“Being Wrecked? I’m Good at It!” Seohyun Transformed into Sophie who Searches for her Dad in 'Mamma Mia!'

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is looking for ‘Dad’. As a well-made jukebox musical that weaves the group ABBA’s hit songs, its popularity domestically has not cooled off and 'Mamma Mia!' has been performed since 2004. In February of this year on stage, Seohyun appears as a bright and adorable daughter Sophie, who secretly sends a wedding invitation to ‘3 men from mom’s past who are potential biological dads’ before her wedding. Previously in the roles of Yeonwoo in the musical 'Moon Embracing the Sun' and Scarlett O’Hara in 'Gone with the Wind', Seohyun showed a new side of her; it’s not ‘an affair of an idol’, but she said “a new world opened to me and going inside of it makes me so happy”. She is a rookie actor who has devoted her body and heart to musicals. Through Sophie, who she will soon transform into, she said “you be able to see a shocking appearance” so we are looking even more forward to this piece and to this actor.Can’t you feel the bright atmosphere? (Laughs) The piece itself is very bright so the mood during practice is very good and I think it’s a piece that makes your energy run high. So even if I go to practice tired after a hectic schedule, I feel like I’m receiving energy.My current disposition and this piece are so well matched. What’s fascinating is, except for the first day of practice, it has been so comfortable. On the first day, I was like “(Quietly) Hello, I’m Seohyun” but after that, I would greet by saying “(Loudly) Hello!”. (Laughs) My personality tends to be that if I become close, I have no reservations so I think it suits me well. Very, ve~ry well. (Laughs)(Laughs) My normal personality is very bright. When I’m with people I’m close with, I’m even brighter. There are many sides to a person, so I do have a calm side but my bright side comes out more. I think I can maximize the brightness inside of me, even more.I’m still a rookie so there are so many pieces I want to do. One of them was 'Mamma Mia!' and I felt I could express and play the role of Sophie well at my current age. I really wanted to do it. I had an opportunity to audition so I really had a lot of fun preparing for it. I still have Donna’s diary. (Laughs)I think our basic dispositions are similar. Namely, the fact that we both have a lot of curiosity. To everyone I work with, even staff at skin clinic or to hair and makeup unnies, I ask “So why is this like this? Why is it like that?” on a daily basis. So they say that when Seohyun comes, they get nervous. (Laughs) I can’t stand it if there’s something I’m curious about. I need to understand why and that personality is similar to Sophie’s. The difference is our situations. I know who my dad is. (Laughs)When I was young, my father smoked cigarettes and I hated it so much. I didn’t want him to smoke so I put all of the cigarettes in my mouth. I thought it was a way of getting rid of them all myself? (Laughs) After seeing that, my father was so surprised (Laughs) After that, he never smoked. I still remember it well. It was bitter. (Laughs)It’s more tiring than SNSD dances. (Laughs) In other pieces, by the time the performance ends, the energy level is reduced, but with this piece, by the time it ends, the energy level is at its highest. You dance a lot before but even at curtain call, you have to hop around dancing to three songs. At first, I couldn’t get used to it. ‘Ah, what do I do?’ You have to sing too. Not just dance. But after doing it a few times, it’s a lot of fun so I can keep going. I think the most important thing right now is maintaining my fitness. I’ll need to do more personal training and run more. I think I’ll need to run while singing. (Laughs) I think I will need to control my breathing.I try to be consistent with cardio exercises. I do Pilates too but these days, I haven’t been consistent because I’ve been busy. I always have a running machine at home. I do cardio and sing.Joohyun unnie is my role model. I think I’ve watched all of her performances. Even before that, when I’d watched musicals, I’d think ‘Ah, it’s fun’ but after watching unnie’s performance, I was shocked. I thought ‘How can a person do that?’, and ‘How can a world like this exist?’. After watching unnie’s performances, I think I liked musicals even more. Unnie is a role model and a teacher I’m thankful for, who opened a new world for me.She listens to my concerns often, and comes to see my performances. She comes to my house in the early morning and says ‘Fix that like this’ (Laughs) She affects me a lot and she’s a really good, teacher-like unnie. If I see unnie’s performances, there’s so much for me to learn. Since I was young, she feels like a very reliable protector to me.After watching unnie’s performances, my standards have become so high that when I see regular performances, I’m not as inspired. (Laughs) When I went to New York, I thought if it’s a Broadway performance, they would all be good but I was a bit disappointed. What I felt watching that was, I must be an actor with a sense of responsibility. I had a lot of thoughts like that.Unnie takes care of herself very, very well, not only on stage, but normally. She cannot catch a cold, and to maintain her top condition. She makes no compromises with herself because even if it’s her hundredth, or thousandth performance, there is always an audience member who is watching for the first time. When she starts her performances, she doesn’t really meet with people and doesn’t even make calls. To save her voice. She mostly texts. I think it’s really amazing. I very much want to be like her.I like it but there’s no ‘this is exactly why I like it’. It just always makes me happy. When I watch a musical, I’m happy that there is a new world, and when I’m in a piece and I can go into that world, I really think I am ve~ry happy and wouldn’t want anything more. When I first did musicals, there were a lot of difficulties. Vocalization itself is different, the way you use your body is different, and acting is different from acting on camera. But I understood why people do musicals. I didn’t do incredibly well in the musical, but I think it was the first time I felt alive. After doing musicals, my life has changed. I became excited more easily, and I feel the depth to which I can enjoy life has changed. I really like it, and I’m so happy.‘Thank You for the Music’. The melody is so good, and I can really relate to the lyrics. I’m thankful that music exists, I often have thoughts like this. Normally, I always play music. Through music, the air changes and so do my condition and thoughts. I’m thankful for music and I really like listening to this song. It’s really my favourite number.She won’t be a Sophie that is forcefully created. There are a lot of similarities between the character and myself so I think I will be a Sophie who can bring those similarities to life, in a refreshing way. Fresh and refreshing, and perhaps a bit shocking. (Laughs) I’m good at wrecking myself. (Laughs) In my normal life, there’s a lot of that so it’s really exciting. Now I can take off (the façade)! (Laughs)More than any other time, I’m confident I can do my best. With that sense of responsibility, I want to show that I’m an actor you can place your trust in and I want to show that even more through Sophie this time. Please come see it! I will deliver all of my energy to you on stage! (Laughs)