Eric (a.k.a Mun Jung Hyuk): The leader of Korea's longest-running idol group. A superstar with several hit dramas on his resume. Earning praise from senior actors/actresses such as Choi Min Shik and Shin Eun Kyung, and featuring in albums of prominent rap artistes such as Joosuc, Cho PD, Lee Hyun Do, and has a wide network of friends. In summary - hardworking, cool, popular...But then, everyone already knows that.
Q: Can you write a two-line verse with your name?
Eric: E (에) - ERIC (에릭) being said backwards would be.... Ric(릭) - Ric-E (릭에)
Q: Who's your favorite entertainment personality?
Eric: Masaru
Q: Say something to your fans
Eric: If a hedgehog walks by, night has come.
How has this person with the exterior of an idol and the soul of Masaru survived 10 years in the entertainment world?
Shinhwa
The idol group that has survived for 10 years and going strong. Making their debut with Hae Gyul Sah, and known for their impressively complicated dance choreography for songs like Wild Eyes and Wedding. Eric is the leader of Shinhwa, and takes up the role of the cool rapper. Although he's been assigned the image of charisma in the group, but that is solely his exterior image. To the fans, they are well aware that Shinhwa members attempt to scale walls in waiting rooms and pull off silly stunts during interviews. Shinhwa's leader Eric contributes a great deal to the group's gags. He would sometimes pull his hiphop-style pants right up to his waist. When Junjin asked him during an interview, "Why do you like to hug me at night?", he simply answered "Omo, the child is shy! If you dare to hug me again, I will hit you", fulfilling his duties as the 'gag' leader.
Junjin once said of Eric, "He's very chatty and he loves to crack jokes, but once he goes on air he becomes much too tough." But Eric also said, "I'm often placed in the centre among the Shinhwa members. I don't like that. I never intended to step out to do anything." In the group, he never thought of stepping into the limelight, and his real self wasn't known by others not close to him. Yet, Eric started to gradually step into the limelight when Shinhwa's contract with SM Entertainment ended. At that time SM Entertainment still owned the rights to Shinhwa's name, and Eric had to put himself through a crash course in legalities to resolve Shinhwa's contract issues. In the end, Shinhwa left SM with the rights to their name. Since then, Eric started to become more active in solo activities, and the funny side of him slowly became known to the world. According to Eric, "The members will find it very awkward if we praised each other. We're happier teasing and messing with each other."
Shin Hyesung
Shinhwa member. The creator of "kaptuktwi" (Abbreviation for "kapchagi tukhago twieonaon"/ "suddenly jumping out"). The reason for bringing up Shin Hyesung is the love-hate relationship he has with Eric. They are what the other Shinhwa members call "oil and water". And "kaptuktwi" is also a term that Shin Hyesung came up with in a message about Eric which he left on their website. One of the lines in the message was,"My computer at home isn't working. Please help me repair it Professor Dongwan, kekeke (kap.tuk.twi)". Eric's reply was, "It was antagonized by an ant that was passing by. And it was the smallest worker ant." And his reason for sleeping at night with his eyes open was "Hyesungie might hug me when he sleeps." And when asked which member he would like if he was a girl, he said "Hyesungie. Because it's more convenient since we're both girls." Eric often makes such comments to provoke Hyesung. Their oil-water relationship doesn't just affect their image, but to Shinhwa's image as a whole. Their situation provides their fans with a lot of room for imagination, and has made Shinhwa the kings of fanfics. Even Eric himself once mentioned that he has come across many Ricsung stories among the fanfics.
Besides his relationships with Hyesung and the other members, Eric's unique personality has made him the pioneer of the 4th dimension. Among his classic 4D remarks: "In future if I get scolded by the officers in the army, I'd catch an ant that's passing by and complain to it", "Shin Hyesung has a cat's blood flowing in him, Andy has a comedian's blood flowing in him, Minwoo has Choi Minsoo's blood flowing in him, Junjin has a sportsman's blood flowing in him, Dongwan has blood flowing from his nose, Eric has green blood flowing in him."
Park Jung Soo
MBC's drama PD. He handpicked Eric for the MBC drama Breathless. At that time when he saw Eric reading the script during the casting call, he said "His performance is the worst. It doesn't get worse than this. But not being shy when he was reading the script is a good thing." After saying this, he "made a life-changing in 0.5 seconds". He recommended Eric and Eric was quickly confirmed for the role. That decision changed Eric's life. Before he started acting, he "was living a life where he slept only in the morning and woke up late in the afternoon. After acting in Breathless, I placed the reviews of my acting as a lesser priority, and instead I changed my way of thinking, my life, my everything. I used to waste my time recklessly and I started to think about what I wanted to do, and to look for the things I wanted to do."
"I felt that I was starting from scratch as a new actor, so I decided to use my Korean name Mun Jung Hyuk." He even personally thanked and replied all the people who criticized his acting on the viewers' messageboard."
Cha Eun Tae
CF/MV director. He worked with Eric on various CFs, including Megapass, AnyMotion and AnyClub. Through these projects, Eric proved that besides being an actor and a rapper, he was also a stylish and fashionable guy. If we say acting and singing laid the foundation for his career, then Cha Eun Tae's CFs and MVs created the Eric Style. Through the dramas Breathless. Phoenix and Super Rookie, he has proved himself to be a real actor. Through the CFs and the MVs, he has proved that Eric, not as a Shinhwa member but as a solo act, also possessed star quality.
Park Shi Yeon
Actress, and was in a relationship with Eric. At that time, Eric disclosed the relationship on his website, resulting in quite a media ruckus as there weren't many cases of popular idol group members admitting to being in a relationship. After Eric went public about the relationship, their dates were once again the centre of media attention.
Eric eventually became known for not being afraid to disclose his personal life and opinions. When a certain journalist made scathing criticisms towards Shinhwa's 7th album, he replied "If you want to criticize us, please make sure you're qualified to do so" in a long message on their website. When he was acting in Breathless, his fans made personal attacks towards other netizens who criticized him. He said, "I'm not the kind of hypocrite who wants to make my fans like me at all costs." About his popularity after appearing in Phoenix, he said, "I didn't actually get recognized for my work, it's only an issue of popularity, and as a result I have to live as someone I'm not. This so-called popularity makes be really uncomfortable."
For someone who prefers a carefree and laidback life, this unfortunate situation is expected. In a random personality test that he did during Shinhwa's early days, he was asked to make a sentence using 'I', 'rabbit' (signifying his partner), 'keys' (signifying ability or wealth) and 'bridge' (signifying difficulties). He came up with, "I will use the keys to unlock the rabbit from the bridge that it is locked to." - I will use my abilities to rescue my partner from difficulties. He ended by saying, "The rescued rabbit will come with me on the path I'm taking."
Lee Seon Mi-Kim Ki Ho
Drama scriptwriters, who wrote the screenplays for Super Rookie and KSA (Invincible Parachute Agent). Although Eric once commented that he didn't put in particular effort for Super Rookie as he thought he would never work with the writers again, but in order to get the role in KSA he had to be rejected by them twice before he persuaded them to cast him in the role. Super Rookie and KSA were the turning points in Eric's career as an actor. Drastically different from the suave image of Director Seo Jong Min he portrayed in Phoenix, Kang Ho and Choi Kang were characters that were more realistic and somewhat with a 4th dimension personality. Super Rookie, KSA and most recently Strongest Chil Woo have all captured the attention of viewers with their unique humor, and Que Sera Sera has also broken the tradition of typical melodramas. Of course, due to the subject and nature of these dramas, they didn't do particularly well in terms of ratings. Yet, a devoted fan following of these niche dramas still developed, and Eric is still doing what he wants to do.
Yozoh
Singer, whose claim to fame came about with her song My Name Is Yozoh in the Olympus CF. Eric recently worked with her on the digital single Nostalgia. The pairing of an indie singer and a idol star may be a little strange but the rapper Eric has a wide network of firends. Besides featuring in the albums of his fellow Shinhwa members, he has also featured on tracks for Lee Hyori, Lee Soo Young and Lyn. He also participated in albums of hiphop artistes such as Lee Hyun Do, Joosuc and Cho PD. Despite being a superstar from a top idol group and a popular actor, Eric would still feature on tracks for friends for the price of a slice of pizza.
As an idol group member he doesn't hide his relationships from the public eye, and as a star he features on albums for friends out of goodwill. MC Kim Won Hee disclosed that he generously gave a wedding gift of 1 million won. As a superstar he still chooses to live freely. What's even more special about Eric is he doesn't see himself as a star and continues to live his life in a carefree and laidback way. He's enjoying great popularity, and he quietly goes about doing the things he wants to do. He doesn't hide his real personality, or perhaps this man isn't from the 4th dimension, but he's like Chil Woo who is in between of illusion and reality?
Source: magazine t & oceans 6
Chi trans: 丢丢@情投E赫
Eng trans: midnightgirl13@shinhwabiz
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