Lee Min-ho picks role he wants to play for life; talks about ‘Pachinko,’ living on Mars


Lee Min-ho (MYM Entertainment)

Korean star Lee Min-ho revealed the role that he wanted to play for the rest of his life if he is given the choice.

In a video interview with Esquire Korea, the 34-year-old actor said among the roles he has portrayed, he wants to play the character of Kim Tan in his drama “The Heirs” for the rest of his life.

“I would choose Kim Tan from ‘The Heirs.’ I want to go back to high school,” he said. “The Heirs” aired in 2013 and it starred Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye and Kim Woo-bin.

When asked why he wanted to go back to high school, he said, “I want to do what I want to do without any stress for three years.”

Lee Min-ho finished filming the Apple TV Plus series “Pachinko,” which is based on the historical novel of Korean-American author Min Jin Lee about four generations of a Korean immigrant family.

He will play the role of Hansu, a merchant who built up wealth and power through his ties with Yakuza.

When he was filming “Pachinko,” he said “I wanted to be true to the character. So I tried to focus on how desperate they were to survive in that period. I wanted to express the man who has desperately survived and met the women he loved. And I really wanted to portray well how one can love one another, reflecting the male image at that era.”

Lee Min-ho also revealed that “Pachinko” will be released next year and he is waiting for it “because I know that my fans are waiting for my next project. I hope ‘Pachinko’ can respond to my fans’ expectations.

He also answered questions about his favorite summer food, the item he always carries with him and what he does when he is not working.

As to the summer food, he said, "I don't particularly eat something healthy because it is summer. But I often eat samgyetang (chicken soup with ginseng) from time to time. And I like eels so I eat them sometimes.”

About the last thing he searched on the internet, he said, “‘Lee Min-ho.’ I do search for my name at least once a day.”

The item that he carries with him all the time is his cell phone, saying, “Because people can do so many things with a mobile phone these days.”

When he does not work, Lee Min-ho said, "I tend to do self-quarantine on my day off. Because I have started self-quarantine quite a long time ago, time flies when I am at home. The day feels so long when I am not home. I really like spending time at home.

When asked who he talks to the most lately, he said, "I talk to myself a lot as I am at home doing self-quarantine.”

If given the chance to live in another place other than South Korea, Lee Min-ho chose Mars.

"With my family. If I can live someplace other than earth, other than Korea, I wonder what it would be like to live on Mars,” he said.