Jang Keun Suk – No one can replace his role except him
[filmography]
Is good to live like this?
Love Rain (KBS2), You’re My Pet (2011), Mary Stayed All Night Out (KBS2, 2010), You Are Beautiful (SBS, 2009), The Case of Itaewon Homicide (2009), Beethoven Virus (MBC, 2008), Baby & Me (2008), Doremifasolatido (2008), Hong Gi Dong (KBS2, 2008), Long Wait of 24 Months (2008), Happy Life (2007), Huang Jin Yi(KBS2, 2006), One Missed Final Call (2006), Alien Same (2006), Lovers In Prague (2005), Nonstop4 (MBC, 2003), Owls Museum (KBS2, 2003), Daemong (SBS, 2002), Orange (SBS, 2002), Ten Lucks in My Life (EBS, 2002), Fairy Keommi ( KBS 2001), The Reign of Women (SBS, 2001), An Encounter (SBS, 1999), Hugs (SBS, 1998), Happiness For Sale (HBS, 1997)
Many people were disappointed with You’re My Pet (as YMP here after) or Love Rain.
This is possible but that is criticism of the complete work and it cannot be the criticism of Jang Keun Suk (as JKS here after) himself.
Except JKS, who else in Korea in their 20s can act as In Ho in YMP? In this movie, in order to make his master Ji En (played by Kim Ha Neul) happy, In Ho exhibits all his talent and cuteness. Just like be in a show off your charm competition.
The problem is not on JKS, it is the movie which apart from showing JKS, it didn’t do anything else.
What about Love Rain? In order to show the kind of love in the 1970s, the TV drama really made it as if we’re back to the 1970s but that’s the problem. To act in a role which gives people goose bumps, JKS has done his acting job for the role thoroughly.
As personality, Jang Keun Suk has a big difference with most of Korean actors
Therefore, sometimes it is inadequate to just refer him as an ‘actor’. Usually, actors would act the role rather than themselves in front of the cameras, because that’s how they do acting. But JKS is different, he not only likes to show himself on acting in front of the cameras but also likes to show the real side of him. Switching between the two parts freely is JKS’s specialty.
He’s already an “old” actor with 15 years acting experience. Let’s review the dramas he played: Huang Jin Yi, Beethoven Virus, You’re Beautiful and movie Happy Life, The Case of Itaewon Homicide. He was not limited in certain kind of roles, there were no repeating roles he played and he did good job on playing those roles.
At the same time, in Korean society where modesty is virtue, he is the one and the only one person exists that who has the desire to show to the public of him freely that sometime being capricious and sometime being childish.
He doesn’t pretend to be very manly, pretends to have a lot of thoughts. He just shows what he want and make it happen. Even though under criticisms and controversies he doesn’t mind.
At this point, JKS is walking on a path which no other actor in the country has taken. He said ‘Most male actors in our country are machismo type. I don’t want to be restricted in this. If I open a new way, there must be someone who will follow me?’ This is where his star quality is.
If in the near future, JKS plays a role like In Ho in YMP that no one else can play but him;
if the completeness of the work is guaranteed; his star quality and influence will be explosive.
Credits: Movieweek
Chinese Translation from Korean (original source): 花花
English Translation from Chinese: Wen Lee and Sarah Ye from ECI
Source: JangKeunSukforever via korea.com
