In our interview actor Jay Kim shares his insights into the magic of the stage and what drives his performances.
Although Kim has had an incredibly successful career on screen proving his talents in films like The Incision, The Love Pentagram, Maestro, Purgatory and many others, his most beloved platform for acting lays in the theatre.
Many actors clamor for the glitz, glamour and red carpet film premiers that come along with starring in blockbuster hit films, but being cast in a big budget film does not necessarily mean an actor is good; we can all think of examples, but this interview isn’t about putting those with lesser talents in the hot seat.
Instead, I hope this interview inspires you to see past the flashy billboards that accompany popular films and realize that acting, in its oldest and truest form, came from the theater.
An actor’s real test comes when he or she gets on the stage and taps into their character, because it is there, where frequent takes and edits do not exist, that we are able to see the true talent of actors like Jay Kim.
So I know you’ve been working on A LOT of upcoming films over the past year, but you’ve also starred in several theater productions over the course of your career; can you tell me a little bit about the differences between working as an actor on stage as opposed to on film?
JK: The theatre is my true love when it comes to acting. I am passionate about film as well, but because I’ve been trained as a theatre actor for so long, the stage is my natural habitat.
For me, it is so freeing. I don’t have to worry about marks, getting out of frame, and all of the other technicalities, which limit the naturalness of a human being. To elaborate, in life, we don’t concern ourselves with our movements compromising the “viewing box”. The stage is supposed to be where real life takes place, so there are less limits and I like that.
For me, personally, that has always been the biggest difference. I’ve learned to make my movements compact and focus more on the eyes for film work, but because I must do so for close-ups and medium shots, I don’t find it as freeing as the stage where anything could happen. Of course, there are technicalities involved in the theatre as well, such as voice (one must be heard clearly for the entire audience) and not turning your back to the audience for an extended period of time while doing a scene, but these come with training.
Which do you prefer and why?
JK: The whole acting craft aside, the stage mostly because I feel as though it’s home. I love being in the dressing rooms and being on stage. I can’t count how many times I’ve snuck into theatres before or after rehearsals or shows just to lie down with my limbs flayed out looking up at the ceiling and feeling as though I were lying on a beach in paradise or something. There’s just something so attractive about the atmosphere of a stage for me.
As a theater actor, who has been your favorite director work with and why?
JK: That is a question I cannot answer because I don’t have an answer. All of the directors I’ve worked with have had their pros and cons, though more of the former than the latter. It has been a blessing that all of the directors I’ve worked with have given me the freedom to explore, improvise, and play around to test what works and what doesn’t. They were all unique in their own ways; and on a one-on-one level I got along with all of them and enjoyed working with them.
Can you tell me briefly what the production of “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui” was about?
JK: It was about sending a message. To put it simply, the play was basically about standing up and not cowering in the event that some tyrannical bully starts to stir up trouble. That was this play’s message and I think, Susan, the director, did a fantastic job of communicating it.
Brecht, a German playwright who wrote the play during WWII, set the story in Chicago using mobsters as the main focus, but as a satirical allegory, he alluded that the mobsters were actually Nazis— how did this effect your portrayal of Giri, who was really based on Hermann Wilhelm Göring, a leading member of the Nazi Party?
JK: Based on the script and the real life of Goring, there was no question that the character had to be a professional killer. Goring was an exceptional ace pilot during World War I and Hitler’s right-hand man, and Giri is “the cruelest killer in Chicago!” Therefore, I made Giri a confident and sinister individual. Giri is referred to as a “super joker” and Goring was one of the very few top dogs who did not mind jokes being made about him, so I added a dark humorous side as well.
Goring was a morphine addict, and I thought it’d be a nice touch to add an “addict’s twitch” to Giri which I think suited him. All in all, it was interesting to work on Giri due to the elastic similarities Giri and Goring shares and finding the balance of just how much of Goring Brecht wanted in Giri.
Did director Susan Bonito bring any modern elements to the production, or did the overall production stay pretty true to Bertolt Brecht’s original 1941 play?
JK: She took it down Brecht’s original road and vision of the play, which I liked. I’m not opposed to experimental theatre, nor modernizing plays, but personally, I have a type of respect for writers and their work that inclines me to prefer the writer’s intentions.
You also played Bill, one of the starring roles in the production of “Woman in Mind.” In “real life” Bill is a doctor who cares for Susan, the main character and the object of his affection, but through Susan’s hallucinations he also becomes a sly stockbroker; how did you approach your portrayal of Bill in bringing these two opposing images to the stage?
JK: I decided to completely create a polar opposite of Bill in order to serve the purpose of the stockbroker hallucination. Susan’s world is turning upside down, so I figured it’d be best to take that route. Bill is awkward, so I made the sly version overly confident. Bill is in love with Susan, so I made the hallucination disregard her. And so on.
The production was directed by Oscar Award winner Milton Justice, what was it like working with him as your director in “Woman in Mind”?
JK: We got off to a rocky start. Milton and I go back several years and we have a very close relationship. He is the one who actually demanded I drop out of my B.F.A. in Acting major in college and move to L.A. to pursue my career. I took a leap of faith because I trusted him and it worked out. However, when we did this play, because I was in the middle of a learning process that I wanted to explore and put to the test, we had a conflict regarding my work. In the end, however, we managed to satisfy both parties and carry on happily.
He also directed you in “Waiting For Lefty,” can you tell me about your character in that production?
JK: I played Miller in our production of “Waiting for Lefty”. Miller is a young man who is still employed in a sizeable corporation during The Great Depression. He is offered a dream position but under the circumstances of throwing his morals and virtues in the gutter, Miller refuses and loses his job, hence he joins the strike. He’s a good man, a stand up guy who fights for his beliefs and does not cave in.
Can you tell me about your role as the cop in “The Straight Bozo” directed by Melanie Jones?
JK: He is the absolute antagonist of the play– a no-nonsense, black and white type of character. There are two such characters in the play, Bob and the cop, Bob being the brains and the cop being the muscle. The cop uses harsh tones and brute force to exterminate all that goes against the status quo. A pawn, I suppose, in the big picture, but a defender of a belief.
What about your role as Jack Hunter in “The Rose Tattoo”?
JK: That was a particularly delightful role for me. It appealed to me heavily and I was overjoyed when I was cast as Jack. I put my heart and soul into every part, but for this role, it came incredibly fluidly.
Jack is the young lover of the play. Symbolically, he represents the clash of the old ways and the new. Jack is a proud and virtuous young sailor of the Navy who falls in a fairy tale-like love with a local girl named Rosa. It’s very lovey-dovey, the kind of love that makes one feel warm and fuzzy inside; and very beautiful and wistful.
My main concern with this role was the age factor. The director and I decided Jack would be 18 and disregard the truth to his rank in order to have Jack and Rosa’s relationship be a teenage love story. I’ve always been mature for my age and even today people think I’m older than I actually am. I’ve always played characters that are older than I am and this was the first time I had to tackle a part where my character was younger than I. So in order to serve the play in regards to the director’s vision, I worked to become younger. I guess it worked since I heard the one teenager who saw the play was convinced I was a teenager and was shocked to find out I am in fact years older.
You also played Homer in the LA Greek Film Festival, what was the name of the actual production where you played Homer?
JK: There was no actual official name for the production, but rather it was referred to as the LA Greek Film Festival Performance. The performance consisted of excerpts from major writers’ works to create a mixed work, if you will, to illustrate the beauty and talent of the writers. For me, my soliloquy was made up of bits and pieces of Homer’s Odyssey. We performed in front of something like 500 people including major industry names.
Can you tell me about what it was like playing this character and a general synopsis of the play?
JK: The performance was to be visually powerful and a well-rounded emotional journey based on some of the greatest storytellers in history. Excerpts from Homer, Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Tennessee Williams to name a few were pieced together to create, in a sense, a history lesson of notable men of the pen.
Our main job as actors in this project was to portray the unique beauty of each writers’ talents. Homer’s piece from the Odyssey that I performed was dark and mysterious. I wanted to have the magnitude and atmosphere one might feel when reading and hearing of the great ancient writer. It had to be big and amplified at the same time in order to have the full effect, so I worked on becoming a living legend, essentially.
You also played Leonardo in Blood Wedding, where was that performed and who was the director?
JK: The production of Blood Wedding, which I was cast in was done in Korea. James Hadley was the director, a very knowledgeable and trained artist from the UK.
Can you tell me a little bit about getting into your character and how he fit into the story?
JK: Leonardo is the dark, romantic lead in the play. The loveable bad boy, I suppose. Leonardo and the female lead (the bride-to-be; she has no name) were in a relationship in the past, but it was broken off.
In the play, the bride-to-be is to wed another man, a good man, but when Leonardo, who is now married, hears of this news, he has a conflict of heart. After the wedding, Leonardo and the girl run off together, initiating a manhunt.
Working on and getting into Leonardo was terrific fun; I definitely don’t see myself as the wild and sexy lone wolf-stallion that Leonardo is so it was tremendously exciting. In a nutshell, I started to analyze what made these certain individuals so attractive and romanticized and incorporated those elements into my own. Of course, all those traits had to come from a place of truth and be justified, so I did my work on those as well.
What was your character Beth like in the production of Stye of the Eye? And what was the general story of the play?
JK: Christopher Durang’s A Stye of the Eye is a one-act parody of Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind. Stye is about a violent, schizoid, alcoholic cowboy named Jake who kills his wife Beth (a part supposed to be played by a man). The play goes on with Jake’s other personality coming out to make amends and finds Beth at her family house, alive but damaged. I did the play many years ago when I was a teenager as my debut on stage and all I can remember is I had terrific fun being on stage impersonating a woman.
Out of all of your theatrical performances, which characters have been your favorites so far and why?
JK: Miller from Waiting for Lefty because of the message Odets wanted to communicate with his play and because of the chemistry between the cast, it was absurdly beautiful. I don’t know if one can have the privilege of being part of such a phenomenal cast relationship, especially given the number of actors, more than once in a lifetime. Maybe not even once, perhaps I have been truly blessed to have been a part of something so special. Jack from The Rose Tattoo because it strengthened my belief in love and personal love for Disney-like passion.
What advice would you give to other actors who want to make it in the theater industry?
JK: Though everyone is different and what worked for me may not for others, here’s a few things that have helped me: Constantly work. Do your voice warm-ups and movement exercises daily. Experience music. Watch people and their behaviors. Read, read, read. Read anything that will help you grow as a human being. Plays, (auto)biographies, history, poems. Especially poems. They will aid one to understand, interpret, and appreciate the beauty in everything.
Live life and experience everything possible. Never say no to anything new. Try it for the experience of it no matter how frightening or out of your comfort zone it may be. And when you do have a theatre gig, live! Always live on stage. Never be afraid onstage. And, of course, have fun! Knock their socks off. Impact them.