Kim Junsu: 'The Role That Has No Correct Answer Attracts Me'

Kim Junsu will play the role of Tod in the Musical "Elizabeth".

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The musical "Elizabeth" is based on a true life story of Austria's Empress Elizabeth, and the other protagonist besides Elizabeth is Tod, which is the personified character of death. "Tod", who met Elizabeth when she was young, fell in love with her and came to stay right beside her during her lifetime while tempting her. Elizabeth, who came to be destined to live in the cage of the palace even though she had been pursuing her free life and love, became weakened by Tod's temptations.

Rookie musical actor and star idol group member Kim Junsu of JYJ will challenge himself by playing the difficult role of Tod. Kim Junsu reportedly worried very much when was first asked to play the role, regarding whether he could play the role very well or not. Kim said, "Doing something that I want to do and something that I can do is another story. I thought that 'Death' has to be grave and dignified, and the actor who plays this role has to have enough acting experience. I agonized greatly whether I could successfully play the role. But I realized that 'death' does not exist and there will be no correct answer". He explained that he decided to play the character because he would present something that does not exist. Kim continued, "The head of our agency asked me, 'Why do you think that the character should be dignified even though it does not exist?' After I listened to his question, I realized that it could be young or innocent, and I decided to present 'Death' my own way, according to how I think".

His own thoughts on death have also changed from vague ideas of "What is after death?" and "Do I really die someday?" to a more concrete definition, in which is, "Death is something that makes people feel that they are only human who inevitably die, which makes people feel miserable". Before he creates the image of "death", he thought about how Elizabeth thinks and feels before "death". Five actors who will play death and Elizabeth and the director discussed together. Kim Junsu said, "Death asked Elizabeth what 'death' meant to her, and she answered that she, who had been dreaming of free life, felt pessimistic when she became the empress. I thought that 'death' might have brought her a kind of freedom, comfort, and peace".

The character of "Death" will be played by Kim Junsu in his twenties, Song Chang-eui in his thirties, and Ryu Jeong-han in his forties. The three actors have different charms and different experiences, and their ways of presenting the same character might be different. Kim Junsu hinted that the character death that will be played by three different actors will be varied in their costumes and hairstyles, and he will present dancing more than the other two actors. He did not lose his courage in a situation where he had to appear with other veteran actors, but he said confidently, "Watching different acting by different actors who play the same character is a very exciting element and the power of the musical". He also said confidently that he could use the best of his weak and husky voice to play his character. He seemed to be free from the restraint of an actor who came from an idol group. Kim said, "I knew that some people criticized me that I had been cast as the protagonist only because I came from a star idol group, and I had been very cautious. I did not know about musicals at all when I appeared in the musical 'Mozart' as the protagonist, but musicals gave me strength and hope when I had gone through a very difficult situation, so I do not want to give up appearing in musicals. Now I only think that I have to repay the audience and the producer who have shown trust to me. It is true that I come from a idol group, and I am trying my best to change people's prejudice about me. I want to be regarded as a musical actor who really loves musicals".