Shameless Prince eye candy

by javabeans

…because really, if you’re going for eye candy, isn’t shameless the best approach?

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Instant Romantic Floor – “Instant Cafe” [ zShare download ]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The first pic of “Dumb Hwang,” aka Min Yub, is of actor Lee Eon (first name pronounced “un”), whose all-nude picture was taken last year, but which has just now surfaced on these here interwebs, circulating quickly to (naturally) lots of response. The original article (posted at Today Korea) explains that Lee Eon, who started out as a model, took the photo in conjunction with cable channel M.Net’s season 2 of “I Am a Model” last August.

Ha Rim, or rather actor Kim Dong Wook, is featured in this interview at The Hankyoreh News. It’s a pretty lengthy interview, but let’s see if we can get some of the more interesting parts:

 
Due to the popularity of the drama, everyone in the cast, from the principals like Gong Yoo down to the supporting cast such as Han Ye In, who plays Eun Sae, has been garnering attention. Of them, Kim Dong Wook, playing Ha Rim, has been enjoying nearly as much attention as the leads. “In truth, Kim Dong Wook’s popularity came as a surprise. Of the three Princes, he’s the shortest, and he has a baby face. The mysterious Sun Ki (actor Kim Jae Wook) or the Prince with the masculine exterior, Min Yub (Lee Eon) would have, until recently, been closer to fitting women’s conditions for the perfect man.” But for some reason, Ha Rim — talkative, cute — is changing people’s minds.

“Yesterday (the 18th), I received the last script, and my heart just felt stopped up. Seeing the script with ‘Last Cup’ written on it, I felt sentimental, wondering how all this time has passed. I first met Ha Rim through the audition script pages. It was a character that I felt a strong desire to tackle. I don’t know if I was able to do a good job, but I won’t be able to forget him for a long time.”

[Interviewer] You hit a home run with your first drama series.

“I couldn’t even guess that I’d gain so much popularity like this. Actually, at first I was a little worried. Jae Wook, playing Sun Ki, and Lee Eon hyung, playing Min Yub, were so good-looking, I worried that the ‘prince’ ensemble would be messed up because of me. … [Laughs] Ha Rim just wanders from one person to another, chattering on [laughs], and I think he survived because of how the character became connected to the others — Eun Chan, Han Gyul, Sun Ki, Min Yub and the rest.”

He explains that the director told him that because Ha Rim is a player with women, he’d have to be a cute character. At first, he wasn’t sure how to even come across as cute — and he thought that people who purposely try to act cute are a pain. So he tried to act without being burdensome or feeling forced.

The “My Chan” nickname was written into the script, but PD Lee Yoon Jung encouraged the actors to play around with the words and delivery in rehearsals, and he enjoyed that aspect of working with the other actors.

“The endings of the scenes where Eon hyung carries me horizontally, and where sweet and sour pork is spit out because it’s too hot to eat, are mostly ad-libs.”

Actor Kim Dong Wook is a bit familiar with the situation of Ha Rim, whose parents want his character to be a doctor and fiercely oppose his path — because his own family was strongly opposed to his choice to become an actor. It wasn’t because they had no faith in his ability, but that their expectations were so high. He’d tried all sorts of things to persuade them, even running away once: “One day, my father came to take me home when I’d been drinking, and told him drunkenly how badly I wanted to act, and it seemed his feelings were moved.” Now, they’re very happy.

You’ve received attention five years after your debut. Were there times you wanted to give up?

“Yes, lots. The hardest time for me was the opportunity to audition for the movie The King and the Clown. While preparing for a musical for about three weeks, I’d made it all the way to the final auditions for King and the Clown and another movie. I thought it was my chance. But because I wasn’t prepared enough, I lost out on the King and the Clown, and I lost the other movie too. Then I hurt my knee, and couldn’t even do the musical. In one morning, everything had flown away. To do the musical, I’d even taken a leave from school. [Laughs] I drank every day, stayed home all the time, and didn’t go out to meet anyone.”

And finally:

A farewell message to the other Princes?

“Eon hyung, you’re someone who’s courteous, polite, and has a lot of affection. Because of you, filming was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed going over ideas with you. Jae Wook, always hiding your face, is similar to me, so we became even friendlier. Like me, when you have spare time, your hobby is going to the baseball field. When the drama finishes, we’ll have to get a job there. [Laughs] Meeting good people while filming is the biggest reward of working on Coffee Prince Store #1.

And there’s no current news on Sun Ki, aka actor Kim Jae Wook, but I didn’t feel right leaving him out. Enjoy.

 
RELATED POSTS:

• Second Interview: Writer of Coffee Prince
• Coffee Prince 1-episode extension confirmed
• Gong Yoo’s Han Gyul exactly as writer pictured
• Update: Coffee Prince extension still pending
• Status of Coffee Prince, Yoon Eun Hye’s health