requires hard work, supported by lots of raw energy, deep passion and just a little luck!
演员生活并非称心如意
Park Sihoo – Life as an actor is not all glamorous and a bed of roses
如果妳任为一位演员生活在华丽高调，金光闪闪的聚光灯下，让我打消这个想法。演员的生活并非称心如意。上周末在澳门，跟随着施厚君拍摄他的新剧“邻家英雄”的踪迹，增强了我的想法。
如果妳觉得生活是称心如意的，在拍摄和制作过程中，当妳需要投入大量和不固定的时间时，妳可能会三思。接下一个项目后，妳的时间就不属于妳的了，时间会在制片人，导演和负责规划和制作的成员的手下遥控。拍摄时间没有固定，可以是任何时候，没有白天，黑夜的概念，没有休息和睡眠。
妳的日程安排可能是在前一天晚上才确认。拍摄可能非常紧张紧密，尤其是当妳在海外拍摄，每分钟就是金钱，所以时间非常关键。妳的一天的开始可能是凌晨5点，结束在午夜或次日！所以，如果妳在进行项目拍摄时，计划了其他的约会，妳可能会失望！
上周五，当我入住澳门酒店时，看见了施厚君刚拍完了一整天的剧，回到酒店。他脸上明显的好疲惫，人都快倒下来了，但在我的欢呼下，他仍然微笑着对我挥手。当时我的心都软了，真的为他心疼！
Park Sihoo-ssi hard at work rehearsing for his role over and over again
除了实际拍摄时间，妳还需要复习，排练，完全知道和保握自己的角色和剧本的内容，并准备好开拍。像施厚君那样勤奋的演员，即使已经辛苦了一天的拍摄，回来他还会花时间复习和排练自己的角色和剧情！我们所认识的施厚君经常会全心投入剧中，创造完美的角色来，所以可想象，他投入多少时间，心血和精力！
拍摄本身，即使妳处于最佳状态，电视剧的每个小片段，可能不到一分钟长，还是需要导演的多轮削减才会满意的。就在上周六，我们看到了“邻家英雄”的一个场外景的拍摄。开始拍摄是大约晚上8点，等到结束时，已经是午夜了……可能拍了将近20伦？并非批评演技，因为我相信所有的演员都非常投入，但是这是一个艰难的场景，要完美的拍摄，所有的元素都要到位，演技，灯光，音响，动作……所有微小的细节都必须一致和平衡。因此，艰巨的工作！
It is a team that makes a difference in a drama or movie and Park Sihoo-ssi knows it well
当然，当一个优秀的演员，妳会知道妳不可能独占荣耀，戏剧的成功，不只是属于妳一个人的功劳，而是妳和合作演员，制片人，导演和其他剧组工作人员的努力得来的。所以妳和其他演员和剧组的关系和互动，与他们建立紧密的关系是至关重要的。关系从开花到成长，是需要花时间去培养和互相了解的。
一位演员的成功有很多重要的元素，作为一个局外人的我，可能只是在表面上理解而已。
上周末，当路人的我，单单在远方站着观看拍摄，都已经累坏了。施厚君和其他演员和剧组的疲劳，真的不可思议！
演员的生活并非称心如意。这是纯粹的辛勤工作，必须有大量的能量，激情和一点点运气！
Photo Credits – Many thanks! Instagram, Weibo, Twitter
You might also like
13 Comments
Park Si Hoo is admirable the more so as he is an independent actor and beside talent, skills and endurance for his roles he has to manage his own career and have many more responsibilities than those who have big agencies behind, not to mention iniquitous k-media & netizens and other … jackals.
Absolutely agree!
Yes, “LIfe ‘s not a bed of roses”, especially for an actor. And your survey of PSH’s life as an actor and his hard working activity while shooting a movie or a drama is analysed in depth and is absolutely true that : “PSH’s life, as an actor, is not a bed of roses!”. For him ,acting is not about being someone different . It’s finding similarity in what is apparently different, then finding himself there. And this is accomplished by his play instinct from inner necesity. And he can manage to achieve his goals in acting , because he clearly knows what he is trying to achieve in his life. No matter how exhausting his life is ,as an actor. “Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficutl thing in the world”[J.W von Goethe]. PSH knows that any part he plays , there is a certain amount of himself in it. And for him , acting is about forgetting himself, in order to give the best of himself.. It’s also a huge part of his life and as he just happened to step into acting , he can’t image himself doing anything else. And today, we can admire the Hallyu Star, PSH, who has reached the top of his acting profession! Not sleeping of a bed of roses!
Stefania Lupu, HOW MUCH I LOVE your analogy above!! Read it over and over many times to savour the flavour, to digest and hopefully your words could sink in me, been wanting to response since I 1st read it but couldn’t form any intelligent words. Your words here are spot on, I can’t see any other sliver of difference of your perspective. Your analogy is the very reason why PSH is that kind of high standard of extremely excellent actor. The “apparently different yet lies similarity to himself, then forget about himself though there is this similarity”” this phrase I can exactly recall in PP where twice he quoted the need to make what’s not real to look real (when she questioned him why he kissed her), when he claimed he had to act like Prosecutor Yoon in front of Ma’s mother (when the mother accidentally met him for the 1st time). Then just as he thought he is in control of the 2 sides of coins ie what’s real is not real, what’s not real is actually real, then Ma Hye-ri sprung him surprise when she revealed that she is following his advice given to her , that advice, to him was given in the real vs unreal situation, could be interpreted as his genuine advice, can be interpreted as he just blurted it out in response to the need at that very instance, but she followed it as wise words of advice, and he was taken aback (ie in the 3rd dimension of emotion of real, unreal, real again in a different reality from the 1st starting point of “real”‘). Gosh I also can’t understand what I just said…..”conclusion, when it comes to emotion and acting, words are hard, actings are hard, but to our star PSH, acting is what he does best. Hence Nance, our boy would not have minded at all if it is a bed of roses or not, he readily welcomes all these hardships, he can’t wait to plunge in, the adrenaline required to pull through intense shooting days is what he wants for him. And very good to hear that he did wave to you at hotel albeit absolutely knackered end of a shooting day.
Sorry, Stefania, my quoting of the PP scene is not exactly what your words meant, my example as I painted above by then he is already into the character, if I want to reference to your words, in that scene he would have to go through 4 layers of thinking, 1st layer being finding the similarities within himself of that 3 layers of thinking and emotions as required in the scene.
In addition, your words “thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficutl thing in the world” I can’t agree more. Here in Oz land recently there is a life radio talk show where the radio hosts are scamming a Nigerian scammer (ie the scammer trying to con money out of “purportedly old lonely lady”” scammer does not know his telephone conversations with this “lonely lady”are all recorded and aired to public, only a handful of people including the radio hosts could act through and talk to the scammer, some scheduled äctors” chickened out as you said, acting some thinking/thoughts/ or pretending to be is the most difficult thing in the world.
I love all of your comments. They give deeper insights and meaning into an actor’s lot and also the achievements of Park Sihoo-ssi. Please keep them coming! Love those intellectual stimulation 🙂
Chai Hua Loke , thanks for your appreciation of my comment about PSH’s acting, and of course for your “intelligent words”, as you say, in analyzing his interpretation in PP. which I also like very much. I think his destiny is to be a great actor and that’s why he can’t imagine to do anything else.Just working very hard, which he likes so much. And that’s why I love him so much.
Right this moment I am watching the scene in PP where he cooked ramein noodles for her but pretended very cold. His staff Jenny rang said on her way to his apartment, Ma Hye-ri quickly retreated left his apartment without finishing the noodles. He sat down ate from her bowl and as he chews his eyes well up and exactly at that moment I feel my throat too is choked by the tears that are not flowing outside the eyes but flowing down my throat and choking….that’s how good his acting is. And I get the same stirred up emotion each time I re watch this particular scene.
One of the key differentiator between a good and an excellent actor is the facial expression. No props, no outside factor, except yourself in being about to engage the audience in the way you really want them to. I think this is what makes Park Sihoo-ssi a great actor. He is just superb!
Chai Hua Loke, I remember this scene too and his excellent acting impressed me so much that tears came to my eyes. And Nance is right that he tries to engage audience in the way he really wants them to. PSH wants to be a good actor, who must be truthful, fascinating, interesting, enlightening. He knows that being a good actor is not enough, he must be a great actor. And if people perceive him as a great actor, they’ll root for him, when they’ll watch him, they’ll like him for his work, they’ll support him, they’ll respect him.
Stefania Lupu and Nance, I remember his pledge and aspiration to be an actor who endures and continues to develop in one of his interviews. Chinese saying there will always be the next mountain higher than this one hence his aspirations will always have room for improvement. Hence he has chosen the right career where he himself already gifted with good looks next with his passion and interest and aspirations acting can be his life long career. And fans like us benefit hopefully he continues to be given opportunities with good script good production.
I Love you