Joo Won 주원 [Drama- The Midnight Studio/ 야한(夜限) 사진관]

[rionae]

Wow, so many new posts here, you girls are great!

 

Regarding the Hallyu issue, I would also say he is well known/recognised but not at the Hallyu level. I think he just wants to do what he loves - acting, and while being popular comes with its perks, I think what is more important is that he is doing what he likes and gets the recognition he deserves. As fans, we will support him and his passion for acting - which I believe is what turned most of us into his fans in the first place. Generally, I notice that Joo Won attracts fans with his talents instead of looks, and this sentence applies to me as well.

 

In fact, I actually think I wouldn't follow celebrities who are 'too popular', they'll be too tiring for me to follow. There was an article which I translated before and Joo Won mentioned his Passion Heaven co-stars. That article started getting shared by the co-star fans, so I also looked up their hashtag on SNS... and there were soooo many posts in one day! I don't think I can survive in such fandom.

That said, Joo Won's popularity had also been increasing, though not at an exponential rate. This is something which I also experienced between the 2015 and 2016 Thailand fanmeet. In the 2015 FM, it was a smaller venue that holds about 1000 fans divided into 2 columns whereas the 2016 venue holds about 2000 fans divided into 3 columns. In the latter FM, fans became further from the stage and since there were more columns, his attention was more divided. So I can't imagine myself attending a FM with like, 5000 or more people?

 

I first saw Joo Won in Good Doctor. I didn't follow the live broadcast and only started watching when the drama was nearing its end. In the early episodes, I kinda thought that the actor for Shion was really autistic! I was curious but didn't bother to research about him, until the episode where he sang 'If I'. That's when I started to search about him on youtube, and found out that he was also the one who sang the very beautiful normal version of 'If I'! With a few more clicks, I found his live performance of Gaksital OST 'The Last Judgement' during the KBS drama awards and was impressed and shocked at how the person whom I thought was autistic could actually put up such performance!

So after completing Good Doctor (wasn't a fan yet), I went to watch Gaksital immediately. (Till date, this is the only Korean drama that I rewatched - and 3 times).

His first few lines were shouting out commands, and I was still in disbelief - I am watching Lee Kangto right after seeing him as Park Shion.

Then came the memorable scene...

Some may say he overacted, but to me, this was the scene that turned me into a fan. He continued to impress me with the rest of the episodes. Gaksital was a drama which I thoroughly enjoyed from the beginning till the end. Yongpal came close but I didn't enjoy it as much when the plot shifted to focus more on Yeojin instead. I would prefer if they developed the 'gang doctor' story more.

Regarding the comparison of him with... LMH? Er, I actually didn't see such comparison. But I know about JCW since he seems to be similar to Joo Won in several ways. But come to think of it, what I've heard is that some JW fans turned into JCW fans, and not actually comparing them. Perhaps it's just that I hardly pay attention to such talks.

 

14 hours ago, kittyna said:

Sadly, while I was there, I didn't see any JW cut-outs - I still think I just wasn't in the know enough to look in the right places. T

 

@kittyna or anyone visiting Korea, you can try searching for Mountia stores which Joo Won endorses. I'm not sure if he still have a contract with them but their Facebook page is still showing Joo Won. You could probably ask for a pamphlet at the stores. You could also try Edwin stores if they have old pamphlets of Joo Won (they have already changed their main model).

 

25 minutes ago, Shellenna said:

Thank you for your warm welcoming words guys. I'm not actually someone new here, I used to post here with a name: stearly, but now I can't login with my old name for some reason. This new soompi seems to hate me, lol, I can't to post several pictures in a row for example )) Anyway thank you for keeping a thread alive.

@stearly! Or now @Shellenna ! I remember you~ and even your profile picture  You had always posted many pictures of Joo Won  Let's do our best again!

[airplanegirl]

@rionae Regarding Mountia, he's still contracted with them till end of 2018 at least.

From today's event:

[kittyna]

3 hours ago, rionae said:

In fact, I actually think I wouldn't follow celebrities who are 'too popular', they'll be too tiring for me to follow. There was an article which I translated before and Joo Won mentioned his Passion Heaven co-stars. That article started getting shared by the co-star fans, so I also looked up their hashtag on SNS... and there were soooo many posts in one day! I don't think I can survive in such fandom.

That's a good way of putting it, and I think so, too. That's why I tend to hold off on watching dramas starring actors who are super-popular at that moment in time (in my own experience, I've watched the Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum waves go by) until after some of the hype has subsided. I do, eventually, watch some of their stuff just to see what all the fuss is about; sometimes I end up liking their acting, and sometimes...not so much. For example, with SJK, I really liked him in "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" and "The Innocent Man", but not as much in "Descendants of the Sung" (weird, I know), because the latter was so hyped up that it became a bit of a chore to watch.

3 hours ago, rionae said:

His first few lines were shouting out commands, and I was still in disbelief - I am watching Lee Kangto right after seeing him as Park Shion.

Then came the memorable scene...

Some may say he overacted, but to me, this was the scene that turned me into a fan.

Okay, you know someone's voicework is good when you can hear them in your head just from looking at a picture - or GIF, in this instance. No lie: I can literally the "GAKSITAAAALLL!!!" right now.

This, too, was one of the moments that made me think JW was a great actor. I'm the opposite from you, @rionae, in that I watched "Gaksital" first and then "Good Doctor". lol - After watching someone as intense and tragic as Lee Kang To, I needed Park Si On's innocence and sweetness to get some of the more disturbing scenes out of my head.

3 hours ago, rionae said:

@kittyna or anyone visiting Korea, you can try searching for Mountia stores which Joo Won endorses. I'm not sure if he still have a contract with them but their Facebook page is still showing Joo Won. You could probably ask for a pamphlet at the stores. You could also try Edwin stores if they have old pamphlets of Joo Won (they have already changed their main model).

I know from photoshoots and whatnot that Mountia, GGIO2 and Mindbridge are good places to search out for right now - Soompi's Instagram recently featured a photo of a JW cut-out from GGIO2, and I think that Mountia and Mindbridge both already did their photoshoots for the 2017 F/W season, which are still forthcoming. I think Park Bo Gum is the one who does Edwin now.

This "Entertainment Weekly" interviewed was just shared recently, but I'm reposting it to point out that it was done on the set of a Mountia photoshoot - my guess, since the 2017 S/S one was months ago, is that this would be for the upcoming 2017 F/W stuff.

And this one is the Mindbridge 2017 F/W preview.

So....yeah, those traveling to Korea at any point in the remainder of 2017 should be able to find JW's endorsements now that we know which companies he's contracted with. I can't promise anything for 2018, though

[flutterby06]

More singing..

 

[airplanegirl]

I hope that we get videos, and hopefully we get a video of this reunion!

[rionae]

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

Okay, you know someone's voicework is good when you can hear them in your head just from looking at a picture - or GIF, in this instance. No lie: I can literally the "GAKSITAAAALLL!!!" right now.

Yes, and he is especially expressive with his eyes. I have another gif which I made from gaksital...

I should go through my treasure chest someday  in the meantime here's another from Ojakgyo Brothers. Long-legged oppa 

 

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

I know from photoshoots and whatnot that Mountia, GGIO2 and Mindbridge are good places to search out for right now - Soompi's Instagram recently featured a photo of a JW cut-out from GGIO2, and I think that Mountia and Mindbridge both already did their photoshoots for the 2017 F/W season, which are still forthcoming. I think Park Bo Gum is the one who does Edwin now.

This "Entertainment Weekly" interviewed was just shared recently, but I'm reposting it to point out that it was done on the set of a Mountia photoshoot - my guess, since the 2017 S/S one was months ago, is that this would be for the upcoming 2017 F/W stuff.

 

Thanks for sharing the videos, I have not seen them ^^; I am obviously very outdated with his 2017 activities. In the Entertainment Weekly, he seems to spend a considerable amount of time thinking of his future. He had always been thinking and planning for his future. Work hard while he's young and enjoy the fruits of labour in the future. And I believe he is on the right track.

And the below post... (Sorry, 4th line should be translated as 'Watching TOTOGA on Infinity Challenge')

"It will be good if I also become such a memory for someone in the future"

He has already been a special memory for me. I'd remember that he's the first (and only, so far) celebrity that I attended a FM for.

 

Joo Won used to promote a cafe Beansbin for a short period, so people going Korea may want to try them too.

(Below pic is not from Baker King! haha. That's his Cha Yoojin hairstyle with a bit of styling)

 

[flutterby06]

A more clear video. 

Today is the last day of the festival.. I hope we'll get to see more videos of his performance. 

[airplanegirl]

 

[lavender2love]

@Shellenna " Thank you for your warm welcoming words guys. I'm not actually someone new here, I used to post here with a name: stearly, but now I can't login with my old name for some reason. This new soompi seems to hate me, lol, I can't to post several pictures in a row for example )) Anyway thank you for keeping a thread alive. "

@stearly

I can still see your profile but it's empty except for your IMMORTALITY status which means you did post a lot and got liked a lot.  Did you leave accidentally ?  When I checked coolreborn the thread starter, her profile  @coolreborn I found her activity feed empty. That's because she left voluntarily I think.

Regarding the " soompi seems to hate me ", it is a new phenon, with new upgrading or new exercise program ( all soompiers were locked out once and everyone had to remove cookies and history to reenter. It was a horrible and trying time then ) and NEW MODS who randomly " edit " your posts. They insist you don't post consecutively to bump the thread , wait an hour before you post, unless someone posts , then only you disregard the one hour rule. I had 4 posts of mine posted at a half hourly or longer all merged into one long unwieldy post which my friends had a hard time untangling.

Also do not quote images. Worst do not quote images in spoiler, ( which one always forget to delete since you can't see it in the spoiler )  for which I was , to my shock barred from Soompi. Sob ! Sob ! Others didn't bother to come back after barring.

Maybe the reason why you can't post several pictures in a row is because you're only allowed only 3 images each post and not consecutively

Don't let all this discourage you. We are enjoying your pictures since you must have loads being an immortal ex-poster. We value your contributions. I haven;t seen even many of the old pictures. Thank you in advance

 

" @rionae  

" Some may say he overacted, but to me, this was the scene that turned me into a fan. He continued to impress me with the rest of the episodes. Gaksital was a drama which I thoroughly enjoyed from the beginning till the end. Yongpal came close but I didn't enjoy it as much when the plot shifted to focus more on Yeojin instead. I would prefer if they developed the 'gang doctor' story more.

Regarding the comparison of him with... LMH? Er, I actually didn't see such comparison. But I know about JCW since he seems to be similar to Joo Won in several ways. But come to think of it, what I've heard is that some JW fans turned into JCW fans, and not actually comparing them. Perhaps it's just that I hardly pay attention to such talks."

You're really an exceptional Joo Won fan. And you expressed your reasons well. I like that you're such a sincere fan. So many wishy washy fans nowadays . Please @rionae empty your treasure chest to give his fans a treat. I'm sure it's a bottomless chest Haha.

As for Yong Pal ... hehe.... me the great defender ( honorary long time guardian of YP thread )  the story garnered great interest and intrigue because of the sci-fi element and the mysterious caebol forced to sleep permanently by her father who loved her too much. It has such  thrilling action packed scenes of JW rescuing her. The ratings speak for itself. Plus he won Daesang for it over Kim Rae Won . KTh won top excellence and they won popular couple and popular stars. Even the screen play director won an award ( I think )

If it were only the " gang doctor " story it could have degenerated into just episodes of medical mish mash with no story plot . Besides he was illegally a gang doctor and so nowhere is the story arc sustainable. It'll be cops chasing him and then gangs chasing him and finally cops chasing gangs. Also the gangster style of surgery is too unorthodox and far fetched, though creative. I read that Doctors actually has no plot, it was episode after episode od medical stuff with romance thrown in for flavour. 

I love the reference to 13th and 14 floor and the war room battle for stock market manipulations. I applaud the writer for that exciting scene.

I'm curious.... who is JCW?

LMH ? Not as talented as Joo Won.

Sharing pictures that I like .

 

[lavender2love]

SQUEAL ..... !!! Joo Won sang The Impossible Dream and he sang it beautifully given the less satisfactory acoustic . His sincerity and good musicality make up for the not so good open air quality. It's a classic song from Man Of La Mancha and requires the giftedness and voice control to sing and this is covered by all the greats from Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Elvis, Tom Jones, Luther Vandross, Ill Divo. Andre Rieu three Tenors to even Susan Boyle... so many  And now JOO WON., his service to the army.  So cute the way he walked off so fast from the stage, almost marching off. Could some translate the the talk please ? What was he saying ?

Thank you @flutterby06 and @airplanegirl for sharing. Am listening to it with exuberance.

[kittyna]

10 hours ago, rionae said:

Yes, and he is especially expressive with his eyes. I have another gif which I made from gaksital...

Oh, yeah - loved this moment, too.

10 hours ago, rionae said:

Joo Won used to promote a cafe Beansbin for a short period, so people going Korea may want to try them too.

(Below pic is not from Baker King! haha. That's his Cha Yoojin hairstyle with a bit of styling)

And here's the video version if anyone's interested. It's translated by moonjunworld

 

And here are some cardboard cut-outs from the same endorsement campaign. I know it's been posted here on this thread before, but some 200-odd pages back. So, in case you haven't seen it, here you go - and they're chibis, too! (Yes, I have a thing for chibis )

10 hours ago, rionae said:

Thanks for sharing the videos, I have not seen them ^^; I am obviously very outdated with his 2017 activities.

I can't say that I'm all that in-the-know myself. It's just that for me, JW is my "gateway" actor. In other words, through trying to get to know him better, I discovered things like various variety and/or interview shows (1N2D, "Happy Together", "Taxi", "Healing Camp", "Witch Hunt" (which I still can't find in English - help!), "Entertainment Weekly", etc.), how entertainment agencies work (via "Life Log"), the importance of CFs in actors' careers, etc.

[kittyna]

8 hours ago, lavender2love said:

I'm curious.... who is JCW?

JCW = Ji Chang Wook

I didn't know until @lavender2love's post that there were so many rules for these forums - and I realize I've been breaking some of them due to my ignorance. Sorry about that!

[sagaseed]

6 hours ago, lavender2love said:

SQUEAL ..... !!! Joo Won sang The Impossible Dream and he sang it beautifully given the less satisfactory acoustic . His sincerity and good musicality make up for the not so good open air quality. It's a classic song from Man Of La Mancha and requires the giftedness and voice control to sing and this is covered by all the greats from Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Elvis, Tom Jones, Luther Vandross, Ill Divo. Andre Rieu three Tenors to even Susan Boyle... so many  And now JOO WON., his service to the army.  So cute the way he walked off so fast from the stage, almost marching off. Could some translate the the talk please ? What was he saying ?

 

Thanks @lavender2love for sharing the name of the song! Yes, he sang so beautifully and I wonder if he was given time to practise before the performance. Somehow I think the reason he marched off the stage immediately was because he didn't think it's right to bask in the applause of audience when he is performing as a soldier. Anyone notice his complexion from one of the close up shots in the video?  Am sure he did not receive celebrity treatment for performing on stage. The organiser is really smart to make use of his talent but I want to thank them for giving us a chance to see an awesome performance from JW  in soldier uniform.  

[lavender2love]

6 hours ago, sagaseed said:

 

Thanks @lavender2love for sharing the name of the song! Yes, he sang so beautifully and I wonder if he was given time to practise before the performance. Somehow I think the reason he marched off the stage immediately was because he didn't think it's right to bask in the applause of audience when he is performing as a soldier. Anyone notice his complexion from one of the close up shots in the video?  Am sure he did not receive celebrity treatment for performing on stage. The organiser is really smart to make use of his talent but I want to thank them for giving us a chance to see an awesome performance from JW  in soldier uniform.  

 

@sagaseed..... Yes I wonder too if he was given time to practise. It is a difficult song with soaring notes to hit and JW did wonderfully. See how he paused at the end thn belt out the soaring note. It quickens my heart. I think JW chose this song because the lyrics are so inspiring and stirring. He must have believed in the the motivating lyrics of the quest. However he sang in Korean. I wonder if the lyrics carry the same inspiration. Has he ever sung it in English for any musical.... curious.... curious ... !!  Just a side note : Impossible dream is written for the Spanish novel Don Quixote ( pronounced quicks-sott or kee-ho-tay )

 

"The Impossible Dream" from MAN OF LA MANCHA (1972) music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion "The Impossible Dream" (a .MP3 file courtesy MGM).

To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe To bear with unbearable sorrow To run where the brave dare not go To right the unrightable wrong To love pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star This is my quest To follow that star No matter how hopeless No matter how far To fight for the right Without question or pause To be willing to march into Hell For a heavenly cause And I know if I'll only be true To this glorious quest That my heart will lie peaceful and calm When I'm laid to my rest And the world will be better for this That one man, scorned and covered with scars Still strove with his last ounce of courage Really love he's so into the song and believing in the quest.

 

What a dreamboat in uniform... !!

 

[rionae]

46 minutes ago, lavender2love said:

 

@sagaseed..... Yes I wonder too if he was given time to practise. It is a difficult song with soaring notes to hit and JW did wonderfully. See how he paused at the end thn belt out the soaring note. It quickens my heart. I think JW chose this song because the lyrics are so inspiring and stirring. He must have believed in the the motivating lyrics of the quest. However he sang in Korean. I wonder if the lyrics carry the same inspiration. Has he ever sung it in English for any musical.... curious.... curious ... !!  Just a side note : Impossible dream is written for the Spanish novel Don Quixote ( pronounced quicks-sott or kee-ho-tay )

 

 

@lavender2love I was wondering why the Don Quixote song sounded familiar when I shouldn't have heard it before... did he sang it in 1N2D ?

Tried searching videos but found this instead... he sang Snow Flower in 1N2D before too? Didn't remember at all =o

 

Edit: Oh, he sang it on Healing Camp (just one line ). This is the song that he sang during high school and a musical senior passing by heard him and recommended him to audition.

[stearly]

@lavender2love

Thank you for your advices and experience. I finally managed to login so maybe I'll learn to use the new soompi someday.

 

I'm glad we have a glimpse of Joo Won while he is serving, I thought we'll not see him the long two years and now we even have his perfomances. Let it be so on. I hope he'll be healthy and will come back safely.

credit: JW dc inside

[kittyna]

3 hours ago, lavender2love said:

I think JW chose this song because the lyrics are so inspiring and stirring. He must have believed in the the motivating lyrics of the quest. However he sang in Korean. I wonder if the lyrics carry the same inspiration.

Thanks for sharing the English lyrics. Even if the Korean might not be exactly the same, I can at least imagine they are when I listen now

I just feel like those words are so HIM. Not just as an actor (e.g. the time he said in "Healing Camp" that he was determined to act until the day he died), but as a person. I keep thinking about his desire to mature yet stay the same over the course of his career: to act without calculation or ulterior motive, to just be himself, to not let the fame get to his head, to stick to his values.

1 hour ago, rionae said:

Edit: Oh, he sang it on Healing Camp (just one line ). This is the song that he sang during high school and a musical senior passing by heard him and recommended him to audition.

I love that background story every single time I hear it. In a world where it seems like so many people try to put themselves out there for fame (I don't know how it is in other places, but I see this a lot in my Chinese Canadian community, where talent shows are known to be a gateway to Hong Kong's entertainment industry), he was discovered while just minding his own business. It sounds like something out of a fairy tale (or K-drama, for that matter), yet it's real, and it's a strong testament to JW's talent: that someone in musical theatre - not just anyone, but someone in the know - heard him singing to himself and knew he had a good voice.

In my own imagination, I doubt he sang back then with quite the same amount of power as he does now in recreations of the scene such as for "Healing Camp" - after reading @airplanegirl's vocal analysis a few pages back (how I discovered this thread after lurking on the MSG one for a few days), I know that takes time, effort, and specialized instruction. However, there must have been something that clued said sunbae into hearing that he had great potential.

[lavender2love]

13 hours ago, kittyna said:

JCW = Ji Chang Wook

I didn't know until @lavender2love's post that there were so many rules for these forums - and I realize I've been breaking some of them due to my ignorance. Sorry about that!

 

Not to worry @kittyna you're probably not under their radar and being a newbie they may give you some leeway by editing your post, then maybe send you a " Love note ". but not barring. I too don't understand their vague barring policy because there are so many  breaking the rules all the time but are given the pass. I know some of them have close connections with especially the newly appointed mods.And oh, relax. they are busy right now with their " messy " soompi contest which caused some hallabaloo. Just keep posting , you're doing fine and a good contributor.

 

@rionae " I was wondering why the Don Quixote song sounded familiar when I shouldn't have heard it before... did he sang it in 1N2D ?

Tried searching videos but found this instead... he sang Snow Flower in 1N2D before too? Didn't remember at all =o "

Edit: Oh, he sang it on Healing Camp (just one line ). This is the song that he sang during high school and a musical senior passing by heard him and recommended him to audition. "

Haha.... good one. In racking your brain you gave us Snow Flower video. That is pretty good. From your post it is interesting that this song set things in motion and move him on to where he is now. In a way it is like Joo Won's quest always , to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far,  He has such excellent attributes. Thanks for that little history.

 

@stearlyThank you for your advices and experience. I finally managed to login so maybe I'll learn to use the new soompi someday.

I'm glad we have a glimpse of Joo Won while he is serving, I thought we'll not see him the long two years and now we even have his perfomances. Let it be so on. I hope he'll be healthy and will come back safely.

Thanks for sharing the English lyrics. Even if the Korean might not be exactly the same, I can at least imagine they are when I listen now

I just feel like those words are so HIM. Not just as an actor (e.g. the time he said in "Healing Camp" that he was determined to act until the day he died), but as a person. I keep thinking about his desire to mature yet stay the same over the course of his career: to act without calculation or ulterior motive, to just be himself, to not let the fame get to his head, to stick to his values."

@stearly you've got back your old profile with the handsome looking guy... haha. Happy for you. Welcome back stearly ... your reputation is won by your hard work being interactive in Soompi. Congrats.  But what happened to your activity feed ?

.

@kittyna "Thanks for sharing the English lyrics. Even if the Korean might not be exactly the same, I can at least imagine they are when I listen now

I just feel like those words are so HIM. Not just as an actor (e.g. the time he said in "Healing Camp" that he was determined to act until the day he died), but as a person. I keep thinking about his desire to mature yet stay the same over the course of his career: to act without calculation or ulterior motive, to just be himself, to not let the fame get to his head, to stick to his values."

You are absolutely right that IT IS SO HIM. That's the sum of Joo Won ,he is inspired and he inspires. He is stable, solid, talented,  humble and  just so cute. ..."  a perfect husband. perfect son, perfect brother " from MSG but applicable here.

 

 

[rionae]

21 minutes ago, lavender2love said:

 

@stearly you've got back your old profile with the handsome looking guy... haha. Happy for you. Welcome back stearly ... your reputation is won by your hard work being interactive in Soompi. Congrats.  But what happened to your activity feed ?

 

 

@lavender2love I believe Soompi has deleted all the activity that are before August 2016.

[lavender2love]

45 minutes ago, rionae said:

 

@lavender2love I believe Soompi has deleted all the activity that are before August 2016.

 

< wails  > Mine too...... !!! What ? What ? I'm distraught . !! A  big part of my activity is gone.... kind of ripping part of my brains and heart out with the old posts which  I wrote with much. gusto.