Kim Seon Ho shares the challenges of playing a multilingual character in Can This Love Be Translated

On January 13, a press conference for the Netflix series Can This Love Be Translated? was held in Seoul. Lead actors Kim Seon Ho and Go Youn Jung, along with director Yoo Young Eun, were in attendance.

Can This Love Be Translated? follows the story of multilingual interpreter Ju Ho Jin (Kim Seon Ho), who becomes the interpreter for global top star Cha Mu Hui (Go Youn Jung). 

The K-drama is penned by the renowned Hong sisters — Hong Jeong Eun and Hong Mi Ran (Hotel del Luna, Alchemy of Souls).

Kim Seon Ho takes on the role of Ju Ho Jin, a multilingual interpreter fluent in six languages — Italian, English, Japanese, Chinese, French, and Korean.

Given that the character requires fluency in multiple languages, it could not have been an easy role to perform. Kim Seon Ho commented, "I familiarized myself with the script as written, and since I'm an actor, I studied how to layer emotions onto it. At the same time, I studied the grammar and such things." 

He continued, "The preparation time took about four months before filming, and I kept preparing while filming as well. Even so, inevitably there were limits, so I focused on mastering only the [dialogue of] languages that come in the script."

Kim Seon Ho, who displayed action performances in his previous projects such as The Childe and The Tyrant, revealed that acting in multiple languages was more difficult than action scenes. "Of course, no form of acting can really be called easy, but this time, because I had to speak several languages simultaneously in a single scene, I realized that multilingual acting is not easy," adding, "When filming those scenes, it was fine because I prepared a lot, but after finishing them and moving on to the next scene where I had to speak Korean, I found myself suddenly unable to speak Korean properly."

Director Yoo expressed great satisfaction with casting Kim Seon Ho. "Beyond the pressure of language, the character Ju Ho Jin is a neat and simple person, so delicate emotional acting was important. In that respect, Kim Seon Ho came to be the one we could trust and entrust the role to."

Go Youn Jung takes on the role of top star Cha Mu Hui, a character brimming with bright energy and the charm of unpredictability. Once an unknown actress, Mu Hui rises overnight to become a top star loved by everyone. Go Youn Jung explained her character by saying, "While Mu Hui is happy about suddenly becoming a top star, she is also anxious that this celebration might end at any moment. Amid all that, I focused on expressing the excitement of meeting new people in a new place, along with the anxiety and doubt that come with it."

Can This Love Be Translated? carried out location filming not only in Korea but also in Japan, Canada, and Italy, capturing the beautiful and exotic landscapes. Director Yoo commented, "When we were selecting locations, we tried to choose places with distinct vibes so that viewers could feel as if they were traveling. Rather than being mere backdrops — since this is a rom-com — we paid close attention to making the backdrop function as a character that aligns with [and reflects] the characters' emotions."

Go Youn Jung also recalled a special experience, saying, "We saw the aurora in Canada. On the day we filmed the aurora scene, we actually saw the real aurora on our way back after work."

Kim Seon Ho also shared, "I was sleeping in the car in Canada when she called me and said, 'The aurora is out.' We passed the news around to everyone, and from our own locations, each of us captured the aurora on camera. It almost brought me to tears."

Director Yoo explained that they saw the aurora twice while on location. "The local staff told us that seeing the aurora twice is something like a miracle."

Can This Love Be Translated? will be released on January 16, only on Netflix.  

 Source (1)