Jo Hyun Jae

The first hour is devoted to the Korea Fan Meeting which was held in Seoul on July 19, 2008. This DVD brings back all the happy memories of the occasion. The English subtitles are not at all bad, although there are a few typos (which we edited). Below are extracts:

First Jo Hyun-Jae read a letter to his fans:

“Hello, I’m Jo Hyun Jae. How are you all doing? First of all, I’m really happy to meet you by writing this letter in person, and I hope you know that I always want to meet you. Most of all, I couldn’t leave out you, my precious fans, who always [stay by] my side. I really appreciated that you always cheer me up and give me great feedback after monitoring the programs I appear in. Thanks to all of you, I am now here as an actor, Jo Hyun-Jae, and I will likely become a more developed actor in the future. I feel I cannot thank you enough. It is now summer, the season of passion, so I hope a lot of good things and fortunate things will happen with a great joy just like this beautiful summer. I will continously do my best in order to show you my effort and goodness. Thank you so much.”

After singing one of the songs from his forthcoming CD “Next to you like the wind”, JHJ opened some gifts from fans. He then answered 5 questions submitted by fans:

5.Q. You were immersed in a character of a drama. Have you ever lived like this really?
A. In the drama “Three Dads One Mom” , I didn’t know it at first, but I was immersed in a unique character, then my way of talking was changed like this, and my speaking becomes much faster than normal.

4.Q.What about acting…?(characters that you wanted and so on….)
A. I love all my characters, but I want to be a hero in a drama, like a superhero in a Hollywood film.
Q.Is there any film that brought you to think like that?
A.Several….I watched “Hancock” before. It was really an attractive character, so someday I want to get such a role.
(Editor’s note: “Hancock” is a 2008 American comedy-drama starring Will Smith as a vigilante superhero.)

3. Q. What is your behavior normally?Do you sleep much?
A. I used to sleep[for] quite a long time. Probably 11 to 12 hours.
Q. How about drinking capacity?
A. Depends on the situation. Sometimes I drink a bottle and half of Soju, but I drink more when I stay longer. When I feel relaxed, I drink more. My favorite drink is Soju.
Q. What is your particular habits on drinking?
A. Hum…For me, it’s a little bit different from others. Normally people are changed after drinking….but not for me. It’s not an absolute rule, is it? When I drink, my [tongue] just trips…that’s all.

2. Q.How do you frankly feel about being recruited? You are joining the army as a general soldier, not as an entertainment soldier. Why?
A. Because I belong to the service on active duty, 2nd class because I’m under the standard weight.
Q. Is there anything you want to do before joining the army?
A. I want to spend more time with my family, friends and so on, including having a trip.
Q. Trips to where?
A. I would like to go to local places as much as possible……I would like to go there alone.
Q. Where is your most memorable place?
A. I like to go hiking, so I want to go to where Seodongyo was shot where I used to hike at that time.
Q. It is typical for men to drink with friends. How about you?
A. Yes…I want to do that too.
Q. Don’t you want to go on an overseas trip?
A. I’d like to do much, but I can’t do that because of unfinished army service. So I said I wanted to travel around the country.

1. Q. Who is your most memorable fan?
A. I can remember each person. Japanese Fan Meeting is also the same…especially all of them with bright smile on their faces come to my mind. Above all, I thank my fans who directly came to the film shooting site. I couldn’t even say hello because of too busy shooting schedule. I was really thankful for their visits when I realized their existence at the site after the location was completed. I miss them too much.
Q. Do you have any different feelings between overseas fan meeting and Korean fan meeting?
A. Korean fans have been with me for a long time and always encouraged me [and are] behind me with cheers. Korean fans are like my family….Some fans take care of me just like they are my mom….Comparatively Korean fans are [usually] quieter. But overseas fans are much more wildly excited at me, probably because they have not enough chances to meet me.
MC: Korean fans, be more wild!

There are some more questions and JHJ sings three more songs, during one of which, “Lucky”, he forgets some of the lyrics and smiles in embarrassment, And when he sings “Like the wind by your side” again, he chokes with emotions while his fans scream encouragement. I remember this touching scene so well — this DVD is worth collecting just for this alone.

If you want to share in the rest of the DVD, including the Thai Fan Meeting in August, we still have a very limited quantity. E-mail us at jhjfans@gmail.com.