Interview: Sung Hoon On “I Live Alone”, K-pop Boy Bands & Learning English

Sung Hoon (성훈) has made his long-anticipated comeback in Malaysia to celebrate Oh!K TV channel’s 5th anniversary together with local K-fans last weekend.

For those who don’t know, the last time the 36-year-old ever stepped his foot in Malaysia was almost 2 years ago – when he visited our country for a special “Korea Drama Night” event held in KLCC back in October 2017.

Prior to his meet-and-greet session with his fans that evening, we managed to get up close and personal with the “Level Up!” actor in an exclusive interview, where he shared with us his excitement on coming back here and meeting all his Malaysian fans, his stint in “I Live Alone” and more.

How do you feel knowing that a lot of fans here have been waiting for you to come back to Malaysia?

Malaysia is not a country that I can come to often. It took me 2 years to be back. I’m very grateful upon knowing that fans here are very supportive. And for me, Malaysia is a very familiar country for me in terms of the country’s image.

What do you look forward to do while in Malaysia?

To interact and have fun with all my fans during the fan-meeting.

What drew you to “I Live Alone”?

When I first appeared in the show, I didn’t think much about it. Every Monday, I’ll go the studio to shoot. Now, there’s a sense of responsibility that I’m appearing in the show as one of the regular characters. So I’m just trying to ease my mind (as the show goes).

Has you life changed in any way after being apart of “I Live Alone”?

Well, I have a lot more schedules outside being apart of a TV drama.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from appearing in “I Live Alone”?

What I’ve learned the most is to have an ease of mind.

What are some of the most embarrassing moments in the show and what stands out the most?

I feel embarrassed all the time when I’m in the studio to shoot. I never thought that I’m a person who can be mocked easily. I was made fun by the people on set almost all the time. That’s what I realised after being on the show.

Besides acting and appearing in dramas and variety shows, you’ve also participated in singing for original soundtracks for your TV series, right? So, if you have to choose, which one is more harder – singing or acting? 

In terms of singing, there are no difficulties to talk about because it’s not my place to comment whether (singing) is easy or hard. It’s beyond my concept to decide since my main scope is acting. As for acting, it has been hard and I believe it will be continue to be harder in the future.

You’ve appeared in both TV and also film. If you had to choose, which one do you prefer more? 

I don’t have any preference in terms of platforms. As long as it’s a good project, it doesn’t really matter to me whether it’s a movie or a drama series. But, just to think about the under-aged audience, it would be better for me to appear in movies, since it can reached more people.

Do you still have to go through auditions? And if so what has been the toughest one so far and how did you overcome it?

It used to be awkward for me when I first looked into the camera. Personally, I still believe it’s good to go for auditions. Because appearing in audition is important to find the right and suitable person to match with a specific character.

What’s next for you career wise? 

At the moment, there are no specific details on the project that I will take part in. But early next year I’ll be appearing in a TV drama. It might take some time but currently, I’ll be continuing to make appearance on TV shows as well as attending other scheduled activities. In addition, I’m currently studying English.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? 

I’m not really sure! (laughs) Because we would’t know what will happen in the future. I might be continuing my journey as an actor, or maybe I might be participating in doing something else.

K-pop music is quite huge here in Malaysia. We were wondering, if you could be in an idol boy band right now, which one would it be? Why?

The answer is absolutely NO (laughs). It’ll be terrible! I’ve never thought of joining (any K-pop group) in the first place.

Okay, no boy bands then. How about a message to your Malaysian fans? 

As mentioned earlier, it took me 2 years for me to come back and greet all of you. It’s not that we have the chance to meet up often, so I’m very honoured and I feel that it’s a valuable opportunity for this time to see my fans here. And I’ll make sure that we will have a lot of fun during the fan-meeting. I’ll look forward to meeting up again in the future. Lastly, I’m gonna live my life fully so you should live yours fully too.

“I Live Alone” is currently airing every Sundays at 10:55pm on Oh!K TV (Astro channel 394).