Big Bang - Shout Out To The World! (English Translation) [2009]

T.O.P. that sings, T.O.P. that acts [~ Pt.Eight~]

In July of 2007, I became an actor in Rapper Redroc’s ‘Hello’ MV. I had barely any acting experience unless you counted me revealing my face in some CFs. It wasn’t that I didn’t have any solo acting stress but I was excited at yet another new opportunity. Learning new techniques such as using my whole body to act out love and betrayal as well as the part where I cut my own hair.

When actors get their first script, they have a sense of joy because they live in another person’s life and it was the first time I had that feeling. It was a great achievement for me that not only could I show that I was a singer, but now an actor. As time went on, that desire became even more powerful. The desire that I didn’t only want to be doing well in one aspect but in many other aspects. Before my final goal in life to become a producer, I wanted to gain as much experience as I could in other aspects.

If I was going to hastily do things, then I might as well not start it. When I said I wanted to become an actor in a drama, Mr. YG helped me prepare an

acting course. After receiving 2 lessons, my teacher gave me this advice: if I wanted to act well, I would have to start by correcting how I pronounced words. Even though it was reasonable advice but I had a different way of thinking. I didn’t want to act like how I learned at acting school and lose my unique character, but I still went for the acting exam and answered carefully.

I received a drama called, ‘I am Sam’ where I was to be the high school king. Since I wanted to act the role out as lively and naturally as possible, I worked hard for it. I researched on expressions, poses and read the script over and over again to put the right feeling in.

However, after entering into the actual shooting there were a lot of restraints. When that happened, Mr. Kim Jung Kyu, the director for ‘I am Sam’ would give me a lot of good advice. Since I wasn’t born talkative, I had difficulties going out naturally and talk a lot like the actors the same age as me. The director saw me like that and knew my mind was preoccupied. He knew it wasn’t because I didn’t know how..it was simply that I didn’t know how to express it.

The director didn’t treat me like I was TOP from BIGBANG, but as a person called Choi Seung-hyun. He said things like, “I want to create a handsome actor through this drama”. He gave me a lot of advice for Choi Seung-hyun’s personality to shine through the drama role so a lot of faces that weren’t shown before were now starting to appear. The director even found my strong points that I had never known about and pointed them out to me one after another.

“This is your strength. Merge it well and then perfecting it is what you should do.” Director Kim became the teacher that taught me very well when I first started acting. One thing that I’m very thankful and is a memory that I will forever remember is that even though some people had a first impression of me being “a singer actor”, but a lot of people truly admired my acting skills.

Director Kim also said the following to me, “People will automatically pay more attention to a piece of paper painted with lots of rich colors because of its strong character, but that piece of paper will be unable to accept other colors. If

you want to grow more powerful as a singer or an actor, you should know the method to absorb different colors and how to mix them well.”

After hearing his words, I wake up every morning and practice hard to forget about the infatuations, sadness and regrets that I have from the day before so that my mind is a clean slate. I will then use my attitude which is as pure as a sheet of paper and welcome the new day, because I know I can only accept new things by doing so.