Joo Won 주원 [Current Drama 2024 - The Midnight Studio/ 야한(夜限) 사진관]

[kireeti2]

45 minutes ago, Calli said:

Hello again, 

I stumbled upon Joo Won's Ghost interview (part 1 and 2) posted on the i_sensee IG account and I was wondering if anyone knows if there's an English translation anywhere? Thank you

Here's the YouTube link for these interviews. Just enable English Subs under 'cc'

It is not perfect, but enough to understand the context in the interview

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GVL5WIyIrQ&list=PLWb9aB-BHnIW_hONgGWZlkRNp_xfOZFcP&index=30

 

[Calli]

35 minutes ago, kireeti2 said:

Here's the YouTube link for these interviews. Just enable English Subs under 'cc'

It is not perfect, but enough to understand the context in the interview

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GVL5WIyIrQ&list=PLWb9aB-BHnIW_hONgGWZlkRNp_xfOZFcP&index=30

 

You're an angel! Thank you so much kireeti2

 

It's too bad Joo Won Cutie isn't around anymore. They used to do such amazing translation work for Joo Won content :'(

Edited March 28, 2021 by Calli

[kittyna]

20 hours ago, Calli said:

I could sing his praises forever but instead I'll ask what I wanted to ask: is there any work of his or interview, etc that you'd recommend I watch next? I want to catch up with all he's done over the years but since he had his debut in 2006 (and drama debut in 2010) there is a TON of content and I'm finding myself a little overwhelmed. If you have any suggestions, I'd be so happy if you'd share. Thank you 

 

Sorry for being late to the game, but welcome @Calli!

 

 

Since @kireeti2 already covered some of the recent behind-the-scenes/interview goodies, I think I'll focus predominantly on dramas.  

 

Generally, I prefer seeing JW in more serious dramas - not that he can't do comedy (like in Good Doctor or Nae Il's Cantabile), but that's not his strongest suit, which you might have realized already after watching Alice. So, if it were up to me, I'd recommend Yong Pal (also called The Gang Doctor on some sites) as a good all-around performance from him. Admittedly, the focus of the drama shifts away from his character to the female lead (Kim Tae Hee) in the second half, but he still nails his position as the outside observer in those moments, and he has some really good introspective moments there.

 

I don't know if Yong Pal is available on Netflix (since I don't subscribe to it), but if not, I personally recommend Dramacool as a free online streaming site.

 

5 hours ago, Calli said:

It's too bad Joo Won Cutie isn't around anymore. They used to do such amazing translation work for Joo Won content :'(

 

They did, that's true. Some of the Cuties do still hover around here, even if they're not as active in posting as they used to be, but I think in terms of English-language stuff, Instagram is your best bet. Even K-entertainment news sites (Soompi, Hancinema, etc.) tend to ignore JW in favour of other bigger names, so we mostly make do with any updates from his agency that end up being translated into English  

 

You can either follow a few JW fans on Instagram, or do what I do, which is to follow the actual "joo won" tag. That does lead to a ton of irrelevant stuff showing up (since "joo won" is a very common Korean name to begin with), but it also mean that you'll come across any major updates...multiple times  

[kireeti2]

17 minutes ago, kittyna said:

Generally, I prefer seeing JW in more serious dramas - not that he can't do comedy (like in Good Doctor or Nae Il's Cantabile), but that's not his strongest suit, which you might have realized already after watching Alice. So, if it were up to me, I'd recommend Yong Pal (also called The Gang Doctor on some sites) as a good all-around performance from him. Admittedly, the focus of the drama shifts away from his character to the female lead (Kim Tae Hee) in the second half, but he still nails his position as the outside observer in those moments, and he has some really good introspective moments there.

 

I don't know if Yong Pal is available on Netflix (since I don't subscribe to it), but if not, I personally recommend Dramacool as a free online streaming site.

@Calli Or you can watch it on YouTube with subs from official SBS channel

Here is the link for all the episodes of Yong Pal

[Calli]

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

 

Sorry for being late to the game, but welcome @Calli!

 

Generally, I prefer seeing JW in more serious dramas - not that he can't do comedy (like in Good Doctor or Nae Il's Cantabile), but that's not his strongest suit, which you might have realized already after watching Alice. So, if it were up to me, I'd recommend Yong Pal  (...)

 

They did, that's true. Some of the Cuties do still hover around here, even if they're not as active in posting as they used to be, but I think in terms of English-language stuff, Instagram is your best bet. Even K-entertainment news sites (Soompi, Hancinema, etc.) tend to ignore JW in favour of other bigger names, so we mostly make do with any updates from his agency that end up being translated into English  

Thank you so much as well @kittyna for your warm welcome and the very helpful information you provided.

 

It's so interesting what you said about JW's strong suit being more serious roles. I watched Good Doctor on Netflix and because I was so blown away by his acting I watched Alice right after... I thought I was seeing (and hearing) things. Everything was so different - his posture and general body language and vocal tone and it was just like seeing someone else completely. I guess since he was playing an autistic savante in the one drama and a detective born with a genetic defect that doesn't allow him to recognize/process emotions properly in the other, I was expecting him to be different but he wasn't simply different, he was honestly a completely different person I had trouble recognizing. Which only speaks to how incredibly gifted an actor he is. And that impression continued and strengthened while I watched Tomorrow Cantabile - even if the drama wasn't very successful - JW's acting gift still shone through. And his hard work. I would have never guessed he only prepared 4-5 months learning to play the piano, violin and how to conduct, looking at what he conveyed in the drama. So, so far, imo he only has strong suits (no matter the genre) - no weak suit in sight  

Anyway, I could really sing his praises for hours, and I've only just scratched the surface of his "oeuvre", haha  

 

Good to know some of the Cuties are still around, they really did incredible work for international fans. Too bad their dailymotion and youtube channels aren't around anymore :'(

 

You said "Even K-entertainment news sites (Soompi, Hancinema, etc.) tend to ignore JW in favour of other bigger names". To be honest, with all the success he's had from the very beginning of his foray into drama land, I'm really surprised that's the case. Considering his immense talent and his beautiful personality (based on what I saw in the interviews, his Win Win appearance in November 2012, his Life Log and some 2D&1N episodes, his Healing Camp episode, and his recent Knowing Bros & Radio Star eps he's such a genuine, honest, humble, sweet & warm guy), I would have thought he'd be one of the bigger names and have a huge fanbase, too. How come that isn't the case? I'd love to know your insights...

 

I followed the tag on insta  Thanks so much for the suggestion.

 

And Yong Pal is next on my list! Along with Bridal Mask, since JW has mentioned that that drama was his turning point and from what I can tell it's the one that brought him lots of fame & popularity back then.

 

1 hour ago, kireeti2 said:

@Calli Or you can watch it on YouTube with subs from official SBS channel

Here is the link for all the episodes of Yong Pal

 

Thank you so so much @kireeti2. This link is super helpful.

 

You guys are amazing! (ps: sorry for the essay) 

Edited March 28, 2021 by Calli

[kittyna]

30 minutes ago, Calli said:

It's so interesting what you said about JW's strong suit being more serious roles. I watched Good Doctor on Netflix and because I was so blown away by his acting I watched Alice right after... I thought I was seeing (and hearing) things. Everything was so different - his posture and general body language and vocal tone and it was just like seeing someone else completely.

 

Obviously, Good Doctor is an outlier, but If you've seen his interviews and Joo Won's Life Log, you'll know that JW has an "acting voice" that he uses in many of his roles (like in Alice) that's significantly deeper than his real-life voice. Like, I don't know how common that is among Korean actors in general, but it's one of those things you notice about JW really quickly  

 

30 minutes ago, Calli said:

I guess since he was playing an autistic savante in the one drama and a detective born with a genetic defect that doesn't allow him to recognize/process emotions properly, I was expecting him to be different but he wasn't simply different, he was honestly a completely different person I had trouble recognizing.

 

lol - I wasn't a JW fan (or a Hallyu fan) yet when this happened, but I've heard from long-time fans that the 2012-2013 period in his work was the really crazy bit in terms of range, since it had Gaksital as a KBS drama, 1N2D as a KBS variety show, and then Good Doctor as a KBS drama again - it was like watching JW with a split personality  

 

And if you do end up watching Yong Pal, you'll see how JW pulled off two doctor characters who are near opposites in personality.

 

30 minutes ago, Calli said:

And that impression continued and strengthened while I watched Tomorrow Cantabile - even if the drama wasn't very successful - JW's acting gift still shone through. And his hard work. I would have never guessed he only prepared 4-5 months learning to play the piano, violin and how to conduct, looking at what he conveyed in the drama. 

 

As someone who has learned classical piano (not nearly as well as Cha Yoo Jin or Seol Nae Il, but still classically trained), the piano performances were okay. Like, they weren't going to be perfect, obviously, but nor was I expecting them to be. I did find JW's conducting really satisfying to watch, though - but I can't comment on his violin playing at all, since I wouldn't know what's accurate or not myself.  

 

30 minutes ago, Calli said:

You said "Even K-entertainment news sites (Soompi, Hancinema, etc.) tend to ignore JW in favour of other bigger names". To be honest, with all the success he's had from the very beginning of his foray into drama land, I'm really surprised that's the case. Considering his immense talent and his beautiful personality (based on what I saw in the interviews, his Win Win appearance in November 2012, his Life Log and some 2D&1N episodes, and his Healing Camp episode he's such a genuine, honest, humble, sweet & warm guy), I would have thought he'd be one of the bigger names and have a huge fanbase, too. How come that isn't the case? I'd love to know your insights...

 

I think what it is is that JW has never really had that successful romantic or teen-drama role that a ton of other Hallyu actors have had (e.g. The Heirs, My Love from the Stars, Descendants of the Sun, Love in the Moonlight, etc.), and his attempts in that direction have tended to be flops ratings-wise (Nae Il's Cantabile, My Sassy Girl, etc.).

 

So it means that he never actually got a foot in in the whole "Oppa" culture that fuels so much of the online engagement from international fans. But those who know that about him and his work end up appreciating what he does manage to do well - and rather than being the Oppa heart throb, many of us hope that he could become a solidly respected character/veteran actor in the future.  

 

So, for example...just a few days ago, @kireeti2 and I were chatting in the direct messages about how we'd like JW to play Sherlock Holmes if anyone were to hypothetically adapt the BBC drama into a K-drama. So...more that sort of role than a rom-com hero  

 

30 minutes ago, Calli said:

I followed the tag on insta  Thanks so much for the suggestion.

 

You're welcome - again, because of the common name, you will find posts for other celebrities or even a boy-love webtoon (Love or Hate, I think it's called) this way, but the majority of posts are still about our JW (or at least about K-dramas in general).

 

lol - As you can tell, @Calli, there's no need to worry about long posts as far as I'm concerned - I write like that, too  

[kireeti2]

52 minutes ago, Calli said:

imo he only has strong suits (no matter the genre) - no weak suit in sight  

I think I can point out a weak suit: he lacks spontaneity,so he sort of failed to shine in variety shows, and that is one of the reason he has thin fan base. If we examine careful, actors who does well in variety show and does okay in dramas and movies have lot of fan base, case in point actors from 1day and 2 nights and Running man. So, I would point out comedy is weak suit for joon won(not entirely but it is an area where he can improve)

55 minutes ago, Calli said:

You said "Even K-entertainment news sites (Soompi, Hancinema, etc.) tend to ignore JW in favour of other bigger names".

That's because Joo won's popularity only confined to East Asia, although he has considerable international fan base, but not enough to draw the attention of the media.

56 minutes ago, Calli said:

JW's acting gift still shone through. And his hard work. I would have never guessed he only prepared 4-5 months learning to play the piano, violin and how to conduct, looking at what he conveyed in the drama

Well, joo won tends to give his 100% when it comes to work and is diligent enough to complete the work on time. So, no wonder he got the Producers' choice award for his performance in "Alice" in SBS drama award. And also, do lookout for his new movie in collaboration with Netflix, it's from thriller genre, and Joo won's strong suit is playing roles in thriller, so, we can expect his best performance in the movie, regardless of the success of the movie.

30 minutes ago, kittyna said:

Obviously, Good Doctor is an outlier, but If you've seen his interviews and Joo Won's Life Log, you'll know that JW has an "acting voice" that he uses in many of his roles (like in Alice) that's significantly deeper than his real-life voice

Yeah, in really life his voice is not that deep. It's like when he gets into character he changes his voice.

31 minutes ago, kittyna said:

So it means that he never actually got a foot in in the whole "Oppa" culture that fuels so much of the online engagement from international fans. But those who know that about him and his work end up appreciating what he does manage to do well - and rather than being the Oppa heart throb, many of us hope that he could become a solidly respected character/veteran actor in the future.  

I think it is good that he did not struck in OPPA culture, otherwise he should have played only those rom-com roles and we would have never seen his versatile acting. And also, it is funny how no female lead of joo won's drama had ever called him "OPPA"(of course Nae-il called him Orabang, but that doesn't count).

 

 

 

[Calli]

5 hours ago, kittyna said:

 

Obviously, Good Doctor is an outlier, but If you've seen his interviews and Joo Won's Life Log, you'll know that JW has an "acting voice" that he uses in many of his roles (like in Alice) that's significantly deeper than his real-life voice. Like, I don't know how common that is among Korean actors in general, but it's one of those things you notice about JW really quickly   

 

I think what it is is that JW has never really had that successful romantic or teen-drama role that a ton of other Hallyu actors have had (e.g. The Heirs, My Love from the Stars, Descendants of the Sun, Love in the Moonlight, etc.), and his attempts in that direction have tended to be flops ratings-wise (Nae Il's Cantabile, My Sassy Girl, etc.).

 

So it means that he never actually got a foot in in the whole "Oppa" culture that fuels so much of the online engagement from international fans. But those who know that about him and his work end up appreciating what he does manage to do well - and rather than being the Oppa heart throb, many of us hope that he could become a solidly respected character/veteran actor in the future.  

 

So much food for thought! I love this~ I'll try to reply properly. 

First @kittyna, I absolutely noticed the voice thing. I watched Naeil's Contabile right after 24 episodes of JW's Life Log and in the first few minutes of episode 1 where Cha Yoojin is narrating I didn't recognize JW's voice. I was like "who is that?" *embarrassing but true*

And this distinction between real-life voice and acting voice is not something I've noticed with any other actors I've watched interviews/variety appearances of. He's very very special that way. He truly becomes someone else while he acts. Must be very cathartic for him. 

 

What you mentioned about JW never having had a highly successful teen or romantic drama is a really good observation imo. It's funny that that hasn't happened for him so far considering he would have really liked to star in a very romantic "the notebook"-like melodrama, from what I gathered in some of his interviews. But yes, the dramas you mentioned or such recent dramas like Extraordinary You were very powerful in terms of gathering a huge international fanbase for their stars. @kireeti2I actually don't think it's his lack of variety skills that explains his "smaller" fanbase (when I said "no weak suit in sight" I was referring to his acting, be it in a serious or more comedic genre) - if you look at huge Hallyu stars like Lee Minho or Ji Chang Wook they have no variety skills either. I'd say in fact they have less skills or at least way less practice in that area compared to JW and yet they each have a huge international fanbase. 

 

I definitely agree with you guys that I'm very happy about the choices he's made so far and that he hasn't been confined to what you call "the oppa image". I think with his gift for acting he could have never been confined to that imo...his ability to convey all sorts of emotions in such a powerful way - whether he acts or sings or both - is just too extraordinary for that. However, his choices obviously helped to keep him out of that lane and helped him grow a lot along the way. I would love to see him portray a Sherlock Holmes like figure - intelligent, slightly arrogant and anti-social but with his heart in the right place - he'd be incredible at that for sure. 

 

And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing him in Carter. I've no doubt he'll be amazing in it. I'm hoping that Netflix and this movie will serve as a platform to introduce many more people to JW and the amazing actor and person he is. Netflix certainly introduced him to me. I had been meaning to watch Good Doctor since forever and when it was finally available in my region I did... and now I'm here^^ 

Edited March 28, 2021 by Calli

[kireeti2]

9 hours ago, Calli said:

@kireeti2I actually don't think it's his lack of variety skills that explains his "smaller" fanbase (when I said "no weak suit in sight" I was referring to his acting, be it in a serious or more comedic genre) - if you look at huge Hallyu stars like Lee Minho or Ji Chang Wook they have no variety skills either. I'd say in fact they have less skills or at least way less practice in that area compared to JW and yet they each have a huge international fanbase. 

I agree with, but the actors you have mentioned have played lead roles from the beginning of their careers and they have head start when we compare them with  Joo won. What I mean was that variety shows play a role in expanding popularity of an artist I had Kim Seon-ho's name in my mind. As you know, due to his recent casting in variety show his popularity as shot up 4 times and more than the eastablished actor like Joo won. So, lack of variety skills might not be an reason for small base, but having one does get a considerable fan base.

And now that you have mentioned other Hallyu stars, they have been leads from their beginning of their careers, where as joo won got lead role in his second drama, which is Bridal Mask, but that drama was targeted towards regional fans, and of course it did pull few International fans, but it was not a typical historic drama like "Moon Embracing the Sun" which was regional and International hit. So, we can call Joo won's "Good Doctor" has the drama which shot his fame both in East Asia and Internationally, after that Yong Pal was big hit in South East Asia. So, with the new movie "Carter" will help in improving his fan base and also get his first award in Movie section, since he got none 

9 hours ago, Calli said:

I had been meaning to watch Good Doctor since forever and when it was finally available in my region I did... and now I'm here^^ 

Mine is kind of reverse scenario, first I saw the pilot episode of American remake of Good Doctor and then thought of giving the Korean version. And since then I have been exploring K-drama world and waiting for Joo won's new projects

[Calli]

2 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I agree with, but the actors you have mentioned have played lead roles from the beginning of their careers and they have head start when we compare them with  Joo won.

Hmmm... I'm not sure that's true to be honest. Ji Chang Wook debuted as a musical actor as well and had his official debut into drama/movie land in 2008 through a movie where he didn't play a lead. He got his very first lead role in 2010 in the drama Smile Again. His breakthrough came in 2013 with Empress Ki and then it was Healer of course that made him gain a big international following. 

Joo Won on the other hand was given a lead role in his very first drama King of Baking (which was called a national drama because of its 50% ratings), then came Ojakgyuo Family where he also played a lead role and which was also a ratings success and then came his third drama, Bridal Mask in 2012, which brought him mainstream success.

And as far as Lee Minho goes he already started his on-screen career in 2003 with minor roles and then his career was put on hold in 2006 due to a serious accident. He only got his first lead role in 2007 in Mackerel Run which wasn't successful at all and after several other roles Boys Over Flowers happened in 2009 and the rest is history I guess. 

So as far as I've understood if anyone started of with leading roles right of the bat it was Joo Won (compared to Lee Minho and Ji Chang Wook) - but considering his acting skills and his hard work and how well he did he deserved that too. So I don't think that's the reason JW has a smaller fanbase. I guess it's more what @kittynamentioned before that JW hasn't had a drama like Boys Over Flowers or Healer that catapulted him into international stardom? Even though Good Doctor certainly had the potential for that but I guess it didn't attract as big a fangirl influx? Though that puzzles me a lot. From what I saw he even got the Netizen award for Good Doctor so his popularity must have been very high at the time? 

I personally dont think that international fans care that much about variety shows in picking their biases. They watch a drama and if they discover an actor they like that's when they start looking up their variety appearances as well. I think variety skills is something that is more important to Korean fans? I might be totally wrong of course. It's just that that has been my experience and impression with other international k-drama fans I've met along the years. 

[kireeti2]

2 hours ago, Calli said:

Hmmm... I'm not sure that's true to be honest. Ji Chang Wook debuted as a musical actor as well and had his official debut into drama/movie land in 2008 through a movie where he didn't play a lead. He got his very first lead role in 2010 in the drama Smile Again. His breakthrough came in 2013 with Empress Ki and then it was Healer of course that made him gain a big international following. 

So, I think every actor has his/her unique advantage and disadvantages when it comes to fan base. Like, the actors who got initial breakthrough faded quickly and the actors who got late breakthrough some how managed to get bigger fan base for their unique acting style and promotion by their respective agencies.

2 hours ago, Calli said:

Joo Won on the other hand was given a lead role in his very first drama King of Baking (which was called a national drama because of its 50% ratings), then came Ojakgyuo Family where he also played a lead role and which was also a ratings success and then came his third drama, Bridal Mask in 2012, which brought him mainstream success.

Yes, Joo won did had initial success and was part of main cast for dramas which had high ratings. And it is baffling for me as well to see such a small fan base and popularity. And also, we all can agree that he still has time to shine and prove himself, just like Gong Yoo(who is senior to him) who has taken roles with  high character arch and diverse roles. And Kang Ha neul who shot to the fame after drama "When Camellia Blooms",  also the one common thing with these two actors is that they not only have successful dramas but also have successful movies in their careers which helped them a lot when it comes to recognizing their talent. Where as joo won has been unlucky when it comes to movies, the only movie which did well at box office was "Fatal Intuition(2015)" which was a good thriller movie. So, the only way joo won can get his due recognition is by not only making good dramas but only good movies, and he should not be following the trend and should be acting in drama/movie with unique story and role which will bring best of Joo won's acting skill. So, taking project like "Carter" is a good sign and we can expect it do well and also we can expect it release soon since Netflix reputation of finishing projects quickly and on time, as for his other movie "Fire Fighter" I have no hopes that it'll be released this year, like, even Joo won removed it from his Instagram DP and it is a big blow for his movie career, if the production team decided to junk it.

 

 

[kittyna]

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

What I mean was that variety shows play a role in expanding popularity of an artist I had Kim Seon-ho's name in my mind. As you know, due to his recent casting in variety show his popularity as shot up 4 times and more than the eastablished actor like Joo won. So, lack of variety skills might not be an reason for small base, but having one does get a considerable fan base.

 

Kim Seon Ho's been at it for a while - but what really catapulted his career now is that he managed to land a double-whammy: a role in the fourth season of 1N2D at a time when longtime fans of the show were desperate for a comeback (because of how abruptly season 3 was cut) and a major leading role in Start-Up, which took off really well as far as cable dramas go.

 

4 hours ago, Calli said:

Even though Good Doctor certainly had the potential for that but I guess it didn't attract as big a fangirl influx? Though that puzzles me a lot. From what I saw he even got the Netizen award for Good Doctor so his popularity must have been very high at the time? 

 

Also, @Calli and @kireeti2, I think there's one huge factor that's changed the playing field between when JW was starting off and now that neither of you have brought up yet: social media. When JW and a lot of his peers (Ji Chang Wook, Kim Soo Hyun, Lee Jong Suk, etc.) were starting off, sites like Instagram or even YouTube (in terms of English-language Hallyu material) were not as big, so it took longer for news about new or interesting dramas to spread. Now, the turnover is really, really fast, which is why actors who became more prominent in recent years (e.g. Woo Do Hwan, Cha Eun Woo, Kim Seon Ho, etc.) can get these massive fanbases even as the dramas they're starring in are playing.

 

And JW's fans on social media tend to be just as quiet as he is  There is a longer history to this, but now, even his fans in Korea aren't particularly vocal in things like online polls, fan posts, etc., and that has a trickling effect to the international fans as well.

 

59 minutes ago, kireeti2 said:

as for his other movie "Fire Fighter" I have no hopes that it'll be released this year, like, even Joo won removed it from his Instagram DP and it is a big blow for his movie career, if the production team decided to junk it.

 

It's still on his Naver and Daum pages, apparently, so it could just be that he has to shift to promoting Carter instead  

 

6 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

So, we can call Joo won's "Good Doctor" has the drama which shot his fame both in East Asia and Internationally, after that Yong Pal was big hit in South East Asia. So, with the new movie "Carter" will help in improving his fan base and also get his first award in Movie section, since he got none 

 

Actually, the drama that did that for JW was his very first one: King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu. He was huge in Japan for a while after that point  

 

However, JW then picked productions that really would do better in the domestic/Korean market than overseas: Ojakgyo Brothers, Gaksital, and even 1N2D to some extent. And, rather than teenage fangirls, he wound up with a ton of ahjumma fans (for his cute maknae image in 1N2D) and fanboys (from Gaksital - he was still being recognized on the street as "the guy from Gaksital" up to 2014, at least). However, teenage girls are the ones that drive the advertising side of Hallyu: merchandise sales (to locals and tourists alike), CF deals, etc. So JW was never able to tap into that, and I also wonder whether ever wanted to in the first place.

 

4 hours ago, Calli said:

I guess it's more what @kittynamentioned before that JW hasn't had a drama like Boys Over Flowers or Healer that catapulted him into international stardom? Even though Good Doctor certainly had the potential for that but I guess it didn't attract as big a fangirl influx? Though that puzzles me a lot. From what I saw he even got the Netizen award for Good Doctor so his popularity must have been very high at the time? 

 

lol - If you watched Good Doctor and came away thinking Park Si On was more hot than cute, you'd be the exception  But it's "hot" that sells to the fangirls, whereas "cute" (like Park Si On) leads to more all-around popularity 

 

JW's agency has tried consistently to cast him in a drama that they hope would attract younger fans, but most attempts have been unsuccessful: Level 7 Civil Servant, Nae Il's Cantabile, My Sassy Girl, etc. I think that they did manage to make the right call on Yong Pal and Alice, though - Yong Pal especially being that combination of a genre that would appeal to younger audiences and role that showcased JW at his best.

 

But that said, Yong Pal also had issues of its own: the shift in focus halfway through the story put some viewers off, since so much of the marketing focused on the more action-packed (for JW) first half.

 

[kittyna]

7 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

joo won got lead role in his second drama, which is Bridal Mask, but that drama was targeted towards regional fans, and of course it did pull few International fans, but it was not a typical historic drama like "Moon Embracing the Sun" which was regional and International hit.

 

Actually, now that we're on the subject, that would be an interesting alternate history/parallel timeline to see playing out, because JW actually was considered for Moon Embracing the Sun (as Jung Il Woo's character), but had to decline it due to scheduling conflicts when Ojakgyo Brothers got extended. That's what gave him the opening in his 2012 schedule to take on Gaksital and, well, the rest of history. However, if Ojakgyo hadn't been extended (still successful, but no extension), and JW had taken on Moon Embracing the Sun, I wonder where he'd be now  

 

By the way, @Calli, if you don't mind my asking: what country are you in right now? Because I get the sense that the context we ourselves are in as fans affect what we observe of how Hallyu works (i.e. @kireeti2's in India, I'm in Canada, most of the Instagram fans are in Japan or Southeast Asia, etc.). So, for example, here in North America, which is still relatively new to the Hallyu business, nothing beats K-pop: the K-pop idols will always be at the top (along with whatever dramas they starred in), followed by the "teenage heart throb" Hallyu stars, followed by those who take on more serious/adult dramas, etc. In this context, JW happens to be on this weird cusp where he's...more popular than a ton of other actors (like, he is still a Hallyu star), but is close to the bottom when we think about ranking the stars specifically.

 

Actually, if you look up Good Doctor on many English-language sites (Google, YouTube, etc.), you're more likely to get the American version in the results now: so the remake started off as a boon to JW at first, but that backfired pretty quickly  

 

[EDIT]

 

Yes, I know this just broke the one-hour rule (@Calli, there's an unwritten rule that you should wait at least an hour between posts so you don't swamp it), but I thought this would be automatically merged with my previous comment  

[kireeti2]

28 minutes ago, kittyna said:

So, for example, here in North America, which is still relatively new to the Hallyu business, nothing beats K-pop: the K-pop idols will always be at the top (along with whatever dramas they starred in), followed by the "teenage heart throb" Hallyu stars, followed by those who take on more serious/adult dramas, etc. In this context, JW happens to be on this weird cusp where he's...more popular than a ton of other actors (like, he is still a Hallyu star), but is close to the bottom when we think about ranking the stars specifically.

In India,both K-pop and K-dramas are relatively new as well and due to lock down effect, at least in India, which who have access to Netflix started to watch more and more K-dramas.So, yeah, India is no different than North America.

29 minutes ago, kittyna said:

Actually, now that we're on the subject, that would be an interesting alternate history/parallel timeline to see playing out, because JW actually was considered for Moon Embracing the Sun (as Jung Il Woo's character), but had to decline it due to scheduling conflicts when Ojakgyo Brothers got extended. That's what gave him the opening in his 2012 schedule to take on Gaksital and, well, the rest of history. However, if Ojakgyo hadn't been extended (still successful, but no extension), and JW had taken on Moon Embracing the Sun, I wonder where he'd be now  

I think Joo won would have bagged at least one award had he taken the second lead role. But, of course he should have waited much longer to play as lead in a drama. And I do think Bridal Mask laid foundation for Joo won as a versatile actor and made directors take interest in him.

1 hour ago, kittyna said:

ol - If you watched Good Doctor and came away thinking Park Si On was more hot than cute, you'd be the exception  But it's "hot" that sells to the fangirls, whereas "cute" (like Park Si On) leads to more all-around popularity 

Well, for me I really didn't notice Joo won's looks when I first watched few episodes of Good Doctor(maybe its because of I am male), even when Na In Hae gave him compliments did not made me realize how good looking he is. But, it is because of his acting, he made sure that audience first notice his looks than his looks, so, after watching few episodes then I finally hit me, than he does look cute. But, I should say I became his fan for his acting and not looks, and this is true for all the actors out there who makes fans based on performance rather than looks,for instance, he is in the league of Ju Ji-hoon(Kingdom drama), Lee Je-hoon(signal drama)

 

[kittyna]

lol - I was hoping to get a chance to hear @Calli's take on these things first, but I guess I'll start  

 

23 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

I think Joo won would have bagged at least one award had he taken the second lead role. But, of course he should have waited much longer to play as lead in a drama. And I do think Bridal Mask laid foundation for Joo won as a versatile actor and made directors take interest in him.

 

Yeah - I definitely think Gaksital had a massive impact here, but I also think the fact that JW did it simultaneously with 1N2D really added to it, too. 1N2D showed just how much JW was putting into his portrayal of Lee Kang To, and he got any more versatility points by following that up with lighter roles: Level 7, Catch Me and - obviously - Good Doctor.

 

23 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

Well, for me I really didn't notice Joo won's looks when I first watched few episodes of Good Doctor(maybe its because of I am male), even when Na In Hae gave him compliments did not made me realize how good looking he is.

 

My first JW drama was King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu and even so, I didn't think he was handsome at first. Sometimes, I still don't - it depends on the specific video clip or photograph.  But I do think that JW has a very striking and unforgettable appearance, which probably gets you farther as an actor anyway  

[flutterby06]

On 3/28/2021 at 7:14 PM, Calli said:

It's so interesting what you said about JW's strong suit being more serious roles. I watched Good Doctor on Netflix and because I was so blown away by his acting I watched Alice right after... I thought I was seeing (and hearing) things. Everything was so different - his posture and general body language and vocal tone and it was just like seeing someone else completely. I guess since he was playing an autistic savante in the one drama and a detective born with a genetic defect that doesn't allow him to recognize/process emotions properly in the other, I was expecting him to be different but he wasn't simply different, he was honestly a completely different person I had trouble recognizing. Which only speaks to how incredibly gifted an actor he is. And that impression continued and strengthened while I watched Tomorrow Cantabile - even if the drama wasn't very successful - JW's acting gift still shone through. And his hard work. I would have never guessed he only prepared 4-5 months learning to play the piano, violin and how to conduct, looking at what he conveyed in the drama. So, so far, imo he only has strong suits (no matter the genre) - no weak suit in sight  

That's Joo Won charm for you. The versatility of his acting blows everyone away.

 

Hello @Calli.

Like everyone else I welcome you in Joo Won's thread. We don't have many people active here for now.. Some still stop by and say Hi whenever anything important is up. So any new member is always welcomed and appreciated here specially those who loves to appreciate Joo Won's acting and his sweet personality.

 

If you're looking for a direction for now I will highly recommend Bridal Mask (Gaksital) and Yong Pal and movie 'Catch Me' if you're in for some rom-com.

I didn't notice if you have watched 2d1n yet. May be you can watch episode by episode.

About Interviews- Did you watch his KBS  Happy Together appearances? He actually appeared 4 times there but I think 2 of those are available full episode on Youtube with English subtitles.

 

Oh and OSTs... Do search Joo Won OSTs in YT. He just sings so well.

 

One of the plus point of being anew Joo won fan is we have lots of JW work and content around.. I mean you can go on and on lots to watch admire.

But the downside is we don't have English translated subbed like other fandom very much as the fandom as a whole isn't that active. Gone are the golden days. Let's hope it'll be back.

 

And @Calli if I'm not wrong I think I had a conversation with you in vlive fan board. 'moonstruck' rings a bell?

 

 

@kireeti2and @kittyna hello. How are you guys? I've been no show for a long time. 

 

Are you guys excited for Carter?

Kofic-the website for Korean Film wrote a news on Joo Won in 24th March about him Joining Carter.

 

JOO Won to Headline JUNG Byung-gil’s CARTER for Netflix

Mar 24, 2021

• Writerby Pierce Conran
• View115

 

Global Streamer Begin Korean Film Production with Action-Thriller

 

News Link: http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&seq=5519&mode=VIEW

 

Here's also news on movie Firefighter. http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&seq=5344&mode=VIEW

 

I actually saw this before but failed to notice the most important thing. The news said the expected release date of Firefighter which is subjected to delay due to covid. But a probable date nonetheless.

 

" Principal photography for Fireman is due to kick off on May 18 and the film is being financed by AceMaker Movieworks. The project was originally aiming to start production in late March but experienced a slight delay, first to April 16 and now to its current mid-May date owing to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the delays, actor YOO Seung-ho (Seondal: The Man Who Sells the River, 2016) was forced to step down from the project. The film will find its way to theaters in 2021."

 

The distributor Company enlisted 'Firefighter' in their coming up list.

 

http://www.acemaker.co.kr/en/movie_lst.html#coming

 

If things are nice and good we're having two movie from Joo Won this year. 

[kireeti2]

8 hours ago, flutterby06 said:

 hello. How are you guys? I've been no show for a long time. 

I am doing fine and I hope your doing fine as well,  and waiting eagerly for Joo won's next project. And thanks for sharing the article about joo won's movies, I am more interested in Joo won's Fire Fighter movie than the thriller movie Carter, like, the former is more human oriented and Joo won considerably does well in such kind of projects and the movie has some heavy weight cast members, so, I think this should be joo won's second successful movie and I hope we gets an award for this movie.

I also hope with this movie carter he get some international fan base, which will also help him in securing projects with good story.

I just hope we can see his movies by the end of the summer, and Netflix is known for completing its projects at faster pace, so, yeah, we can expect the two of movies of Joo won by the end of second half of the year

 

 

 

 

[flutterby06]

 

3 hours ago, kireeti2 said:

am doing fine and I hope your doing fine as well,  and waiting eagerly for Joo won's next project. And thanks for sharing the article about joo won's movies, I am more interested in Joo won's Fire Fighter movie than the thriller movie Carter, like, the former is more human oriented and Joo won considerably does well in such kind of projects and the movie has some heavy weight cast members, so, I think this should be joo won's second successful movie and I hope we gets an award for this movie.

 

I am fine too.

 

To be honest I'm more excited about 'Firefighter' too.. because he gets to work with veterans and it's genre and story is based on real tragic incident.

 

Honestly my instant reaction when I got the news of carter was this-

 

 

Pretty selfish I know..But I was very eagerly waiting for a Joo Won drama news. Being in a movie means longer wait for next drama.

 

But I saw many green signal for Carter. It's a Netflix project and it's action. JW has always been confident about action genre and in his post army interview he mentioned Netflix as a different medium that he is interested in saying rating isn't everything. So I could tell he probably is planning to join there.

 

Also most fans were very excited for this not only because Carter is having the title first Korean Blockbuster movie from Netflix so it was very appealing have that title too. That made me proud of Joo Won. And it proved again how industry insider has believe in his acting. Because JW isn't really that successful in movies yet. His only successful movie is probably 'It's Him.' But the fact Carter Directior and Netflix courted Joo Won for their first blockbuster- the idea was just so pleasing. With his caliber of acting and hard work he deserved that attention.

Carter is said to have intense action scenes. I hope Joo Won can complete the filming safely.

 

On bright side I hope to see JW engaging in his movie promotional activities for upcoming Firefighters. I'm already excited for upcoming interviews and hopefully vareity show appearances. 

[Calli]

Hey everyone, I'm so sorry it took me so long to reply, I currently have a bit of a health situation on my hands but as soon as I was able to, I read your posts and I'm dying to catch up^^ 

So, @kittynayou asked where I was from. I'm from Germany. K-drama found me about 5 years ago when it was still very much a sub culture in Germany. If it weren't for Netflix and the tons of k-dramas it made available in the last year, many people would have no idea what Hallyu is. Despite BTS. And I think most people in Germany still have no clue what Hallyu is to be honest but amongst young people, esp those on Twitter - which I think is the main social media platform where fangirling takes place - k-pop and k-drama is definitely a thing. Twitter is also how I became aware of K-world. And what a brand new, rich, amazing, sometimes upsetting world it turned out to be~

On 3/30/2021 at 3:22 PM, kittyna said:

My first JW drama was King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu and even so, I didn't think he was handsome at first. Sometimes, I still don't - it depends on the specific video clip or photograph.  But I do think that JW has a very striking and unforgettable appearance, which probably gets you farther as an actor anyway  

 

As far as me coming away from Good Doctor thinking Joo Won was "hot" goes (lol, I didn't think that's what needed to happen for the drama to become successful internationally tbh) - I came away from the drama and Joo Won's performance thinking he's insanely talented and charismatic and to me that actually translates into "hotness", if such a label is even necessary. While watching Alice I thought his is a face that I could look at forever without ever feeling "now, that's enough"  he just became more and more beautiful the longer I looked at him and the more of his acting and real life personality I got to experience. I just think he's the whole package, beautiful inside out. 

 

On 3/30/2021 at 8:41 PM, flutterby06 said:

Hello @Calli.

Like everyone else I welcome you in Joo Won's thread. We don't have many people active here for now.. Some still stop by and say Hi whenever anything important is up. So any new member is always welcomed and appreciated here specially those who loves to appreciate Joo Won's acting and his sweet personality.

Hello @flutterby06 , thanks so much to you too for the warm welcome^^ and for the many helpful suggestions. 

I started watching season 2 of 2D&1N right after I finished Alice but I'm only at episode 12. And I did watch the 2 episodes of Happy Together with JW on YouTube with English subs and loved them. I vividly remember wanting to try his chestnut creation in that one episode^^ What are the other 2 episodes? Have they never been subbed or translated? 

 

Too bad there's not a lot of current translated content for international Joo Woon fans to access but I'm happy with whatever is available. I know it's a lot of hard work to translate and the smaller the fandom the smaller the likelihood of that to happen. But who knows? Maybe the fandom will grow/be revived again? He definitely definitely deserves it :') 

 

and how cool that we spoke on vlive!! Though I saw that our conversation has disappeared again but still nice to have met you there too^^

 

I've listened to some of Joo Won's OST songs already... you should have seen my face when I realized that he was the one singing the "proper" version of "If I Were" right after Shi On's while he's sitting on his balcony, looking at the moon. I was like "whaaaaaaat? Noooooo! He can sing too???? How is this fair?" lol. Something along those lines. I love his voice. It's so powerful in conveying emotion. Just like his acting. 

 

I'm planning to watch Yong Pal & Gaksital next. I might drop by here to gush over him if I need an outlet for all that JW love^^ please bear with me in case that happens 

I'll stop here since this has already become another essay. I hope we can share in our Joo Won love frequently here and I'm so grateful to you guys for sharing your vast knowledge with this newbie fan 

[kittyna]

2 hours ago, Calli said:

So, @kittynayou asked where I was from. I'm from Germany. K-drama found me about 5 years ago when it was still very much a sub culture in Germany. If it weren't for Netflix and the tons of k-dramas it made available in the last year, many people would have no idea what Hallyu is. Despite BTS. And I think most people in Germany still have no clue what Hallyu is to be honest but amongst young people, esp those on Twitter - which I think is the main social media platform where fangirling takes place - k-pop and k-drama is definitely a thing. Twitter is also how I became aware of K-world. And what a brand new, rich, amazing, sometimes upsetting world it turned out to be~

 

Germany? I don't think I've met someone here from there before - welcome to the club!

 

lol - I will confess, though, that my literal first reaction was to think, "Oh, crap - I better not have been messing this up in my fics, then!"  

Long story short: one of my favourite ways to explore and play around with JW's dramas is through fanfic, and that includes a whole sequel series to Nae Il's Cantabile where I imagine what Cha Yoo Jin and Seol Nae Il's lives might be like after relocating to Austria at the end of the drama. Problem is: I've never actually been to that part of Europe before (closest was Switzerland), so I was just relying on what I could piece together online  I tried to make it culturally accurate and all, but if you do ever end up reading the fics (my series is titled Seolleim in Salzburg and links are available via my profile page or also via DM), I apologize in advance for any linguistic or cultural errors 

 

On 3/30/2021 at 2:41 PM, flutterby06 said:

@kireeti2and @kittyna hello. How are you guys? I've been no show for a long time. 

 

I've been fine as well  I've been less active here than before, ever since I found out from the mods that posts here really have to be related to JW as an actor (i.e. stuff that's just about his drama characters don't count), so I've had a lot less to share or talk about.

 

This may potentially spell the end of my fanfics, too, unless I can figure out some sort of workaround. For example, like I just said to @Calli, I've also made Seolleim in Salzburg available as a DM link - it's up and active already, so let me know if you want it - but I still need to figure out what works best for potential future fics that aren't in a series.

 

On 3/31/2021 at 3:01 AM, flutterby06 said:

Honestly my instant reaction when I got the news of carter was this-

 

 

lol - That moment from Nae Il's Cantabile never gets old, especially when it's meme-ified like this.

 

But same here, actually. As great as news of Carter is, I find it hard to get excited for a Netflix movie when I don't have Netflix to begin with (and no, I'm not shilling out that amount of money just for one film, thanks for asking). So I'm just like, "That's awesome for him as an actor, and I hope it'll be a boost to his recognition worldwide - but I still want a drama, damn it!"

 

As for weighing Firefighter and Carter...both have their merits, but until I know more about what to expect from Carter other than its basic premise (which, incidentally, is currently making me think JW will end up as a Korean version of Jason Bourne), Firefighter seems to be the more intriguing story. Like, I like watching JW in action, but I think he can do so much more than just straight-up action - you know what I mean?

 

On 3/31/2021 at 3:01 AM, flutterby06 said:

To be honest I'm more excited about 'Firefighter' too.. because he gets to work with veterans and it's genre and story is based on real tragic incident.

 

By the way, you sent out a news article about the original accident that inspired Firefighter a while ago, but I lost track of the link - do you still have it? I've been trying to check something in the (admittedly blurry) behind-the-scenes photos fans have posted on Instagram, but I need the original source information to do that.

 

3 hours ago, Calli said:

What are the other 2 episodes? Have they never been subbed or translated? 

 

They were for King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu and Ojakgyo Brothers respectively, but I don't know if translated versions are still available online - they were ages ago, which is when I watched them, but I haven't tried to track down the links since.

 

3 hours ago, Calli said:

lol. Something along those lines. I love his voice. It's so powerful in conveying emotion. Just like his acting. 

 

Well, he'd have to be good at conveying emotions while singing, or how else would he have made it as a musical theatre actor?  

 

And now for some Instagram goodies I never got around to sharing.

 

He looks, like, insanely tall in this drawing - like, what?

 

Cute chibi fanart 1

 

Cute chibi fanart 2

 

The "Introverted Dance" - lol I think I'm gonna have to start calling it that from now on  But it's the added captions that are really cracking me up right now