T-ara’s Eunjung talks about “Dream High”, antis, and acting

There may be a lot of idol stars currently active as an actor, but there aren’t many who are acknowledged by the general public as a true actor. This is one of the greatest reasons why T-ara’s Ham Eun Jung (23) has been the center of discussion amongst the general public as of late.
Eunjung is currently acting in the KBS drama “Dream High” as a character who feels the need to compete against her pretty, talented best friend Go Hye Mi (Bae Suzy), and thus slowly transforms from an innocent female high school student to an evil antagonist. Without Hye Mi knowing, she shows evil behavior such as going through her locker to deliberately rip her shoes or purposely dropping a flowerpot on Hye Mi. As a way to cover up her evil doings, she even lets out fake tears when confronted by Jin Gook (Taecyeon).
When Chosun Daily met with Eunjung at the drama set on January 19th, the actress said, “I was able to discover than even I have an evil mind deep within me. At first it didn’t suit me, but later people began to ask, ‘Are you sure that’s not your real personality?’. I’ve even read comments such as ‘I’m really disappointed in unnie’ and ‘I like everyone in T-ara except Eunjung.’ People have slowly started to create anti-cafes against me. It’s a strange feeling, because each and every fan is very important to me. I guess this is just proof that my acting as Yoon Baek Hee comes out that naturally. In order to protect the fans of ‘idol singer Ham Eun Jung’, I try my best to show my innocence and my well-behaved manner whenever I’m not acting with Go Hye Mi.”
To be precise, Ham Eun Jung is actually considered an actress turned idol. Eunjung kickstarted her acting career after winning the ‘Little Miss Korea Contest‘ in 1995 with appearances on the SBS drama “Land” and the MBC drama “Best Theater”. “When I was 19, I was asked if I ever wanted to try singing. I always had interest in singing and dancing, but I worried a lot since I had never received professional training in those areas. I was also worried that I wouldn’t be able to act again.”
After three years, Eunjung finally debuted as a member of T-ara at age 22. Last year, she made a comeback into the acting industry as a main cast for the SBS drama ‘Coffee House’, for which she acted as a free and easy female in her early 20s named Kang Seung Yeon, who worried a lot about problems with job employment. “It was the first time I had read a script in a long time, so I was scared at the beginning. I didn’t know how to act and even cried on set… But I think I’ve gotten hold of it now.”

Excluding Eunjung, right from the start, the actors of “Dream High” were put on the chopping block for their poor acting skills, and the viewer ratings failed to live up to expectations.  Under such gloom, what was the atmosphere at the film set like?  She replied, “We discussed on how to improve ourselves as opposed to point out each others’ flaws.  We’d give advice and praise, like ‘that face expression was good,’or ‘what do you think of this?’  It’s not a matter of winning or losing, everyone has to do well.”
She also complimented her fellow castmates, Wooyoung, IU, and Suzy by stating, “Other than me being a bit more used to film sets, I’m not better than them at all.  The only advice I give is stuff like complimenting their script reading or mentioning how nice they look at a certain angle.”
In the third episode, Eunjung performs a remix of miss A’s “Bad Girl Good Girl.”  When asked whether she felt bad about the producers choosing a miss A song over a T-ara song, she replied, “I think the director purposely chose it to keep up a sense of tension.  I remember someone once said that I was ‘even stealing Suzy’s song now.’  I just consider it one of the joys of watching a drama.”
She added, “Bae Yong Joon senior is currently hospitalized, but he’d send me texts of support like ‘your gaze was strong today.’  Park Jin Young senior teaches me singing and dancing every opportunity he gets.”
Eunjung revealed that she enjoys watching dramas and movies, but for the purpose of her role, she avoids them now.   She reasoned, “On days I watch movies, I immerse myself into the leading role.  I’ll just watch them all at once after the filming for ‘Dream High’ ends.  For now, I just want to immerse myself into the role of Baek Hee, so I don’t have much time to think of anything else”
She concluded, “Next time, I want to act as a lover in a sweet romantic comedy or a mellow genre.  Just like in ‘Coffee House,’ and now in ‘Dream High,’ all I’ve been playing are roles that have crushes.”
Source: Chosun Ilbo via Nate
via: AKP