No blood, No glory

FROM the romantic Il Mare to the cute My Sassy Girl to the sexy A Man Who Was Superman, leggy Korean actress Gianna Jun has been giving it her all on the big screen.

This year, she brings us the Hollywood blockbuster Blood: The Last Vampire in a bid to change her 'sassy' image and take the world's box offices by storm.

In April, a US magazine judged a total of six Korean celebrities, and 28-year-old Gianna scored four out of five points, coming out tops.

The magazine said you had a model-esque figure and looks, and also felt you did exceptionally well in Blood: The Last Vampire. How do you feel about its flattering critique of you?

I would like to thank the media for their kind judgment but whether I will become the celebrity that they already deem me to be remains to be seen.

How do you cope with speaking a foreign language?

Using English to act out an emotional scene is tough. The pronunciation of the English language is a real challenge for me. The production company engaged an English teacher for me and I practised diligently, there really is no other way.

When did you find out that you were going to the US to further your career? Did you have any concerns then?

I had no worries in particular. As an actress, the chance to act in foreign films was an opportunity too good to pass up. Furthermore, this was an action film and the thought that there would be less dialogue made me decide to accept the offer.

In this movie you execute lethal moves. What were the worst injuries you sustained? We also heard that you had to train with Japanese swords, so were you injured as a result? What preparation did you do for those scenes?

Getting injured in an action film is really unavoidable. There was one scene when I was hit in the face by a crane and I started bleeding . I also had to undergo three months of rigorous training with a Hong Kong wushu trainer. I couldn't have completed this movie without the training.

Tell us about acting in the US as opposed to acting in Korea. Any differences?

In Korea, the director will discuss the scene in detail with me before we actually shoot the scene but there's very little of that in America. This is the main difference. But in America, they are very disciplined when it comes to working hours. We will never fail to have one off day a week, unlike in Korea where we can work for days on end.

Introduce your movie to Singaporean viewers.

Please don't be put off by the ominous title of the movie. I believe the audience will thoroughly enjoy the film.

This article was first published in The New Paper

source: Diva Asia
credit: ellewoods