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Actor Song Seung-hun, who made his name as a gentle, romantic lead in melodramas before he was drafted into the military, has changed. He has come back after a five-year hiatus as a tough guy, playing a man who joins the mafia to avenge his father in MBC drama ¡°East of Eden.¡± Watching him rage and burn while chasing the man who killed his father on a motorcycle, viewers have praised him for his true-to-life emotional acting.
After 14 years in the entertainment world, Song is still mostly recognized for his looks rather than his acting. ¡°I know I¡¯m known thanks to my looks rather than anything else,¡± he said. ¡°But I no longer care about that.¡±
Having made his debut as a model for blue jeans in 1995, he rose to stardom overnight with his role in MBC sitcom ¡°Three Guys and Three Girls.¡± ¡°I started acting unprepared without thinking much about it,¡± he said. ¡°So I still sometimes feel I¡¯m dreaming when so many fans show their love for me.¡±
Gently prodded about the scandal surrounding his attempt to dodge the draft, the 32-year-old says, ¡°It was one of the most regrettable things in my life. In the military I often thought about the importance of being humble and taking things as they come.¡±
But his fans remained loyal -- he got boxes of letters every week, totaling tens of thousands by the time he was discharged after two years.
Song, like Bae Yong-joon, is more popular in Japan than in Korea -- thousands of Japanese fans came to see him when he was discharged. ¡°I¡¯m happy and at the same time it¡¯s a lot of pressure when Japanese fans come to Korea to study because of me,¡± he says.
Now he tries to think and act simply, taking advice from director Yoon Suk-ho of ¡°Autumn in My Heart¡±, the drama that made his name in Japan. Yoon ¡°told me that I shouldn¡¯t try to look cool or handsome when I¡¯m acting. The most important thing, he said, is to act sincerely and truthfully. I think I can do that now.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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