Hello. My name is Hyeonggyu Kim, and I am gradually building my experience step by step as I pursue my dream of becoming an actor. It has been about six months since I began formally studying acting. I do not yet have an extensive career or experience in many productions, but as I learn and practice acting, I am gaining a clearer understanding of what kind of actor I want to become and what attitude I want to bring to this journey. When I first started acting, I thought acting meant delivering lines naturally and expressing emotions well. However, through learning and practicing firsthand, I came to understand that acting is not simply about showing emotions. I learned that it is first necessary to listen to the other person, understand why the character says certain things, and imagine the situation and relationships surrounding that person. Now, whenever I receive a script, I try to first ask myself, “Why would this person say this?” The same words can have completely different meanings depending on the situation and the relationship. For example, even the short line “I’m fine” can create an entirely different scene depending on whether the character truly means it, is trying to reassure someone, or is actually not fine at all and is using the words to hide their emotions. I want to become an actor who carefully discovers these differences. Rather than exaggeratedly displaying intense emotions, I prefer performances in which a character’s thoughts and feelings can be sensed even in moments when nothing is said. I want to give performances that make viewers wonder, while looking at an actor’s expression, “What could that person be thinking right now?” My goal is to act in a way that makes it feel as though the character is truly living within the situation, rather than having the actor explain the emotions. I also want to develop my natural image into one of my strengths as an actor. I have a relatively calm and comfortable impression. With a natural style, realistic images of an ordinary college student, a friendly friend or senior, a job seeker, or a young person just beginning their career tend to come through well. On the other hand, I believe that suits or darker styling can express a more serious, composed, and cool impression. While taking profile photos, I was struck by how the same person can create a completely different atmosphere depending on their clothing, expression, posture, and lighting. In brighter and more relaxed images, I appeared as a friendly young man, while in black-and-white suit profiles, I was able to express the atmosphere of an office worker, a professional, or someone who does not easily reveal their emotions. Going forward, I want to broaden this range of images even further. Of course, I also believe it is important to begin with roles that suit my current image. Realistic characters who can easily be found around us—college students, job seekers, young professionals, friends, and juniors or seniors—are roles that I believe can naturally connect with who I am now. However, I do not want to remain limited to a single image. I am also very interested in roles with human contradictions: someone who appears ordinary and kind but makes an unexpected choice; someone who seems cold on the outside but is more tender than anyone; someone who puts on airs but is actually lacking in confidence; or someone who suppresses their emotions because they are afraid anger might damage a relationship. I believe characters with flaws are more interesting than perfect people. No one lives with only their best qualities. We all have moments of confidence as well as moments of anxiety. We may like someone but be unable to express our feelings because of our pride. Sometimes, even while wanting to be a good person, we make selfish choices. I want to become an actor who can naturally express these complicated and contradictory emotions. I am especially interested in realistic, everyday acting. Rather than making viewers feel that someone is “acting,” I want to create characters who seem as though they could exist somewhere in real life. In a scene with a friend, I want to speak as if I were actually talking to that friend; in a scene where a character argues with family, I want the emotions built up over a long period of time to emerge naturally. In the past, I tried to decide on the emotion first, thinking, “The character should get angry in this scene,” or “The character should look sad here.” Now I try to approach things a little differently. “What do I want from the other person?” “How do I want the other person to act as a result of what I say?” These are the questions I consider first. Anger may simply come from being angry, but it may also come from wanting an apology or hoping to be understood. Sometimes, a person may say something aggressive to hide their desire for the other person not to leave. I believe discovering these underlying reasons is one of the greatest pleasures of acting. Six months of studying acting is a short time when considering the entire journey of an actor. I also believe I am still at the starting point. So I do not want to exaggerate who I am at this stage. I cannot claim to have experienced many productions, and there is still much more I need to learn before I can confidently say that I can perform any role perfectly. However, there is one thing I can say with confidence: I love the process of learning to act itself. I enjoy analyzing scripts, trying out performances, reviewing recorded footage to find areas where I am lacking, and trying again. At first, I sometimes found it difficult to watch videos of my own performances. Expressions or actions I thought looked natural could appear awkward on screen, and I noticed speech patterns or habits I had never been aware of in everyday life. But rather than avoiding those aspects of myself, I came to believe that continually checking and correcting them is part of becoming an actor. I feel that the camera is more honest than we expect. When I force an emotion or try too hard to show something, it appears exactly as it is. Conversely, when I am truly listening to the other person, the performance can feel much more natural even without creating a special expression. That is why these days I believe that “doing less” is just as important as “expressing more.” I want to keep practicing acting that does not force emotions or manufacture expressions, but instead focuses on the other person within the situation. Another quality I consider important as an actor is responsibility. I do not believe a production is created by actors alone. Directors, writers, camera crews, lighting teams, sound teams, art departments, production teams, and the other actors all work together to create a single scene. I believe actors must take responsibility for their own roles within that process. I value the basic attitudes of preparing lines thoroughly, keeping agreed-upon times, cooperating with requests on set, and building chemistry with fellow actors. I want to be an actor who performs well and is also someone people want to work with again. If, on set, I could be described as “an actor who comes well prepared,” “an actor who is comfortable to act with,” or “an actor we would like to see again in the next production,” I would consider that a truly meaningful evaluation. As I prepare to become an actor, I am trying not to become impatient. Looking around, I hear that some people are filming productions, others are appearing in commercials or dramas, and others have joined agencies. Seeing this can sometimes make me feel rushed as well. But I do not believe that a career as an actor is determined solely by who started first. Participating in many productions quickly can be important, but I believe it is more important to grow into someone who can continue acting for a long time. So I want to steadily build experience at my own pace. I want to learn acting, create my profile, apply for auditions, sometimes be rejected, and build my career one step at a time by gaining on-set experience, even through small roles. I also try not to view auditions solely in terms of their results. Of course, I always want to pass and earn the opportunity to join a production. But I also understand that casting is determined by many factors besides an actor’s ability, including the image, age, and atmosphere a production seeks, as well as the combination with other actors. That is why I want to focus on what I learned while preparing for each audition. The ability to understand a script in a short time, make choices about a character, and show what I have prepared even in a tense situation are all strengths that I believe are developed through experience. Going forward, I want to challenge myself in a variety of settings, including short films, independent films, web dramas, television dramas, and commercials. At first, I want to gain experience in roles that can make use of my natural and realistic image, and then gradually expand into characters with different personalities. I want to play a wide range of characters, from ordinary young men to people who do not easily reveal their emotions, characters who act confident but are insecure inside, people who have become aggressive because of their wounds, and even villains. Even if I play a villain, I want to understand why that person made those choices rather than simply making them appear to be a bad person. That is because I believe every character is the protagonist of their own life. Rather than judging characters easily, I want to become an actor who makes every effort to understand them fully from their perspective. In the long term, I want to give performances in which viewers see the character before they see the actor. Before thinking, “Hyeonggyu Kim is a good actor,” I want audiences to first wonder, “Why did that person behave that way?” or “What will happen to that character next?” And if, after a production ends, people become curious about the actor and search for my name, I would be happy to become that kind of actor. To me, becoming an actor does not simply mean becoming famous. It would be wonderful to be known by many people, but what matters more to me is becoming an actor who can take on diverse roles in productions for a long time. Even if I begin with small roles, I want to continue gaining experience on set, show a little more growth in each subsequent production, and act for many years. I am not yet a fully formed actor. Even if I act for many years to come, I think it would be difficult to say that I am complete. Just as people continue to change, I believe actors also change through experience. The emotions I can understand now will certainly differ from those I can understand several years from now. I believe both the good and difficult moments I experience in life can one day become material for understanding a character. That is why I find the profession of acting so appealing. It allows me to understand and portray the life of someone entirely different through my own experiences. Going forward, I also want to continue basic training in areas such as vocal projection, pronunciation, and movement. Understanding emotions is important, but I believe a solid foundation is essential to communicate those emotions accurately to the audience. I also want to further develop my script-analysis skills. Rather than preparing only one way to perform, I want to explore multiple possibilities within the same scene and become an actor who can respond flexibly to the director’s desired direction. About six months since I began acting. Although I am still at the starting point, I am excited by the fact that there is so much ahead for me to experience. There are many roles I have not yet played, many productions I have not yet encountered, and many sides of myself I have yet to discover. I do not know what productions I will meet or what roles I will take on in the future. It may take longer than I expect, and I may not be selected at many auditions. Even so, I want to keep challenging myself. I want to become an actor who listens to others a little more naturally today than yesterday, and understands characters a little more deeply tomorrow than today. And whatever role I take on, I will not judge the character easily; I will continue trying to understand why that person has lived the life they have led. I want to be an actor who acts for a long time rather than one who succeeds quickly. I want to be an actor who can show a different side in every production rather than one remembered for a single image, and an actor who performs characters that are truly alive within their situations and relationships rather than acting simply to be seen. There is still much to fill in after the name Hyeonggyu Kim, the actor. I believe that also means there are many possibilities still to create. I will not take any experience lightly—whether it is one small set, one short scene, a single audition, or a practice session—and will continue building my experience step by step. If I am given an opportunity, regardless of the size of the role, I will value the production and the character, and prepare responsibly for the role entrusted to me. And someday, I hope to be remembered by those I have worked with as an actor they want to seek out again and continue watching. I am actor Hyeonggyu Kim. I will learn patiently, grow consistently, and act for a long time.