Here’s a good article to read from Park Jin Hee in regards to her current drama, “Still, Marry Me” opposite of Kim Bum.

Park says career success does not quench one’s thirst for love

“You shouldn’t be like that with someone who is around your mom’s age”, Ban-suk (played by Choi Chul-ho) says to Min-jae (Kim Bum) upon seeing a seemingly intimate picture of him and Shin-young (played by Park Jin-hee) together. That comment Ban-suk made during preview showing of a scene shown for the press on the set of “Still, Marry Me” on February 2 may probably speak for what all viewers of the show probably feel. And like so, there are a couple of scenes in the drama that the public can relate to but some which also brings several questions to mind. Why is the story about a couple composed of woman who is older than the man and why does it focus on the topic of marriage? These questions were asked during a press conference attended by director Kim Min-sik, actress Park Jin-hee and actor Kim Bum.

Q: How does it feel to play a couple where the woman is older?
Kim Bum (Kim): I like the role but I think Park Jin-hee is tired. Yesterday’s shoot wrapped up just this morning.
Park Jin-hee (Park): Other than the fact that it is physically draining, I am very happy to be shooting the drama.

Q: The expressions of affection between your two characters can be a bit too lovey-dovey at times.
Park: Really? Which scene?
Kim: There are some scenes where I cringe too but you haven’t seen it all yet. (laugh)
Park: I think it’s at a pretty normal level up until the fourth episode. We’ve been trying to anticipate how intensive it gets — to the point where we can’t wait for the script for the following episodes to come out. So it’s a bit iffy when you put it that way. (laughs) What I will tell you though is that we shot a scene where we share a scarf together.

Q: What is the reaction towards you guys as a couple due to the large age gap?
Kim: People around us were worried when the pilot episode aired. And there really is quite a large age gap between us so I was worried we would really look like a couple when we stand next to each other. But people who have watched our show have told me we look better together than they expected and have encouraged me to work harder.
Park: I actually thought he would be a baby because of his actual age. I think that’s why I was skeptical in a way in the beginning but Kim Bum is very mature and masculine so it’s been easy shooting with him.

Q: Can you give us an example?
Park: We were talking about birthdays at one of the get-togethers off shoot and he bought me a winter supply kit. Another example is that when some of the female characters were shooting a party scene, some were revealing quite revealing clothes and he brought over blankets and a heater for them. Whenever he acts older, I ask him, “Did you lie about your age?” Unlike people from his generation, he says ‘primary school’ instead of ‘elementary school’. (laughs)

Q: So what the meaning of this sort of relationship in “Marry”?
Kim Min-sik (Kim MS): Single women in their mid-30s probably don’t trust men who are around their age or older. They probably suspect that there is something wrong with them. (laughs). And the men that seem okay are taken and so I don’t think deciding to go out with a guy who is younger isn’t about making an extreme decision or fulfilling a fantasy. What’s important is not the fact that the woman is the older one in the relationship but that it’s a decision a woman in her mid-30s, with her work and philosophy in life, has made.
Park: When I first received the synopsis, I actually told the producer that it’s hard for me to relate to the story because of the big difference in age. There is a scene in the drama where Da-jung (played by Uhm Ji-won) talks about the age difference between Min-jae and Shin-young but I think Korean society has yet to become ready to accept it. However, upon shooting episodes five and six recently, I’ve come to realize there is an emotional part that you can’t control rationally. I think it can’t be helped because my character happens to fall in love with a guy who turns out to be 12 years younger. She didn’t fall in love with him because he is that young.

Q: Do you think it’s possible for such a relationship to work out in reality too?
Park: If the two have a connection and can converse with each other, it doesn’t matter if the person is 12 years younger or older because age is merely a number. The important thing is how that relationship starts and whether you come across that opportunity to meet a younger guy. There aren’t many opportunities you get to meet a younger man but if you come across that chance and both share the same feelings, I think it could be possible.
Kim: I think it’s possible. Since I started working at an early age, I’ve mostly talked to or received advice from people who were older than me. I’m so used to that, that I feel uncomfortable when I meet people who are the same age or younger than me. I also think you can see someone regardless of nationality or race, as long as you can talk to each other.

Producer Kim Min-sik

Q: Then why is the drama so lenient in creating a couple with such a big age gap but so focused on the woman getting married?
Kim MS: The title of the show is “Still, Marry Me” but it should actually be “Still, Love Me.” People may think why would a successful woman need that? But no matter how successful a woman is, aren’t they still thirsty for love? To find the man that they truly love?
Park: Even for me, I work hard, I’m healthy and I try to live life to the fullest but love is difficult to find. Whether is be my guy or girl friends at a get-together, we’ll start out by talking about how our stocks are doing or how they got a raise for their paychecks but we’ll end up talking about our first loves or dating. I think that shows how important love is as a driving force and that thirst does not get quenced despite how successful you are.

Q: Shin-young is a character that women in their 30s can relate to but male viewers may think Min-jae is annoying for being the so-called ‘perfect man’. (laughs)
Kim: I don’t know… I’m not the type that is conscious of what other people say or think about me but I cut off my Internet at one point because I because so exhausted both mentally and physically. I just don’t want to be bothered with what others say, hindering my own judgement about my acting. Even though Min-jae is popular among female viewers, he is a person who doesn’t believe in love. He grew up in that kind of surrounding and I think when he meets Shin-young is when he figures out what true love is. I hope to portray that image to the viewers during the latter half of the show.

Q: Women in their 30s will be able to relate to the drama but KBS’ “The Slave Hunters” is currently the most-watched Wednesday and Thursday night show. I’m curious to know how you will make the audience watch your show instead.
Kim MS: I knew from the start that “The Slave Hunters” would not be easy competition. But scenarist Kim In-young has put in a lot of effort into the script and has endurance so we’ll go with the story we agreed to show since the planning stages of the drama. There’s a lot of humor in the beginning of the show but will increasingly revolve around love and end up talking about deadly love. Not the ‘because of so and so’ type love but the ‘madly, cannot help falling in despite’ type of love. That’s how we are rolling for the show, with whatever the writers have prepared for us and I as the producer and the actors will try our best to deliver a story.

Reporter : Wee Geun-woo eight@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Lucia Hong luciahong@asiae.co.kr

When asiae gets up-close and personal with Kim Bum, I knew this might be something special for some of you, BOF fans ;) Check out what this hardworking, very young talented actor (he’s barely 21!) has to say about his work…

He is just 21 years old now. So it could be due to his youth, but Kim Bum is a young man with the face of a boy who never takes a break. Last year, he led the beginning of MBC TV series “East of Eden” and after spending the first half of 2009 working on KBS’ “Boys Over Flowers”, he finished filming “Emergency” and went straight to shooting SBS “Dream”, which aired starting July 27. His new name is Lee Jang-seok, a pickpocket-turned-combative sports fighter. In a world where twenty-something actors complain about the lack of good work and producers about the lack of good actors, Kim Bum is a rare young actor who continuously works hard on his career. What has this young man, the one with a shining smile and passionate eyes, been up to lately? 10Asia met for an up close and personal interview with Kim Bum at the press conference for “Dream” in July.

Actor Kim Bum [Part I]

10: Do you feel different after doing “East of Eden” and “Boys Over Flowers”, in terms of your popularity, for instance?
Kim Bum (Kim): I actually don’t really know because I’m always engrossed in my work. But I’m grateful that fans in Japan and other Asian countries have shown so much support for “Boys Over Flowers”. And I feel that Korean fans have also become more active. The senior actors in “East of Eden” taught me a lot of things, and even till now, I call up director Kim Jin-man and the cinematography director to ask about things I want to know about acting. And I’ve become very close with the F4 brothers in “Boys” and Koo Hye-sun, who played Geum Jan-di, so we all got together for my birthday recently after wrapping up work early. I was disappointed that Kim Jun couldn’t join us because he was working in Japan.

10: You must have had a lot of jobs offered to you after “Boys”. Can you tell us the reason you chose to do “Dream”?
Kim: I actually had finished shooting “Emergency” in between the two dramas which I think is going to open around the Thanksgiving Chuseok holidays. “Dream” will be the first different role the public will see take on after playing So Yi-jeong in “Boys”. I keep getting great parts, and some people might worry that I’m doing too much too fast, but it’s not like that. I thought a lot about it before I chose to do it, and I tried to concentrate as hard as possible in a short period of time. First of all, I was attracted by the drama’s portrayal of the world of professional athletes and sports agents. In fact, “Dream” is not so much a combative sports drama but a human story about one character meeting good people and how much he changes and grows through that experience.

10: Tell us about your character, Lee Jang-seok.
Kim: He has the nature of a fighter, but he is actually very soft-hearted and lonely. He grew up in poor family surroundings and his pickpocket father taught him how to pickpocket after making him quit middle school. He ended up going to a juvenile reformatory in place of his father, so he has a lot of wounds because of him. He is sick of his father, but he also longs for paternal love and so he acts tough in order to protect himself. He’s similar to the character So Yi-jeong in “Boys”, who looked dashing, cool and glamorous on the outside but also had complex family issues. Personally, I feel compassion for the two characters and there are aspects of them that I respect as an actor.

10: But this character is completely different from So Yi-jeong on the outside. (laugh)
Kim: Truthfully, I was pressured and worried that the fans who liked So Yi-jeong wouldn’t be able to relate to this character. But now I’m so into Lee Jang-seok’s character that all I can think of is how to express this guy. An actor has to keep changing and not settle for one image, so I hope the viewers will be able to free themselves of the fantasy of “Boys” and see me as actor Kim Bum. I can’t live as So Yi-jeong of F4 forever, so I want to leave it as one of my great memories.

10: What kind of responses have you received about your transformation in “Dream”? (laugh)
Kim: I actually hadn’t really been aware of it, but on my birthday, somebody told me that I seemed colder than I was when I did in “Boys”. I took it as meaning that I’m that much more into the character, so it was a good thing, but ‘colder’? Come on. (laugh)

10: The process of transforming must be interesting — turning from a pickpocket to nightclub waiter and to a combative sports fighter.
Kim: After he does serves at a reformatory in place of his father, he comes out and looks for a job but he can’t find any because of his bad record. So he gets a job at a nightclub, gets caught up in a violent fight, and sports agent Na Jae-il (played by Joo Jin-mo) who was at the scene helps him debut as a combative sports fighter.

10: How did you prepare to play the role of a combative sports fighter?
Kim: I don’t have much time to learn these days because we are shooting all the time. I did learn the basics from a real combat sports fighter before going into shoot. But no matter how hard you practice, everything changes once you actually go into shoot so we just go with the flow. I haven’t filmed the fighting scene yet.

10: What’s the atmosphere like on set?
Kim: I was in shooting in Ilsan until dawn and came down here and I’ll have to leave for Japan again tomorrow for a press conference. It’s a full schedule so everybody is tired, but Mr. Oh Dal-soo, who plays the father of my character, really livens up the set with his ad-libs. One time I was in a scene with my eyes closed and it was so funny just listening to his ad-libs that I started laughing and made a blooper. (laugh)

Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@10asia.co.kr
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Jang Kyung-Jin three@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr

10: You’ve appeared in a pretty wide range of dramas since your debut. Was there a particular moment that was a turning point for you?
Kim: I appeared in “East of Eden” four times, from episode two to five, but that took over half a year to shoot. There was a jump time-wise between those episodes, but I lived as my character Lee Dong-chul for nearly seven months. My first appearance in episode two and my last in episode five, felt like they were different people, so that was particularly memorable. And especially when I was shooting my last scene, I had a hard time getting out of the character and I was worried about how I should choose my next role. I still have a lot of affection for Lee Dong-chul and I worked with really great senior actors, so I think I learned the most from that drama.

10: You didn’t shoot that many scenes in “Eden”, but you succeeded in making a lasting impression in the beginning. You got rid of your cute image and played a very desperate-looking character. From your early years, you seem desperate and hard-working in whatever you do.
Kim: I’m enjoying myself quite a bit while working. Do I look too desperate? (laugh)

10: Where do you get such strength?
Kim: I really hate losing — it’s in my nature. And more than anything, when I look at the eyes and actions of people who believe in me and support me — like my family, fans and staff — I can never do anything half-heartedly.

10: When one starts acting or enters the entertainment industry at a young age, they get stressed or get lost as time passes. How is it for you?
Kim: I don’t have time to get lost. (laugh) And I don’t want to get lost. I wouldn’t call it getting lost, and I do want to travel and enjoy school like other people my age. But I chose this life, so I think I have to get rid of the desire for freedom. I think it’s the only way. So far, I have never regretted it, not once.

10: Then what do you usually worry about?
Kim: Well, mostly about work. Is that too boring? (laugh) Especially for “Dream”, I was the last to join among the actors so I had the least time to prepare compared to others, and I had to concentrate as best I could the shortest time possible. So I worried a lot about that. These days I worry about how I should get out of my previous character and into the character of Lee Jang-seok.

10: Last year, you enrolled in the Movie and Theater Department at Joongang University. Is it possible to lead a life as actor and student?
Kim: I think it is difficult to do two things together, so I’ve taken this semester off for now.

10: Are there any dreams you want to achieve through “Dream”?
Kim: Just like an actor has people working hard for him behind the scenes, such as managers or stylists, an athlete and a sports agent are also dependent on each other and inseparable. I hope the drama is able to show you well about how they overcome many obstacles together and gives the viewers a sense of dream and hope. And I have never won anything at award shows so it’s my personal wish that the drama “Dream”, not me, wins one. (laugh)

10: You’ve been working steadily as an actor. Is there anything you are interested in doing and wanted to do more of?
Kim: I want to try directing, if opportunity arises. I don’t want to do it just because I think I have the advantage as being an actor. It’s my dream to prepare really hard and seriously for it and direct anything, such as an indie or movie or play. All my friends are acting majors, so I think it would be great to do one together.

Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@10asia.co.kr
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Jang Kyung-Jin three@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr

After months of “Boys Over Flowers” craziness died down a bit, they made an appearance together again to support Kim Joon’s musical debut. But where is Jihoo sunbae?

“Boys Over Flowers” F4 members come to support Kim Joon

On October 21 yesterday, Lee Min Ho, Kim Bum and Gu Hye Sun attended Kim Joon’s theatrical debut, “March of Youth,” last day. For a little over three months, Kim Joon has been out of the loop doing his best for this debut. And despite the fact of their busy schedule, Lee Min Ho, Kim Bum and Gu Hye Sun made time to make a surprise visit. After the show is done, they went to meet Kim Joon at the hallway.

They stayed over for almost 2 hours, to encourage Kim Joon and surprising the concert audience, enough for people to them to see just how deep their friendships are with each other. The four people gathered around under one roof to support each other’s solo activities.

Kim Joon’s final message after he finished the show, “I’m very happy to be able to spend all these hours during the three months with my fans. Thank you so much for all the supports.”

Meanwhile, on October 23, Kim Joon and his fellow T-Max members will be touring around Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan for a visit to meet all of their fans.

^yup, that’s Gu Hye Sun alright~ with red sweater, even though she covers her face with the hood, I mean, it’s still RED~ Hello~ lolz, cute.

^looks like Minho caught the camera… SMILEEE.

^Kim Joon looks so happy on stage. Congrats!

Oh look~
Kim Bum & Lee Min Ho, together again… attending SS501 Asia Tour Concert in Seoul.

Four years after their debut, idol group SS501 held their first Asia Tour Concert, starting with their home-based city, the Seoul concert.

Held yesterday (Korea time) August 1 at the Seoul Olympic Park – Gymnastics Stadium, and the fact that Kim Bum and Min Ho showed up, attracted more attention from the concert goers. This small reunion, though isn’t complete without Kim Joon, has brought many smiles to those lucky attendees, especially “Boys Over Flowers” & F4 fans ^^

And here’s Leader Kim Hyun Joong lookin’ all sleek and (still) hot. :-)

Looks like Go Hye Sun came to support also ;-)

Oooh~ he looks hot and sweet at the same time ^_^
Great publication, btw. With these pictures released online, the movie sure will be such a hot shot for Kim Bum. First movie kiss and all. And plus, he looks great in these pictures~

Kim Bum’s first movie kissing-scene

The “handsome’ Kim Bum is currently filming his new movie, “비상” (Bisang) with his co-star, Kim Byul. The two shared a kiss as their characters confirm their feelings for each other. This will be Kim Bum’s first movie on-screen kiss.

The movie ‘Emergency’ explores the process of ‘growing up’ from youth to adulthood – dealing with love, pain and suffering before going to maturity. As for the kissing scene, they filmed it at a sandy beach in Busan. Both actors worked their best with the help from the new movie director, Park Jung Hoon directing them with the right ’shooting-angle’ to film this special scene.

“비상” planned to be released in the latter half of this year.