Dashing South Korean actor Kim Rae-won was blown away by the warm welcome he received from local fans, writes Bibi Nurshuhada Ramli
THE centre court of Pavilion KL was packed like a can of sardines recently when thousands waited with bated breath to catch a glimpse of the hunky and highly accomplished actor Kim Rae-won who was scheduled for a fanmeet organised by Astro’s ONE HD.
Some fans waited for hours. When Kim appeared, he was visibly stunned by the screaming fans, and couldn’t stop grinning. He sent the crowd into a frenzy when he shyly said in his deep voice: “Nama saya Kim Rae-won.”
He then expressed (in Korean) his surprise at the size of the crowd. The screams that followed were deafening.
“Terima kasih!” he addressed the crowd, chuckling nervously. “I’m so touched by your love and support. I’m a lucky guy tonight.’’
The 35-year-old was specially flown in to promote one of its recent series Doctors, in which he stars alongside popular actress Park Shin-hye. He plays neurosurgeon-turned-teacher Hong Ji-hong, who takes ruffian Hye-jung (Park) under his wings and becomes her mentor.
Hye-jung has had a traumatic childhood, so it is a challenge to put her past behind and become an accomplished neurosurgeon like Ji-hong.
The recently-concluded romantic drama is one of the highest-rated series in Malaysia.
“Honestly, I never expected the drama to be such a huge success. When it concluded its run, I didn’t get a chance to check viewer reception because I was busy with another project. Now that I’m here, I know that the drama had been well-received by Malaysians. I’d like to thank the audiences for that,” Kim said humbly.
As part of the fanmeet agenda, some lucky fans got to play a simple game with the actor, who also autographed some posters.
Before it concluded, he said, “Saya cinta padamu”, resulting in more deafening screams. “I really had a great time with you tonight. Even if it was only a short while, this is definitely the best day for me this year. This is my first visit to Malaysia, and I will cherish the time spent with my fans. Thank you!”
PLAYING DOCTOR
When Doctors premiered last June, its popularity placed ONE HD at the top spot compared to the other Korean channels on Astro.
This was Kim’s first time portraying a doctor and he found the experience satisfying despite some challenges. “Unlike the other actors in the series, I was cast last minute,” Kim revealed.
Since he was still working on a film at the time, he didn’t have time to memorise some medical terms or research on how neurosurgeons work. The others had the chance to study and observed a patient being operated on.
“I just followed my guts and figured things out on my own. Luckily it was satisfactory in the end.”
Kim admitted that he preferred acting in films compared to the small screen, but was thankful nonetheless when K-drama fans enjoyed his portrayal in Doctors.
“There were news reports of my involvement in the show. One of the comments fans left really blew me away. It said: ‘I’m really glad to live in the same generation as Kim Rae-won and to be able to see him act,” he said.
ONSCREEN
On how different is Dr Hong to his own personality, Kim laughed. “Oh, Dr Hong is much more awesome and colourful. We share some similarities but overall, he’s a much better person than I am in real life.”
He revealed that initially Dr Hong was supposed to be a quiet and reserved person.
Kim suggested to the production team for the character to employ a brighter and more jolly personality instead.
“Throughout my career, I’ve mostly played dark and serious characters, which are the opposite of Dr Hong.
“Even the drama has bright, colourful and comedic themes, so naturally it was easy for me to fall in love with this project.”
Kim and his co-star Park are both Chung Ang University graduates, having studied film and theatre. This common ground enabled them to easily build a chemistry when they are paired for romantic scenes.
Kim actually felt stressed by the many romantically cheesy lines in the script.
Nevertheless, for their portrayals in Doctors, Kim was nominated for the Grand Excellence Award at the recent 2016 Korea Drama Awards, while Park was nominated for Best Actress.
“Thanks to the strong support and encouragements I’ve received from playing Dr Hong, I am more inspired to star in another romantic comedy in the future,” he said.
As an actor, he loves playing a romantic, but at the same time he enjoys the thrills and challenges of working in action movies.
To date, Kim has starred in more than 20 series and films, including the series Punch, Love Story In Harvard, Gourmet and A Thousand Days’ Promise, and the films Gangnam Blues and Insadong Scandal.
He has also won a string of awards, including Actor Of The Year for Punch at last year’s SBS Drama Awards.
“I’ve been acting since 1997 at 16, but until now I’ve never done a period drama or film. That would be exciting.”
If he hadn’t chosen the acting path, he would probably become a doctor, as it runs in the family.
Another possible career path is as a musical performer.
“I’d take up an instrument, perform and see what the entertainment industry is like from that perspective.”
For those who have missed it, Doctors will air again on ONE HD (Astro Channel 393), every Sunday at 12.45pm, with two episodes back-to-back starting Oct 30.