[TRANS] K-Wave Magazine: Jaejoong, a Special Actor

It’s not Kim Jaejoong the singer, but Kim Jaejoong the actor who lets us discover a bit more about this “himself” who entered into a new domain.

Being the favorite idol of the public, he now plays in “Protect the Boss” as a cold urban man, Cha Moo Won, who as nicknamed “Prince”. It is his first time appearing in a drama as one of the main roles, yet is acting is very successful, as proven by the positive reviews from the viewers.

“I regret my role in Heaven’s Postman”.

It is indeed not the first time that Kim Jaejoong goes in front of the camera. In 2004, he was a figurant in Gang Jaekyu’s movie “The Taekugi”. But his career really started in 2009 in the movie “Heaven’s Postman”, produced by a korean PD but with a scenario from the Japanese writter Kitagawa Eriko. Jaejoong still feels sorry towards the lead actress Han Hyojoo and the PD Lee Hyungmin because of his lack of skills as an actor. Back then, he was actively promoting as a TVXQ member, and he regrets not having been “prepared” to be an actor. He also wasn’t eager to act. “If I could re-do this movie”, Jaejoong says, “I would do my best to maximize my potential”. 

Being able to see his attitude towards acting, you can tell that he’s serious about it.

After this, he filmed along with Japanese celebrities Ueno Juri and Eita in the drama called “Sunao ni Narenakute” (Hard to say I love you), broadcasted on Fuji TV in Japan. A lot of critics were favorable to Jaejoong, and he remembers that it is back then that he changed his attitude towards acting.

Following this, he became highly demanded in the Korean drama industry. He reviewed offers for both dramas and movies, but had to refuse more that a dozen of them due to a packed schedule that was including a worldwide tour with his group.

After this long period of time, his fans got excited about him finally accepting a drama offer. Jaejoong said that the story, the ideas and the character he plays please him.

He particularly appreciates “Protect the Boss”. He was worried that the audience would consider him as a singer only, and hence insisted on getting a correct preparation in order to fit well among the other actors. He mentionned once that he would do his best to focus on his role but also has some interest for the idea of winning an award or having high viewer ratings. He uses the word “pit-a-pat” to describe his feelings, he feels anxious about doing something new, but not pressured.

“Cha Moo Won” is an untypical character”.

The drama “Protect the Boss” has been written by Kwon Ki Young, known for “Crazy about love” and has been directed by Son Jung Hyun, who was also the PD for “Lovers in Paris”. The story is about an unexperienced secretary who meets the “infamous despicable second-generation Chaebols”. Jaejoong plays a young entrepreneur, Cha Moo Won, who is nicknamed “Prince of the financial world”. He’s supposed to be an infamous second-generation Chaebol and also has an astonishing ambition, good skills and great social abilities. This is why he is nicknamed “Prince” wherever he goes.

He is in conflict with his cousin Cha Ji Heon, played by Ji Sung, the other main character of the story. Encouraged by their parents, they fight for the managing rights of the family business.

Jaejoong – or Cha Moo Won in the story – has a soft image that fits his meticulous mind of business-man. He looses this image when he’s in front of his cousin. This is when his untypical side comes out, Moo Won becomes childish and immature when they meet each others. This unbalanced personnality makes the character and the story very interesting. Jaejoong says that his personnality is very different from Cha Moo Won’s, as Cha Moo Won is flawless.

To prevent himself from copying someone else’s acting, Jaejoong didn’t study or watch other similar korean dramas such as “Secret Garden” or “The Best Love”. In these two dramas character that are similar to Jaejoong’s appear: Kim Joo Won and Jin Dokgo. Instead he started thinking as a real secong-generation Chaebol. “How do they think?”, “How do they behave?”, “How do they dress and talk?”… These are questions that he asked himself.

In order to avoid everything that isn’t necessary to Kim Jaejoong’s image, he purposedly tried to keep his hairstyle and his fashion style simple.

Source: K-Wave Magazine
Translation + scans by: JYJinEurope
Shared by: JYJ3