K-drama star Lee Min Ho on whether AI will replace actors

On September 11, Lee Min Ho sat down for an interview with local media for his upcoming K-movie Assassin(s).

Assassin(s) follows the investigation into the suspicions and masterminds behind the assassination attempt on South Korea's First Lady on August 15, 1974. Blending historical records with unanswered questions and cinematic imagination, the film is a mystery investigation drama. It is reportedly the first film to dramatize this real-life case, exploring a true story never before depicted on screen.

Yoo Hai Jin, Park Hae Il, and Lee Min Ho star as leads.  

Lee Min Ho plays Han Young Il, a rookie journalist who closely observes what lies beneath the incident.

At the interview, the actor addressed concerns at the time of his casting that he might "stand out too much in a period film," saying, "I don't think people who haven’t experienced my [acting] can imagine it." He continued, "Even on this set, my biggest challenge was figuring out whether I could avoid standing out between these two senior actors, Yoo Hae Jin and Park Hae Il, and blend in well as a person from that era. That was the aspect I kept most in mind and focused on the most while acting."

Park Hae Il praised Lee Min Ho, saying, "He acted like he let go of everything [i.e., he didn't cling to his usual star image]." Regarding this, he added, “Rather than trying harder, I was simply comfortable being me, and I think people who didn't know me [well] saw that and described it as 'looking like I had let go of everything.'"

He also shared his personal reflections on playing a reporter in the film: "I thought the starting point was conveying information without distorting it. In society, isn't it true that information sometimes gets distorted regardless of one's intentions? I was also tired of things like that, and there was a personal part of me that had been longing for more genuine, unfiltered communication."

He went on to describe his character as "someone who pursued the human side of things, such as turning his attention to victims who go unnoticed amid major incidents that shake up the entire country."

Talking about the premise of his character being both the youngest son of a chaebol family and a reporter, Lee Min Ho remarked, "I do often hear in private settings that I have a refined air, but I have my own kind of vibe where, regardless of where I am, I don't particularly try to stand out or try not to stand out." "I think that side of me actually helped me portray the excessive premise or situations in the drama in a more understated way. When I first read the script, I worried that it might be too much, but I decided that it would be more convincing if I portrayed him as someone who knows how to make use of his background."

Regarding Park Hae Il's praise that he "reminds him of Shin Sung Il in his younger days," Lee said, "This is something only I know, but there are moments when the swelling in my face comes and goes, so there are moments when the continuity can look a little off."

"I worried that if I slimmed down like I do when working on dramas, people might misunderstand it as me trying too hard to look cool. When I'm not using my body much and not exerting myself, my face gets swollen, but after filming a running scene, the swelling would go down. This time, I didn't pay any attention to my appearance at all and just approached the role that way."

When asked about his hobbies, the Hallyu star shared his introverted nature, saying, "I watch YouTube for as long as 10 hours a day. I think we're living in an era that suits my personality very well. I feel like I see the world through YouTube. When you watch YouTube, there are so many individual people’s stories unfolding, aren't there? Before you know it, the whole day has passed. I look at the world through that, and I'm minimizing going out and experiencing things."

In an earlier interview, Yoo Hae Jin had particularly expressed his admiration for Lee Min Ho, saying, "He's really smart. He made me think, 'There's a lot hidden beneath this person's appearance.’ We once talked about the future together, and when I asked him something like, 'What do you want to do in the future?' he had thoughts that I never would have expected."

When asked what he and Yoo Hae Jin had talked about, Lee joked, "I've been very interested in AI for the past few years. But it seems like Hae Jin sunbae doesn't really keep up with new technology."

"I think we're living in an era where, rather than exclamations, we need to be good at asking questions. I think we're in an age where AI is better at ending with an exclamation mark, and that being able to ask good questions is what makes this a more meaningful era, both as an actor and as a person. Sometimes when we talk, conversations like this come up, and I think that's what Hae Jin sunbae picked up on."

With the recent development of AI technology, dramas featuring AI actors rather than real actors are now widespread across social media. This has sparked ongoing debate, with some raising concerns about issues such as portrait rights and fears that actors could lose their jobs.

When asked about his thoughts on the matter, the actor shared his perspective: "Even for me, for example, when I watch a vlog about making coffee, I can watch for 10 to 15 minutes when it’s a person making the coffee, but I find myself not watching when it's a robotic arm making it. Ultimately, I think technology may be able to replace humans to some extent, but in the end, won't we come to long for things that carry and express the warmth of human beings again? That's how I see it."

Actor Lee Min Ho also opened up about how his outlook on life changed as he recalled the memory of nearly losing the ability to walk after a traffic accident when he was 20.

"I'm someone who strongly wants to turn even the most tragic situations around with wit. I became that way after I heard a doctor say, 'You might not be able to walk,' following an accident when I was 20."

He recalled, "I was in a very serious accident at the time. Just before I was taken into the operating room, the doctor told my mother, 'He may not be able to walk.' Worried that my mother might be concerned, I cheerfully said, 'I guess I won't have to serve in the military,' and went into the operating room. Of course, once the operating room doors closed, I was scared and frightened, and I ended up crying my eyes out."

"From that point on, my perspective on life changed. Saying it so innocently was partly to reassure my mother, but I was also afraid, so it was my way of comforting myself. Since that day, I've had this underlying mindset that, no matter what happens, I should use positive energy to think about what comes next."

Lee Min Ho won the love of fans both in Korea and abroad through numerous hit K-dramas, including The Heirs, The Legend of the Blue Sea, and The King: Eternal Monarch. Expressing his thoughts on having been ranked No. 1 as the "Most Influential Hallyu Star" for 13 straight years, he said, "I think sentiment may have been the secret to that. The characters I played in my 20s seemed to express affection that was sometimes clumsy and innocent." "I'll be turning 40 next year, so what I'm aiming for is 'mature appeal' (laughs). I think I'll probably take on more characters who are like wild grass than flowers that have grown up in a good environment," he said, raising anticipation for his future roles.

Source: Sports Chosun, Sports Kyunghyang, OSEN, The Korea Economic Daily