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“My body will be ‘engraved’ with my wife’s name”

In his maiden movie <I’m A Cyborg, but That’s Ok>, Rain got his own hair cut into a strange hairstyle, and acted as a mental hospital patient. However, the sacrifice of his image did not obtain the most ideal result. Just like their fascination and liking for Lee Young-jae in <Full House>, the fans like to see Rain in more of a healthy and bright image, and even want to understand more of Rain’s true colors and feelings regarding the idea of romance in this world.

In actuality, Rain’s way of expressing love, could possibly be more rigid and extreme than Lee Young-jae’s. He says that once he meets a girl whom he likes, he will ‘engrave’ her name onto himself, or ‘take on a pair of wings on his back’. (??) “However, this ‘she’ will definitely be the name of my future wife.” This form of extreme expression is for Rain to express his own steadfastness. He is a person who will not give himself an escape route; once he begins with something he will follow through with it. And once he experiences love, he will not give himself any opportunity for excuses—such as the excuse of being too busy, or the excuse that he has too many fans—Rain wants to give 100% of himself to the one he loves. This is the kind of love he is searching out for; this is a man who regards much importance on love.

“The person on the stage can never be replaced”

In South Korea, Rain has been called “South Korea’s Michael Jackson”. He is enjoying this. “Michael Jackson is also an idol that I’ve worshiped since my childhood. There is probably no one who does not admire Michael Jackson as a singer; everyone thinks that he is world star. I have studied his performances, and I am diligently trying to be like how he is on stage.” In order to achieve this goal, Rain must accept vigorous training everyday; the longest time has been 10 hours in one day. No matter how busy, he guarantees himself 2 to 3 hours daily for practice. It is to the point where he doesn’t even think about eating or sleeping, a huge strain on his physical strength. But Rain says that he is currently so used to this kind of living condition, and although it’s been difficult, it makes him happy to think that he can train together with his fellow dancers. He did not refuse to talk about this: back in his younger days when he first accepted training, he had sprouted the thought of giving up. It was because the Rain at that time was an extrovert, felt a little inferior, did not like to be in public, and was unable to imagine himself performing on stage with all the attention. But now he thinks that that mindset is silly, “Because the fact that I’ve proven that I can succeed, that I can defeat myself, the thought of being persistent is worth to be proud of.”

The Rain on stage is also not lacking self-confidence. “I will forever think of myself as the best. Nobody can surmount me. The me that is on stage will have an extemporaneous performance, for instance when I rip off my clothes each time, there will be the differences of the atmosphere and mood at that time that will bring about different inspirations. I will always be feeling proud and feeling that I’m the best; when I walk onto the stage, I am then KING. However, I am extremely fortunate that I have remained modest off stage, always thinking that I’m following behind others.”

“Developing oneself as a supporting role, is necessary in order to proceed in an orderly manner”

As South Korea’s third entertainer from the Korean entertainment world to enter into Hollywood (roughly translating this part because it puts Rain behind 2 other names whom I don’t know of), Rain decided to act in the newest large-scale and dramatic movie called <Speed Racer>; directed by the famous makers of the hit movie <The Matrix>, the Wachowski Brothers. Jerry Bruckheimer, whose works include the Hollywood blockbuster series of “Pirates of The Caribbean”, is the producer of this movie (I think this part is inaccurate, isn’t Joel Silver the producer?). At present, Rain has already attended the movie press conference held in Germany’s Berlin. AP, AFP and other key overseas news media, as well as the Wachowski Brothers, famous actors Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Emile Hirsch, and Christina Ricci and so on were also present at the press conference. The astonishing thing is, that after Rain and the Wachowski Brothers met, the directors unexpectedly made changes to Rain’s role, increasing it even more.

(Skipping the next paragraph; talks about the movie itself—facts that we already know…hehe)

In <Speed Racer>, Rain plays the role of “Taejo Togokhan”. He is a talented and outstanding Asian race car driver who resists struggle in order to defend his family and their property. At first, when the invitation was first received from the Wachowski Brothers, the aspect of this role was not extensive. But after participating in last month’s movie press conference held in Berlin, Germany, the role was expanded. One of Rain’s assistants expressed, “It is determined that there is about 40 minutes worth of acting. As far as I know, if we account the movie by proportions, he stands among the first 5 main roles.” Because this is a racing movie, movement on the race course is inevitable. In the custom of having to reach speeds of 300 km/hour during races, Rain will not be using any stuntmen but rather will be going forth on his own to battle those challenging scenes. Because of the high risk, the estimate for his insurance coverage will not be a small number. One of Rain’s assistants disclosed, “In the contract there are statements made regarding treatment and insurance given during the filming. Although at present it cannot be publicized, there is a sufficient price to repay Rain for not using a stuntman.” At present, Rain has already gone to Berlin to accept training with a special acting teacher. In addition to that, Rain will use majority of his time to work on his script and practice his English.

Rain says that the pressure of keeping up with this movie is not a small thing. But he understands that there are many Hollywood stars from supporting roles to lead roles, if they act wholeheartedly, there is possibility of even bigger disappointments. There is already limitation in the language ability, but being able to develop a supporting role, is a process one must experience to proceed in an orderly manner.

It looks like everything is going on smoothly. Rain is also continuing to mature and be at ease with his point of view in terms of developing his acting performances in a healthy way. Rain’s position in Hollywood is just around the corner.

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