-You acted a Koala character. Do you like Koala?
Taemin: I know very well even about its habits. I studied it after I got the role of Johnny. (laugh) Koala eats only eucalypt and acacia leaves and drinks little water. It’s said Koala means “no drink”. Koala sleeps 20 hours a day. It eats or rests for the remaining 4 hours. It lives on the east side of Australia…
-How was it when you received this dubbing offer?
Taemin: I was glad to have this opportunity to make a challenge for a new area. I told my manager hyung I’d love to take it. It’s an honor for me to work with Sunny noona and Yoon Dahoon sunbae-nim.
-It must have been easier for Taemin (to do dubbing) since you have an acting experience at sitcom Taehee Hyegyo Jihhyunnie.
Taemin: I’m not so good at acting in fact. I was at the stage of learning when I did the sitcom. I thought it would be similar, but it turned out to be difficult because I’m not really acting Johnny. It was not like acting with facial expressions, but dubbing an animation seemed totally different. As Sunny noona pointed out, we were supposed to over-act ourselves, so I tried to do so.
-Johnny is a bit timid and hesitant, and Miranda is a strong Koala character. Was there anything special the director wanted for each character’s voice?
Taemin: The director was thinking about what vocal tone is good for Johnny, and after testing my voice, he said it matches (Johnny) well, so he doesn’t have to. I was really lucky. It was easy for me because my voice matched the character’s image.
-Johnny and Miranda bicker a lot and finally fall in love with each other. I heard you recorded this part separately. The scene seems to be a bit embarrassing.
Sunny: I listened to Taemin’s recording. I dubbed over it. When I heard Taemin’s voice, I burst out into laughter. The director asked me why I was laughing, and I said, “How could Taemin record the embarrassing scene.”
Taemin: I did it embarrassed. (laugh) I re-did it after Sunny noona recorded it. The first recording is much more embarrassing than the final one.
-I heard doing exclamations are more difficult than the lines when you do animation dubbing for the first time.
Sunny: There’s a scene where Johnny and Miranda fall riding a lizard like a bobsleigh. Taemin made a 3-tier “eu-ah~” so honestly like “eu-ah~ eu-ah~ eu-ah~”. It made me laugh so much. Then the director listened to my recording and said, “Sunny-ssi, you’re not in a position to laugh at someone.” (laugh)
Taemin: Such an exclamation or breathing is really difficult, and timing is also hard. Breathing is needed for even small details. (lifting a paper cup from the table silently) This is not right. “Heu-ut~” You should do like this. (laugh)
-What is a memorable scene in Koala Kid?
Taemin: Hmm, the ending scene is memorable. There is Miranda and Johnny’s kiss scene. It came out beautiful.
-Do you want to try acting, not just dubbing?
Taemin: Given a chance, I’d like to. It was my dream to be a cool idol who can do everything well.
Trans by jujugal
*some Sunny parts not translated]
