[INTERVIEW] Actor Lee David

Interview with actor Lee David

Actor Lee David [10Asia/Chae Ki-won]

My name is Lee David. It has the same meaning as the name in the bible.
I was born on March 3, 1994. I am the eldest out of a boy and girl.
My ideal height is to become 185 centimeters. (laugh) Older guys tell me not to get my hopes up and scare me by saying that they've remained the same height since high school. However, I'm going to grow till I reach the end of the world!
In the movie "The Frontline," I played the role of a student soldier named Nam Sung-sik who is suddenly called to duty to the battlefield. That is why I wondered what it would be like if I was sent to fight in a war along with my friends. I found myself becoming scared just thinking about war and I was overcome with terror once we began shooting on set.
The movie was shot in the winter and it was really cold and I couldn't feel my toes because my combat boots were frozen. I thought about how useless toes were because they were frozen. (laugh)
However, the hardest part [of being on set] was the prank that was played on me. It took me several takes to shoot a very important and difficult scene for my character when a fight broke out. Senior actor Ryoo Seung-soo started getting angry and Ko Soo spoke back to him and the whole time I was thinking that the fight began because of the mistake I made. Ah, it was one of those situations where it wouldn't end even if I was on my knees. I just... missed my mom. (laugh)
I promised myself that one day I would do the same thing to my juniors. I plan on going around and playing a number of tricks when I become the same age as the senior actors. (laugh) I'm sure that they [junior actors] will be overawed by everything and won't even think about why I'm playing a trick on them. They will probably start crying like I did.
I had so much fun hanging out with senior actor Shin Ha-kyun. The other senior actors don't know about this but we have something in common that bridged our 20 year age difference. Girl groups! (laugh) Shin likes 2NE1 and IU while I like Girls' Generation and Secret.
"Arrow The Ultimate Weapon" director Kim Han-min and I have worked together before on film "Paradise Murdered." It was his directorial debut and my first movie. I don't know how Kim felt about me but I felt a closeness from him.
I am the youngest actor wherever I go and I am shy. I'm the kind of person that just sits around and laughs when the juniors act coquettish and playful. I get jealous when I see actors my age that can run up to the seniors and greet them cutely.
Fans opened a fan website about me a few days ago. The person who made it is a guy who is younger than me. (laugh) He left a message saying that he created the fan site and that I should sign up. Most of the time people leave me messages saying that they enjoyed watching my movie but it was pretty amazing to see people coming together because they were interested in me.
I play the drums in a four-member band called D.Claud which is composed of my elementary school friends. We formed the group after practicing to songs by Epik High. My friends decided on the name Claud because it was my friend Lee-woon’s English name. And we became D.Claud because I insisted that they add the letter D because David was my English name.
I was the one who wrote D.Claud's first hip-hop song. I wrote the lyrics for the rap at night when the other D. Claud members came to sleep over at my house when my parents weren't there. The title of the song is "It's Time to Eat." We are extremely satisfied with the song even though it may seem messy since it was written late at night. This is what you call a masterpiece!
I thought a lot about how I should have made my debut as a musician when I have trouble acting. When I told my mom that I want to do music rather than act she said that I will probably make a big deal and say the same thing about music six months later. She also said that I can always do music later on when I reach a certain phase with my acting. However, I want to do both [music and acting] right now. I'm not saying I don't like acting but I would like to put my everything towards music since till now acting has been my main focus.
I've never been offered a bright or beautiful role. Once, I played the role of a well-behaved son in KBS' morning series "Big Sister" and later found out that I wasn't their real son. (laugh) That was when he became twisted and started to rebel. He started crying and left in search of his real mother. He clearly started out as a nice guy but even I didn't know about this twist.
I don't know if I can do a good job but I would like to be in a light comedy that you can watch with a light heart. Just like film "Hello Ghost" which stars senior actor Cha Tae-hyun. Honestly, any movie without blood is fine. (laugh)

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