Choi Jin Hyuk 최진혁 [Current SBS Variety Show]'My Little Old Boy'; [completed MBC Drama 2023] "Numbers"; [completed JTBC Drama 2024]"She Is Different Day and Night 낮과 밤이 다른 그녀"

[Guest sunshine4ever]

Joon J. Lee said: You guys are trying to send personal letters to CJH, I see. If you can write them in a couple of days I might be able to translate them and hand those to CJH personally at the Fan Meet on May 10th. That is if the letters are not too much, of course. Five to ten letters in the size of A4 wouldn't be a problem. If you guys are interested you can send me the letters to my email address: catarina0507@naver.com I usually don't do this but I have a few days of free time in my hands so I figured I might use it for a good cause.

[celes80]

OK... So I kept editing and re-editing this post, cos I was trying to make the pictures work.  Finally, I think I am 3rd time lucky.  Here's a couple of articles I translated, just for fun.  They're rather dated, but I was interested in learning more about his relationship with Lee Min Ho, so I chose these two.  (I'd actually thought they made an odd pairing at the beginning).  If you've read them before, well..., just read them again! HAHAHA

@sunshine4ever - thanks sooo much for your earlier tutorial.  Appreciate it.

==

Original article here

[The Heirs]  Choi Jin Hyuk “Hugging Lee Min Ho was so embarrassing”
Article release date: 25 Dec 2013 on My Daily

In SBS’s wed-thurs drama “The Heirs” (Screenplay: Kim Eun Sook, Director: Kang Shin-hyo), CJH takes on the role of Kim Won, who is the older step-brother of Kim Tan (acted by Lee Min Ho (LMH)), where he shows both his strong and weak sides.  CJH’s modest performance stood out in the drama, when he had to portray Kim Won as a dark and thorny character, but also someone who suffered from very deep emotional wounds.

CJH recently granted an interview to My Daily around the vicinity of Seoul, Gangnam. “’The Heirs’ is very popular.  I hear people talking about it everywhere.  I can feel that people have been reacting positively to the drama.”

He revealed: “I am flattered to have been able to be a part of “The Heirs”.  Since a long time ago, I have always wanted to work on with Mr Kim Eun Sook (Writer).  I am extremely grateful at having been given the opportunity and consider it an honour to have done so.  Mr Kang Shin-hyo is also an excellent director.  Someone who is extremely patient and never gets angry.  Would it be correct to call them as 両班 (両班: Noblemen in the Korean Josean Era)?  I have never seen them get angry!”

All the staff who worked together on “The Heirs”, including the cast, got along very well. However, acting out the role of Kim Won was very difficult.  Kim Won, who was serious, cold and always deep in thought, was very different from CJH in real life.  “It was extremely difficult at the beginning.  However, I got used to it gradually.  In any case, I had already seen and thought about the role a lot.”

After he got used to role of Kim Won, CJH started to think that Kim Won was very pitiful. The audience felt the same way.  Because of his family, Kim Won gave up his love for Jeon Hyun-joo (played by Im Joo-eun) and chose to take on the entire family burden by himself.

Regarding this, CJH said: “He was very pitiful to have to bear with everything and take on the burden all by himself.  To have to deal with his own pain and cry by himself, I thought his character was very sad.  But I don’t feel sorry for him.  I think that he is someone with a strong sense of responsibility to be willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his family.”

”The situation had changed.  His family was on the verge of ruin, and he thought he could just bear with the pain alone.  Hence, he chose to give up Hyun-joo.  Had I been in the same situation as Kim Won, I think I would have done the same.  Although it would have been good for him to go with his true love, under that kind of circumstances, if I were faced with a similar situation, I too would have placed my family before love.”

He revealed: “I too had wished for a happy ending for Kim Won like everyone else, but I had not expected it to end the way it did.  I was not hoping for any particular ending, but I was surprised at the way it ended.  For him to have to breakup with his girlfriend, because his father collapsed…”  

”Because Kim Won is such a heavy character, I was hoping that he could be released from his emotional wounds, so that we could have seen a “lighter” Kim Won.  It’s a pity that we did not get to see much of that in the drama.  Actually the character of Kim Won is very different from my personality in real life.  Because it is completely different, it was hard taking on this role.  Kim Won is someone who is very deep and solemn.  Because I am rather cheerful and playful, the character of Kim Won who is always so serious and deep in thought is completely different from me.  But, his philosophy and values on family and his strong sense of responsibility towards them is similar to mine.” 

As revealed by CJH, in the drama, Kim Won eventually sacrificed himself for the sake of his family.  However, one would not have expected this from Kim Won, based on his character at the beginning.  He had a cold attitude towards everyone, including his step-brother Kim Tan who was always approaching him to try to get him to open up, and Kim Tan’s mother, Han Ki-ae (played by Kim Sung-ryung).  

Because CJH and LMH are both tall and have similar features, to say that they were real brothers would not have been an exaggeration.  However, the scenes they filmed together were always heavy and filled with tension.  Nonetheless, some of the viewers felt that CJH and LMH had amazing chemistry together.  In episode 7 which aired on 30th October 2013, the brothers’ true feelings towards each other were revealed when Kim Tan hugged Kim Won in response.  The viewers could feel the chemistry in that scene. 

Regarding this, CJH smiled and said embarrassingly: “My chemistry with LMH?...”  He confessed: “There are many people who see it that way, and also many people who have said that it’s good. Like we are lovers, or in love with each other...  It’s the first time I’ve been linked to men in this manner.  It’s strange how people think that way!”

He continued: “When we were filming the hugging scene, both of us felt very awkward.  It was very funny.  We were thinking: “Why is there a hug scene here?” We were so embarrassed; we burst out laughing at each other.  In spite of our characters’ relationship in the drama, there was no such conflict between us in real life.  When we had to hug each other during the shoot, it felt so awkward!  We were always fooling around with each other on set, suddenly, we were asked to hug each other.  It was so embarrassing!”

Once ‘The Heir’ finishes airing, CJH will be filming in tvN’s new Fri-Sun drama “Emergency Couple (EC)”.  EC is a 20-episode romantic comedy about a divorced couple who reunite in the Emergency Department of a hospital 6 years later.  It premieres on 24 January 2014 at 8.40pm in Korea, taking over the timeslot from “Reply 1994”.

[celes80]

This article is rather similar to the one above, but with a slightly different perspective/angle to it, so I only translated parts of it.  I loved the pics in this one though.

==

Choi Jin Hyuk “2013 was a really happy year for me, everything before that was like a nightmare…”
Article release date: 28 Dec 2013 on TV Report

(Snippets)

If you had to choose between love and career, what would you do?

“(Im) Joo-eun asked me this many times previously.  Why do I have to choose between the two?  I can’t do anything.  The scriptwriter already wrote it this way! (laughs).  The person who is most pitiful is Won.  He sacrificed himself for his brother and family.  He is very cold and serious, but also someone who protects his own supporters/allies.  I feel sorry for his girlfriend.  I think that there are people who feel sorry for Won.”

When asked what CJH would do, if he were faced with the same situation, he replied that he would have done the same.

”At the beginning, it was clear why Won hated Tan.  After Tan and his mother came into his family, they led a luxurious life.  Hence, I think Won resented him from young.  If one had to live for decades in such a situation, they would be traumatised.  Because of that, he swore not to forsake his own allies like the way his father did.  I think that’s why he came to that decision.  His feelings towards Kim Tan were not that of pure hatred.  In the depths of his heart, he did care for his brother.  Hence, he could not just forsake him.  I wanted to express this well through my acting.”

Through the drama ‘The Heirs’, you had a brother… A special friendship with Lee Min Ho

CJH and LMH spent Christmas together in 2013.  To have spent the day together on a special day like this, both of them must have had built up a special relationship.  During the drama, CJH got along very well with LMH, as if he were his real brother.

”People around us said that we are very similar.  I think that because we have the same temperament, our styles and character are also very similar.  We connect well with each other.  We even have the same preferences.  What’s even more surprising is that we are both sensitive people.  Through this drama, it’s the first time that we met each other.  But the way that we like to tease and play pranks on people, even that is similar!  (Lee) Min Ho is the mood maker on the set.  At the beginning, I had the impression that he was this Korean superstar and was prejudiced towards him. But after I met him in person, I was surprised.  There are not many instances of actors becoming friends after working together on set.  There are even cases where friendships were destroyed once they worked together.   But we became friends almost immediately (laughs)”

” I have heard people say that Won and Tan are compatible as brothers.  I am very happy about that.  The scriptwriter had set that up well.  The director and the staff on set also liked it.  I preferred this rather than the (classic) love story.  It is all thanks to the hard work of the entire cast that we managed to strike this balance.”

Your next drama is ‘Emergency Couple’... Airing after ‘Reply 1994’, you must feel the pressure…

“Firstly, 2013 was a truly happy year for me.  Everything before 7 April 2013 was truly a nightmare.  I thought I had no talent as an actor.  During the time when I was seriously troubled over this, GFB aired and everything changed.  I started to think that maybe it was possible for me to continue acting.  GFB really saved me.  After that, ‘The Heirs’ was also a hit and I will be continuing on with ‘Emergency Couple’. Because ‘Reply 1994’ was well-received by the audience, I do feel some pressure.  But I think that it is good, the pressure makes me want to do well.”

“When I first met Song Ji Hyo (SJH) to do the poster shoots and teasers for EC, we had only met for the 2nd time.  Because EC is a romantic comedy, we need to become friends quickly.  Right now, we are still in the process of getting to know each other.  I don’t know if we will become good friends, but somehow I have a good feeling that we seem to match (laughs).  He (Oh Chang Min) is a different character from Kim Won.  On the surface, surprisingly, he is really like me.  Because I have always been acting as cold and serious characters, personally I thought that I needed to act in a character that suited me like when I was in TVN’s ‘I Need Romance’.  And so, I am appearing in a romantic comedy again.  I am very excited.”

[celes80]

Sorry for the multiple posts.  This shall be the last one from me tonight.  Recently, there's been tons of interviews by CJH on his role in the EC.  All very insightful.  I can't get to each one fast enough, since there's really a lot and by the time I have time to wanna try translating a few interesting ones, some other wonderful soul has done it.  

Some personal thoughts:  The more I read about CJH, the more I think he is a very good man.  Very down-to-earth and grounded in his views.  Someone with a strong sense of responsibility.  A family man.   Maybe it was because he had a very difficult past.  The story about his first love was heartbreaking.  I cannot imagine how he got through it.  Having to also bear the burden of his family's financial situation until only recently.  Acting for a good 6-7 years before he finally got his big break after GFB.  I have a lot of respect for CJH.  Truly. 

One final parting note from me.

Fom Baidu:

 

[Guest mdolphins]

@celes80

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I adore Kim Won and I especially love reading articles about him and Jin Hyuk's friendship (and chemistry lol) with LMH. Squeeeee. Hearing his thoughts while playing the role of Kim Tan and having to hug LMH, that was too funny. Big hugs to you for all of your hard work >< Also, those photos, *Yummy* he always looks so amazing when he is wearing dark clothes. Thanks for sharing them with us!

[Ihjj]

Thanks for all the articles. I didn't follow Heirs as it aired so these old articles are a big treat!!

[Guest cjmcjh]

Wow, so many new posts for not checking for about a week. 
1) I'm kind of bittersweet about CJH joining Fated To Love You. I really don't want him to play the 2nd lead because I don't want to see him getting rejected in the end. And I don't want him to fall into the 2nd lead syndrome. Augh.. But I'm also super excited to just be able to see him again before he goes off into the army. I'm hoping this drama will end up being really popular (like the Taiwanese version apparently) so he'll get even more popular and will make leads later on.
2) I'm excited that the EC concert will finally air tomorrow (right?). It feels like forever since the drama ended.. 

[booha]

sunshine4ever said: Joon J. Lee said: You guys are trying to send personal letters to CJH, I see. If you can write them in a couple of days I might be able to translate them and hand those to CJH personally at the Fan Meet on May 10th. That is if the letters are not too much, of course. Five to ten letters in the size of A4 wouldn't be a problem. If you guys are interested you can send me the letters to my email address: catarina0507@naver.com I usually don't do this but I have a few days of free time in my hands so I figured I might use it for a good cause.

[booha]

  @celes80   Hello Your first pictures! How exciting! I remember when I first posted pictures. Actually my first picture posting was a quote from someone’s pictures. Hehe  I know we can’t quote pictures but awhile ago we could sneak them in since this CJH thread wasn’t quite crowded like others then. I mentioned that I joined soompi just last Aug and I’m still learning many things here. Thank you for your translated articles. We might have similar ones( not the quite same) but they were awhile ago. Besides this thread isn’t quite busy so it can use a lot of different kind of postings and CJH interview articles are a must. So don’t be discouraged and post as much you want or you could!! I enjoyed very much reading yours. In soompi, I try to practice my own taste and my view, and to learn how to share with others who have their own.    Btw I forgot to mention before: I explained about my limitation because I thought you should know. So no apology and you can always tag me or send me PM for whatever reason Enjoy soompi!!!
Btw chingu chingu! I saw your last posting. Great observation about CJH! Yes he seems introspective and smart yet he came across as down to earth and approachable despite having intimidating and stunning looks. Haha good night and here in US, it’s a lunch time.

[booha]

Thank you for video
  @celes80  said:   Found this recently released fan made video (compilation of oh-oh couple scenes plus BTS) on YouTube, for those of you who still have problem letting go of EC.... Hope it helps to alleviate your withdrawal symptoms somewhat.  Love them loads and watching the video brought a smile to my face still. Enjoy!
Emergency Couple MV + Behind the Scenes + Love Agian OST
http://youtu.be/eT1IKku21Dg
 cr to uploader

[booha]

@mdolphine   I enjoyed reading all of comments showing your flowering imagination. It seems you found your imagination soul mate with CJH and EC. Hopefully his next drama will give us (especially for you) plenty of enjoyment too. Last CJH’s magazine spread, especially the one with a tub, looked like a real knock out. So amazing to look at…. And according to @lhjj’s description

Ihjj said: Those photos are hot and sexy. You guys know what I find sexy about Jinhyuk? His sexy jaw line. Yum...

[booha]

RENOMA sports



   cr to DC

[booha]

hyuk hyuk girls    @cjmcjh
Sorry   EC concert was postponed again to the next week. tvN sent an apology.

cr to DC

[celes80]

Thanks all for enjoying the translation pieces.  I won't tag everyone in this post but you know who you are. 

I'm so happy it's the weekend (for me at least).  It allows me to surf wildly for news on CJH. HAHAHA.

Here's something else I found.  The 3rd part of the DVD Box Set for GFB will be released in Japan on 2nd May 2014.  They released a snippet of the BTS on youtube as promo.  The front part of the video shows the main cast fooling around on set, while the inserts and voiceover talks about how the colour schemes for their costumes were chosen.  GWR's costume changed from brighter colours at the beginning to dark colours (mostly black) once he turned evil.

CJH appears around 0:40.  They had just finished shooting his last scenes for GFB and everyone gathered for a celebratory photo.  The voiceover talks about how everyone will feel lonely, now that filming has ended for CJH.  And how everyone had such a huge smile on their faces when taking the photo. 

[Guest h2mv]

celes80 said: =

Choi Jin Hyuk “2013 was a really happy year for me, everything before that was like a nightmare…”
Article release date: 28 Dec 2013 on TV Report

(Snippets)

If you had to choose between love and career, what would you do?

Your next drama is ‘Emergency Couple’... Airing after ‘Reply 1994’, you must feel the pressure…

““When I first met Song Ji Hyo (SJH) to do the poster shoots and teasers for EC, we had only met for the 2nd time.  Because EC is a romantic comedy, we need to become friends quickly.  Right now, we are still in the process of getting to know each other.  I don’t know if we will become good friends, but somehow I have a good feeling that we seem to match (laughs). ...."

[celes80]

I really only watch GFB for CJH. I basically only watched his scenes and nothing else. Here's an infographic showing the traits of our beloved GWR.

Full marks for sex appeal and wildness! (I inserted the parts in English on the pic so its easier for everyone.)

"A long time ago... there lived a dark and sexy character with a pure heart...."

 

[Guest mdolphins]

@booha said: @mdolphins   I enjoyed reading all of comments showing your flowering imagination. It seems you found your imagination soul mate with CJH and EC. Hopefully his next drama will give us (especially for you) plenty of enjoyment too. Last CJH’s magazine spread, especially the one with a tub, looked like a real knock out. So amazing to look at…. And according to @lhjj’s description 

[celes80]

Edited previous post.  I've lost track of what people have posted and have not, haha.  This is a result of reading too much CJH. 

Have you all seen this before?  If its not been posted before, I can do a short translation in English.

 

[Yeekrfan2]

fychoijinhyuk

[Yeekrfan2]

@celes80 @booha
THANK YOU so much for the videos, articles and translations - AWESOME!  :-bd

@mdolphins You're welcome! That article on EC & his perception on marriages is so interesting and eye-opening! He's such an articulate guy and always give insightful & perceptive comments...enjoyed it immensely too! :x

@Ihjj You're absolutely right...this is one damn sexy look..always love his side profile (notice my avatar   ) and those sharp nose, lips, chin and strong jaw...MELTEEEED! =P~  Oopsie how could I forgot the Adam's apple too!  :\">




@sunshine4ever & @JooJ.Lee   THANK YOU SO MUCH for working so hard on the fan letters or messages (letter sound very intimidating to me, oh dear do I've to write a letter, short message for me will do)  :-SS

@cjmcjh   Yes, we will definitely suffer from SLS if he takes on the *Dylan* role and it will be like *I Need Romance* again...sigh but whatever the outcome,  I will definitely support his decision!