MBLAQ's Lee Joon wants his audience to tell him, "You're not the Lee Joon that I thought I knew." He wants to be known as an actor, not an idol group member.

His first lead role is in the upcoming movie, "Rough Play". He plays the protagonist Oh Young, a low level musical actor who barely gets by until he gets a huge break and becomes a national superstar overnight.

The movie's hot issue was Lee Joon's bed scene, which was revealed to be rather explicit. It was a shock to most of his fans and idol group fans in general that an idol star would be willing to expose himself to that level.

Regarding that scene, Lee Joon commented, "I worried, of course, because people perceive things differently. As for me, I had no objections because it was a necessary part of the movie. Besides, it's acting, not real life. Who knows, it might make me more popular with my fans (Laughter)."

He of course also expressed that the attention toward that particular scene is embarrassing. His desire isn't for that one scene to become a social meme but for the audience to judge him based on his performance as an actor throughout the movie.

When asked about the difficulty of character portrayal, Lee Joon stated, "I wasn't very concerned about the portrayal of the character because the scenario and the synopsis were extremely intriguing. Of course, acting is and always will be a difficult thing, but the character was easy to portray because the script was so well written. My initial worries about portraying the character was put to bed as I read through the script. It was a short but meaningful display of human emotions and life's ups and downs. It was something that can happen."

"There are a lot of emotional ups and downs throughout the movie. I expect the audience to laugh, jeer, smile, fear, and cry throughout various parts of the movie. Because of the emotional changes from scene to scene, the actors and actresses all had a difficult time going from scene to scene. I had a hard time in particular because I didn't focus on acting for a very long time while preparing to debut as an idol group. I thought the training I had for "Ninja Assassin" (Lee Joon played young Raizo) was enough for me to take on a leading role. I regret that very much."

"Oh Young, the main character, states at one point 'Flying high or a bottom feeder, once an actor, forever an actor,' and I think that's the kind of passion that I want to adopt for my life. Oh Young loses it all in the movie but cannot shake off his initial aspiration to be an actor. From this role I've learned that you need to do what you love in life, and that's the happiest way to live life."

Lee Joon is really not the Lee Joon that people thought he is. Although he showed his comical side through guest appearances in various entertainment shows, he was nothing but serious and philosophical.

Lee Joon expressed concern, saying, "I worry that I only showed my comical side to our fans and that image of me will hinder them from really getting into the movie. I'm sure it will. I think an actor has to be slightly mysterious and unseen in the public so that whatever role he plays is convincing and doesn't seem contrived. I think I'm going to withdraw from a lot of entertainment shows in the future."

"I don't know if it'll be a big hit. I don't want to assume anything because assuming always disappoints. I just want people to recognize me an actor that will star in other movies and TV dramas in the future. I want to act for a long time, regardless of popularity or success. I believe that in acting, longevity is success."

Photo credit: GQ Korea