101106 [NEWS] Lee Joon, “Bipolar disorder and insomnia due to busy schedule, but acting is enjoyable” (Interview ②)

SOURCE: Newsen
TRANSLATION: Homaniac@AbsoluteMBLAQ (via paris @ Lee Joon Baidu Bar)
PLEASE TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS. ADDITIONAL CREDITS ARE NOT ALLOWED.

To Lee Joon who sleeps only 40 minutes in a 24-hour day, we started the conversation with “You look tired”. Lee Joon smiled and said, “I’m used to this lifestyle so I’m okay”. Among idol group members now who could be as busy as him? Preparing for a new album, ‘Jungle Fish 2’ filming and recording variety shows.

On Mnet’s ‘Kim Sooro’s Special Elite Class’, Lee Joon was seen falling asleep due to exhaustion. Viewers left harsh comments, “It feels like Lee Joon is not sincere, no wonder he didn’t get into Seoul National University”.

Lee Joon expressed that this comment is an unfair accusation. He had a valid reason for his action.

Lee Joon explained, “I didn’t have time to rest at all at the time. I know I had to study but I couldn’t do it. During the filming period I had a serious bipolar disorder, our schedule was also packed. People tend to critcised on the surface level. We practise late into the night every day, we put in a lot of effort in areas other people don’t see. We want to do well, but our bodies cannot cope. It’s very upsetting.”

Lee Joon felt that it was regrettable he failed to qualify the entrance to Seoul National University’s clothing division.

“Actually I stopped studying since 2nd year in high school. It’s not that I didn’t study well, but I had my own dreams. When other people were studying, I worked hard dancing without sleeping at night to achieve my goal. But when people saw that I failed to enter Seoul National University, they criticised me saying ‘His brain must be empty’, ‘Ranked last place’. I struggled a lot about that.”

According to Lee Joon, he is suffering from bipolar disorder because of his busy schedule, he also hasn’t been able to sleep. But he doesn’t care about the mental and physical stress, he works hard day and night to have a better image. But he is not satisfied with his effort.

“Acting is really fun. I should continue to work hard, but because we are preparing for our album and other activities, I couldn’t focus on practising my acting. It has been a long time since I’ve acted, I really want to concentrate only on acting, but my surroundings did not allow it. Whenever I had free time after filming, I had to record ‘Celebrity Goes to School’. When I had a half an hour break, I would go to the recording studio to record for the album. I want to do everything as perfectly as I can. But I could never be satisfied.”

Lee Joon is accepting and digesting his current schedule well. “I’ve had insomnia since before debut. After debut, it got better because I was so exhausted. But I’m losing sleep again lately. I spent the last two nights memorising my script, I could go on because I was in a good mood. In the future, I may not be able to appear on variety shows like now, I have to concentrate on filming drama. I also have to focus on producing a high quality album.”

Lee Joon’s passionate acting can be seen in KBS 2TV’s ‘Jungle Fish 2’ starting November 4. MBLAQ’s album is set to release next year. Let’s watch out for Lee Joon who never stops working.