Lee Tae Gon 이태곤

[Guest katherinekang]

He looked more like a professor or maybe a musical conductor in the symphony. Very macho. I like his new looks.

[Guest honzbear]

He looked more like a professor or maybe a musical conductor in the symphony. Very macho. I like his new looks.

He does. Also like a country gentleman. The get-up is nice. Our man is all grown up. He is a fully mature man now. Does he seem pensive or is it just me? He doesn't look entirely happy in those pictures at the award ceremony. That's why I think he's tired. Maybe it's the responsibility of acting the part of Korea's great king that is weighing him down?

I wish he would wear glasses more. They give him a different look. I have an idea. Why doesn't he act the part of a professor for one of his next roles? I would love to see him do that. I think being a "professor" would suit him. And he should look like he does in the pictures above. An intellectual role different to his other roles.

[Guest katherinekang]

That will be marvelous, Honzbear. The perfect role for LTG and he don't need to shave his bearly beard or grow it long. It will be a beautiful treat for his fans. I admit he does look tired.

[Guest honzbear]

Cream rises to the top. He's getting recognized at last. I wonder what took me so long to find this actor. I think I saw an episode of My Life's Golden Age once a long time ago because I remember the setting in Thailand. If I had not watched King Gwanggaeto the Great this actor would still be an unknown quantity to me. Thank goodness someone (a fan of LTG) recommended watching this drama.  Thanks to LTG for representing Korea's great king, Gwanggaeto the Great. May he have much career success in the future.

He would be fantastic as a college professor in a drama. I wish for him to get a role like this. This would fill out his repertoire so that he can show he can act well in different roles.

He looks good with a beard and moustache. It makes him look even more manly than he already does.

I wonder if it is him who is updating his Facebook page. I am not sure it is. He may be too busy. Probably an employee of the company that manages him is doing that. Lee Tae Gon leaves messages on the official fan website but he hasn't left any personal messages on the Facebook page. He may not feel comfortable communicating in English. What a pity. Have to be satisfied with the little dribs and drabs that end up our way.

Frankly, I'm not into unrequited affection and I think many other fans are the same way so I really think these Korean stars and celebrities should start living in the 21st century and begin learning and speaking English. It's kind of backwards that many or most cannot communicate in English, especially as learning English has been a large force in Korean education for the last thirty years with hundreds of billions of dollars poured into it by Koreans over the years. So much money spent and so little to show for it. A few of the celebrities learn Japanese if they are popular in Japan but learning English is more important and useful because English is the universal language. This isn't just aimed at Lee Tae Gon by the way but at the acting/entertainment community as a whole. It points to the general failure of English education in Korea, and it also shows up the lack of competence of the stars and their managing companies in failing to fully capitalize on the Hallyu phenomenon.

I'm not even sure that's even his official Facebook page. It hasn't been acknowledged as such anywhere as far as I know. Anyone can start a Facebook page using someone else's name.

[Guest katherinekang]

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to Lee Tae Gon-ssi. May your smile light up the world, especially in places where darkness and uncertainty are. And also, Christmas greetings to all LTG's fans. Good health and wishes for year 2012.

[Guest honzbear]

I wish him good luck for the future. He is doing very well  right  now so I want him to ride this wave as long as possible. I hope next year he continues doing interesting projects like King Gwanggaeto. King Gwanggaeto the Great was a windfall for me because it happens to feature my favorite actor in a drama about one of my favorite historical figures in a period of history that is also my favorite period.

The KBS Drama Awards are showing tonight on KBS World at 9pm (Korea time). So there won't be any KGTG on KBS World tonight.

Lee Tae Gon has been nominated for the Daesang Award (Grand Prize) and the Best Male Actor in Long Term Drama Award.

List of Nominees

[Guest honzbear]

Saw our man walking the red carpet and posing for photos (very briefly). He looked handsome as always and looked in character as King - kind of aloof. I caught the awards late because I forgot to watch and was worried I wouldn't see his entrance but I saw it just seconds after I turned on TV. The awards are showing on KBS2 not KBS1.

There were a group singing and after that a girl singing. Then Choi Soo Jung got some sort of award. He sounds just like he did in Dae Jo Young. Ooh! So excited. Want to know when they hand out the Daesang and the Best Actor in Long Term Drama Awards. My luck, it will probably be toward the end. Saving the best for the last I suppose. I would be so disappointed if I watched until the end and he didn't get anything. I wish they would show him sitting in the audience. They haven't shown him yet.

Eugene and another actress won some award. I think Eugene won it for her role in Baker King.

[rubie]

December 31, 2011

Source: Nate

[Guest honzbear]

The Rookie Male awards are being announced. Kim Soo Hyun won for Dream High.  Lee Jung Woo won too. Someone else won. I thought only one person would win that award. Getting through it bit by bit.

Lee Tae Gon is sitting right at one of the front tables with two other people. He looks very cool.

Isn't he sartorially splendid in that tuxedo. He has such long legs.

Best Supporting Actor (male) award was given out. Getting closer. Now the Best Supporting Actress.

A netizen award was given out.

How many couples do they give the Best Couple award to? How ridiculous. It's not really a contest if more than one couple or person wins these awards.

In the next segment after the ads, we will see the nominations for which Lee Tae Gon is in the running. It's nail-bitingly suspenseful. He was featured last in the choices. Is that good or bad? I am prepared for him not to win anything because I know KGTG did not rate as highly as some of the other dramas.

They are doing a magic trick. I know how this one works.

In the pictures it looks like he's giving the Royal Wave.

They had showed the audience and I caught some people holding a banner of King Gwanggaeto the Great and another with Lee Tae Gon's name on it in English. That was great.

They are showing the ringing of the great big bell that was built during the Shilla dynasty to signal in the new year. I wish they would get on with it. It's dragging a bit.

OMG Lee Tae Gon won! He gave a nice speech thanking the people he worked with. Not too long. He looked surprised when he was chosen. He raised his eyebrows as if he was surprised. There were many fans in the audience. They showed the banners again.

[rubie]

[rubie]

[Guest honzbear]

LEE TAE GON WON THE BEST MALE ACTOR IN LONG TERM DRAMA AWARD. Congratulations, Lee Tae Gon! I am really surprised about that. I wasn't expecting it as the drama is still showing and is only about halfway through.

I hope someone caught his acceptance speech on video. I want to see that again. He seemed a bit dazed at first and had trouble collecting his thoughts and was somewhat halting at the start but he managed to give his speech successfully in the end (in his deep sexy voice - hahaha).

As predicted Princess Man won many of the top awards as it rated very highly. I only watched the drama sporadically and did not think it was very interesting.

I think the KBS executives really like Lee Tae Gon. The older people seem to like the drama KGTG and I think many people on the panel fall into that age category. He won the award even though the drama hasn't rated that highly (it has never hit the number one spot) and the drama hasn't finished showing.

He is a really classy and cool person. I am in spirit with his fans in the audience. They must be very dedicated that they booked seats at the show, made banners and brought them along.

He beat Park Shi Woo anyway in the Long Term Drama section.

I don't understand what the Grand Daesang Award is and how it differs from Best Actor award. Shin Ha Gun won the Daesang Award. He is a good actor though I haven't seen Brain. I've seen him in other films and he's very talented.

Lee Tae Gon must really be buoyed by the win now. He is hot stuff right now having won this award.

He can continue to act in the drama and finish acting in the rest of the episodes with the knowledge that he won an award for his performance in the show which must be very gratifying.

I am impressed with the drama KGTG overall. It's the most exciting drama I've ever seen and Lee Tae Gon makes it really enjoyable to watch. I knew he would be good from his first scene in the drama.

Rubie, I don't have the patience that you have to wait until all the episodes are finished to start watching the drama. It would take superhuman effort on my part to do that.

[rubie]

[Guest katherinekang]

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, Lee Tae Gon and the wonderful news that you had won the BEST MALE ACTOR (Long Term) AWARD tonight. I had just finished with the viewing of the award night and I am amazed how dashing and cool you look. You will remind in our hearts forever.

Once again, CONGRATULATIONS, Lee Tae Gon-ssi.

[Guest honzbear]

In the pictures above when he's posing for photographers, he looks like a male mannequin that you see in the men's floors in the shopping arcades in Dongdaemum. They have very tall male mannequins that are built. He can easily pass off as a mannequin. He has almost the same slim buff build and height as these mannequins. He's so handsome especially in King Gwanggaeto the Great. I could tell he was nervous that night. In the pictures he appears a little tense which is natural I suppose. One more week and we are back to normal viewing of the drama. He looks good with a moustache and beard even though he probably has no choice about whether to grow facial hair or not. But I wish he would let his beard grow out more (instead of shaving it) so that it covers his chin more. In general, men always looks better with beards and moustaches in my opinion. The era when it was the fashion to wear them - when they had pointy beards and handle-bar moustaches - in the 17th century - the cavalier period I think, the men looked very handsome. It makes men look more manly. Lee Tae Gon is already quite manly but the facial hair makes him look distinguished and more mature and less 'cute' than he was. In Love in Heaven he had a baby face (and a bowl hair cut that made him look really young and boyish) so the transformation from that to how he is in KGTG is really a big one. He's so hot it's unbearable sometimes. If he was a little less hot, it would be better I think. I would feel more comfortable. He has no business being so good looking. It should be outlawed for someone to be this attractive.

Wow, all the shouting, snarling and glaring he did in KGTG has paid off! lol. Congratulations to Lee Tae Gon once again and I know his fans are over the moon about his win tonight as I am. I will rewatch an episode of King Gwanggaeto the Great in celebration.

[Guest katherinekang]

Here in Singapore because of the KBS Drama Award night, we miss one episode of KGTG. But the slip is replaced by the wonderful news Lee Tae Gon has brought to all his fans here.

May he win the Daesang award next!!

[Guest honzbear]

I've been watching Geunchogo while KGTG has been off the air. It isn't too bad actually. The video quality is very good - high definition. After getting through the first few episodes which dragged on, I started to warm up to it. I was desperate because I couldn't watch KGTG and I had finished watching Dae Jo Yeong and I really wanted to watch a sageuk, preferrably one set in the Three Kingdoms period. The actor who plays King Sayu/Gogukwon (Lee Jong Won) is quite hot in the drama although I don't find him hot in other dramas that he's been in. But he acts very masculine in Geunchogo as the Koguryeo king so I think that's why I'm drawn to him though he's a villain in the drama. Kam Woo Sung's (who plays Geunchogo) idea of acting is not to act at all. He barely registers emotion. It's kind of effective in a way though because it's unusual. But it must be very easy for him to act. You just don't show any facial expression and say your lines as unemotionally as possible. Makes everyone else look like they are overacting in contrast. However his lack of emotion makes the love story between him and the princess unconvincing. He doesn't appear to have any passion for her at all. He doesn't even seem to care that she got married to someone else. In contrast, King Sayu is very passionate (and possessive) about her.

Back to KGTG and Lee Tae Gon. I am so happy for him. He must be celebrating now.

He was the only one out of the cast that won anything at all. I realize it's mostly a popularity award (you've got to be popular among the judges who sit on the panel) but still ...

I think the award is a win for the whole crew and cast of KGTG from the director down to the lowly gaffer and the part-time actor who appears in the fight scenes as an ordinary nameless soldier. All their efforts combine to make KGTG so fun and interesting to watch.

I have said that Lee Tae Gon is my favorite actor and having him act as King Gwanggaeto, my favorite king, in a period of Korea's history which is the most interesting for me, is a real treat ... And now his winning the award for best actor in a long term drama – it's the cherry on top.

[rubie]

Congratulations Lee Tae Gon & 2012!

[viktoria]

CONGRATULATIONS LEE TAE GON!

[Guest honzbear]

Happy New Year everyone. I hope he continues to go from strength to strength in his career for a long time.