Eric of KBS2 drama Strongest Chil Woo has been labelled as an actor who has achieved what an established actor in his 40s already has. Though he is still too young to be termed as an established actor, but having been in showbiz for the past 10 years as a member of Shinhwa, it wouldn't be wrong to term him as 'established'.
In the past 10 years, Eric himself has changed too. Firstly in terms of appearance, when he first started out he was a dark-skinned teenager, now he has grown paler, and his image has matured too. In terms of career development, he has stepped out of his main field of music, and moved on to acting in dramas and movies. Now he is no longer just Eric of Shinhwa, but as Mun Jung Hyuk the actor too.
Of course the path wasn't all smooth-sailing. Eric has always been doubted for his acting ability since the beginning, and even now with his latest project Strongest Chil Woo, his first attempt at a sageuk drama. "When the drama first started, there were really a lot of opinions and I was bothered about how to work on getting the audience to accept me in this role. Now that we're nearing the end of the drama, I just want to give my best right til the end."
He also said, "I'm not bothered about what has happened, but more about why I can't seem to get it right. I get afraid of new things sometimes. And Andy seems to be doing really well in his musical even though he just started doing it." It's clear that Eric isn't exactly enjoying this challenge right now.
And the past 10 years hasn't exactly been easy for him either. He's happy to be enjoying so much popularity, but the price to pay for that is his freedom. Fame and popularity seem to have built an invisible prison around him.
"When I'm back in Seoul it gets even lonelier, so even when it's my day off I still stay in Mungyeong. When I used to live in Yeoksam-dong I could still visit the PC-bang in my shorts and flipflops, but since I moved to Cheongdam-dong which is near MNet, too many fans are hanging around for me to get out of the house. It feels even more like a prison now."
"During breaks in filming I just take off my coat and just walk about in flipflops. In fact that feels even better. And during these breaks I go fishing with the najang hyungs, and it's really fun to have all these fried fish."
In the past 10 years, Eric himself has changed too. Firstly in terms of appearance, when he first started out he was a dark-skinned teenager, now he has grown paler, and his image has matured too. In terms of career development, he has stepped out of his main field of music, and moved on to acting in dramas and movies. Now he is no longer just Eric of Shinhwa, but as Mun Jung Hyuk the actor too.
Of course the path wasn't all smooth-sailing. Eric has always been doubted for his acting ability since the beginning, and even now with his latest project Strongest Chil Woo, his first attempt at a sageuk drama. "When the drama first started, there were really a lot of opinions and I was bothered about how to work on getting the audience to accept me in this role. Now that we're nearing the end of the drama, I just want to give my best right til the end."
He also said, "I'm not bothered about what has happened, but more about why I can't seem to get it right. I get afraid of new things sometimes. And Andy seems to be doing really well in his musical even though he just started doing it." It's clear that Eric isn't exactly enjoying this challenge right now.
And the past 10 years hasn't exactly been easy for him either. He's happy to be enjoying so much popularity, but the price to pay for that is his freedom. Fame and popularity seem to have built an invisible prison around him.
"When I'm back in Seoul it gets even lonelier, so even when it's my day off I still stay in Mungyeong. When I used to live in Yeoksam-dong I could still visit the PC-bang in my shorts and flipflops, but since I moved to Cheongdam-dong which is near MNet, too many fans are hanging around for me to get out of the house. It feels even more like a prison now."
"During breaks in filming I just take off my coat and just walk about in flipflops. In fact that feels even better. And during these breaks I go fishing with the najang hyungs, and it's really fun to have all these fried fish."
The fans have also given him an incredible amount of support. During our visit to the filmsite for the interview on 1 Aug, we saw food and gifts worth about 1.3million won being delivered to the set.
Eric, seemingly very proud of the fans, said "I think the fans are the ones who have really taken care of me for the duration for the filming for the drama. The overseas fans prepared a buffet some weeks ago, and yesterday we had lunchboxes delivered to us. Today we've received gifts too. They even sent tonics and soups here. Although I haven't really been looking after my health recently, but I'm enjoying the tonics and soups from the fans."
The drama is nearing the end, and if there are no plans after filming wraps up, Eric will be enlisting for military service immediately. As much as he is unwilling to, he has to leave his fans and showbiz for a while.
When the drama first started airing, Eric had said "I hope this drama will leave good memories for the fans and the viewers." Battling the summer heat to ensure that he leaves behind a good piece of work to mark a temporary end to his time in showbiz, he will be back in time to capture the attention and hearts of viewers for the next 10 years.
Source: ocean's six
Chi trans: wangshu_1115@shinhwayeah.com
Eng trans: midnightgirl13@shinhwabiz
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