She's been quiet for a while, but Suzy Sooyoung is returning to the spotlight in a major way, covering the November issue of Playboy magazine!
The charming shoot reveals all the unique sides of Suzy that fanboys have been dying to see since she debuted, and also comes with an in-depth feature article that showcases a new and previously unseen color to the popular idol's personality.
Take a read of the article below.
Via Playboy-Korea
"It was a tough decision, but I'm all about bold choices, so I knew it was just something that I had to do," says Suzy Sooyoung defiantly, her hands clasped tightly together as she stares at me from the other side of the booth.
We're sitting in Smokey's Gourmet Diner in downtown Seoul, discussing Suzy's decision to bare all for the pages of Playboy. She's wearing a loose-fitting floral-print sundress and baby blue wedges, with stacks of girly bangles adorning both wrists. A large and presumably expensive handbag sits next to her, concealing makeup, movie scripts, Femme Fresh, and her small chihuahua, Fifi. Her manager and assistant sit a few meters away at a different table with the buxom Trina Villota, White Entertainment's CEO. The trio have their heads down, engrossed in their Blackberries, but I notice Trina sternly watching our booth from the corner of her eye.
It's been a very interesting year for Suzy. While her former Girls' Revolution bandmates Jessica Jiyeon and Tiffany Taeyeon have gone onto great success with music, movies, and television, Suzy has been relatively quiet. She's appeared on several variety shows and made a brief guest appearance on SBS' All My Love, and even released a short-lived solo single, but compared to the rest of Girls' Rev, she's been a virtual recluse.
But now Suzy's ready to come back in a major way, and she's chosen Playboy of all places to help her do it.
"There are some people who would be afraid to do a shoot like this," states Suzy. "But I'm not just anybody. I have a voice and something to say, and if it ends up shocking some old geezer, then too bad."
But does she worry about those who might put this scandalous move down to nothing more than a desperate ploy for publicity? Granted, she isn't the first Girls' Revolution starlet to do Playboy -- that would be Tiffany -- but she is the first member of the group to actually go nude.
"Everybody wants attention and recognition," Suzy concedes, looking a little nervous as she fidgets with the broccoli in her fried rice. "But that's not why I did this. I wanted to make a statement and show the public that I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm a woman, I'm empowered, and I'm taking control."
"This isn't your typical Playboy spread," she continues, now leaning in and looking at me intensely. "It's about exploring your dark side and wearing your inner-demons on your sleeve, but in a classy and tasteful way. These photos are art, they tell a story, and for the first time in my career, I feel like people are going to see the real Suzy Sooyoung."
'Inner demons' is an understatement. In the eight-page spread, Suzy brandishes guns, re-enacts the aftermath of a brutal rape, mocks Christianity by dressing up as an Angel chained in a Satantic dungeon, and poses as Death's sex slave. Controversial? Certainly. But controversy is something that Suzy knows all too well.
"Ah, 'Freedom'," she sighs, referring to her anthemic single from earlier this year, which was instantly banned from music programs and store shelves due to its explicit cover art of a nude Suzy riding a winged pegasus through the sky.
"They used the cover photo as an excuse to pull the song, but that wasn't the real reason at all," she says, clearly frustrated as she grips a cup of chai tea. "I mean, how could it be? The photo was blurred out. They just used that to cover up the real reason."
"They?", I ask, bemused by the conspiracy theories that are obviously brewing in Suzy's head.
"Yeah, people who couldn't handle the message of the song," Suzy states bluntly. "I was talking about real stuff and providing a voice to those who don't have one, and the powers that be didn't like it. But I'm not some cookie cutter barbie doll that people can control. I have things to say, and they haven't seen the last of 'Freedom' yet."
I arch my eyebrows, and Suzy explains that she's preparing to take "Freedom" to China, her birthplace, where she will promote it with the 'Get Free' campaign -- an anti-bullying initiative that will encourage people to be themselves and experience personal freedom by tapping into their inner confidence. 0.3 cents from every sale of the CD single will then be donated to the White Foundation, which Suzy tells me is a charity started by her agency to raise funds for different causes. Oddly enough, she is lost for words when I ask her to name any of these particular causes by name.
I then notice Trina watching Suzy intently when the subject of the charity comes up, casting a stern but slightly nervous gaze over the young idol, as if she's worried that Suzy may accidentally reveal something that she's not supposed to.
Suzy, clearly growing bored and frustrated by the increasing length of the interview, begins to get distracted. She pulls on her hair like a girl much younger than her 21 years, and then begins to play with Fifi, her chihuahua. In an effort to grab her wavering attention again, I turn the topic to something more fun.
"Who is your favorite singer?" I ask casually.
"Oh, Pixie Lott!" she replies almost immediately, her eyes lighting up as she mentions the popular British singer.
Secretly repulsed but hardly surprised, I ask why.
"Just everything about her," beams Suzy, clapping her hands together and bouncing excitedly in her seat -- which just so happens to be made of leather-covered cushions, emitting a loud farting noise from all the friction caused by Suzy's inability to sit still.
"Oops..." she gasps, before bursting out into embarrassed laughter. "I don't know if that was the seat, or Fifi!"
With the mood now lightened, Suzy begins to ramble about her admiration for Pixie.
"I just feel like we both have a lot in common. Pixie does commercial songs, but she's also a talented artist who creates a lot of real music that people respect - just like me. I did some mainstream stuff with Girls' Revolution, but then I released 'Freedom' which was very alternative. You can't box artists like me and Pixie."
Now that Suzy's warmed up to me, I decide to go in for the kill and get the real dirt. From her highly-publicized split with Girls' Revolution, feuds with her bandmates, a stint in rehab, wild partying with SECRET, and most infamous of all, her on-air attack on Lee Hyori -- there's a lot about Suzy that she has yet to address.
But as soon as the words "Lee Hyori" leave my mouth, Trina Villota is looming over our booth, her enormous cleavage alone casting a shadow over my Kimchi rice. I'm told that the interview is about the future and not the past, and that I have failed to abide by the previously-agreed-to terms of the interview. Not even I, a grown man pushing forty, is going to go talk back to an angry glamazon like Trina. As she begins to rant, her breathe smelling like vodka as she throws out words like "unprofessional" and "incompetent", Suzy sits calmly, playing with Fifi like nothing is even happening. It's obvious that this spectacle is something that she's used to, but there's more to her nonchalance than just familiarity. Suzy, for all the childish hair twisting and cliched doggy accessories, is tougher than she looks, and it's this thick skin and resilience that's seen her traverse through the wild waters of catfights, scandals, and rehab, and come out the other end completely undefeated.
With Trina's abusive lecture over, I'm told that this is the end of today's interview proceedings, and that I may stop by the offices of White Entertainment tomorrow if I need any more information. Suzy stands up, smiles sweetly, and thanks me for the chat. With that said, she skips away, giggling with her assistant and texting on her phone as her wedges click-clack on the hard wooden floor.
To see more saucy photos of Suzy Sooyoung and to read her full, unedited interview, pick up the latest copy of Playboy magazine, on stands now.
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