Jo Hyun Jae

★ ★ ★ Korean Actor Jo Hyun Jae ★ ★ ★

Introduction

Jo Hyun-Jae is the actor that most reporters want to interview but never get their wish. Especially for those female reporters, they even feel proud if they manage to interview him successfully. However, Jo Hyun-Jae is not the kind of person who does not want to co-operate during interviews. OK, let me sum up the 3 main characteristics of Jo Hyun-Jae. Firstly, the moment filming finishes, he’ll have nothing to say anymore. He’s such a quiet person. He’ll sit in a corner reading his script quietly on his own or discussing filming points with other actors. He chats with no one. Secondly, Jo Hyun-Jae is the kind of person that cannot do two things in the same moment. As soon as he starts doing one thing, he’ll become so concentrated and focused on that thing only. He can’t think about or do another thing in such circumstances anymore! Thirdly, as soon as he starts filming, he does not like to accept any form of interviews from reporters. Today, we finally managed to make an appointment to interview him, which makes us so happy and excited.

An honest actor – The heart of Jo Hyun-Jae

Looking at his face, everyone will find that he is a very kind and sincere person. Of course he also looks like the type of person who feels a little bit uncomfortable with and fearful of strangers. I thought that he might say more words on the telephone. It was what I predicted before I came. Nevertheless, that is an absolutely wrong prediction! We find it hard to communicate with him even through eye-contact. He’s too shy. We talk to him slowly and patiently for about an hour; then the circumstances of the interview becomes better. Then, we start to go into the main points. In reality, he doesn’t have many things that he is interested in other than acting. Jo Hyun-Jae is the kind of person who will ‘be’ inside the story as soon as he starts filming. “As soon as I start focusing on doing one thing, I may not be able to do another thing anymore. It seems like I’m cheating, but it’s true about me. So that, as soon as I enter the film studio, I’ll become indifferent to everything else.” He seems uncomfortable to express his feelings in front of those he is not so familiar with. Even when he is answering reporters’ questions, the answers he gives are always so short. He seems a little bewildered by every question that reporters ask him. Every time, when we wish to ask more questions in such a short period, facing the reporters who wish to rush and be faster, he still maintains his own speed. He still remains in his own style, answering each question slowly, always without any adjectives. He also does not wish to hide any of his thoughts.

Feeling best and happiest – Only during acting

One day, I read from a newspaper that Jo Hyun-Jae started in the entertainment field singing, not acting. He was a singer before! I’m quite shocked to know about this. I found that it was him from a not-very-clear picture. After confirming about that picture when I showed it to him, Jo Hyun-Jae started talking about his past. He said he became a singer as one of the members of a group in the past because he wanted to be an actor. He just wanted to make his actor’s dream come true. I really can’t imagine the situation when such a shy guy – Jo Hyun-Jae – will stand on stage to sing once upon a time. So unbelievable! So amazing! After that, his group disbanded. Anyway, the fact that he was a singer before shocked me enough already. Usually, others artists are not willing to mention their past anymore after being popular in this field. But Jo Hyun-Jae is different: his response about that is so natural, without any show of being unhappy at all. He said that he’s the kind of person who will not care about everything so much. He is the one who always cares about his present and his future; he’ll not be influenced by the past, only and always think about the future — that is Jo Hyun-Jae. So Jo Hyun-Jae thinks he is feeling best during acting. However, he’ll never be rash and rush in to do something. On the contrary, he develops his own strengths one by one, patiently. Such an actor is not a born-genius; his success is only achieved after so much hard work.

Want to come nearer to Han Yi-Joon

After acting in the last drama series— “Gumiho” (The Legend of The Nine-Tailed Fox), Jo Hyun-Jae took a rest  of about 7 months. He went traveling, visiting places that he likes, and also doing sports and exercises that he loves. During his rest, Jo Hyun-Jae told his friends: “I wish to come back with a fresh and new character!…..Finally, my dream comes true. The character I’m playing this time is such a different character; Han Yi-Joon in “Only You” is so far from my own self. Han Yi-Joon is an inconsiderate and even rather cold person — he is a loner in the way he speaks and acts. He is also an intolerant guy. He’s the heir of a big conglomerate. Han Yi-Joon goes to Italy to find his mother and he happens to meet his love there.  Han Yi-Joon is the type of person who always makes himself the centre of everything. Han Yi-Joon never cares about the others’ feelings, always making decision on his own, and always does what he likes. However, Han Yi-Joon is not the type of person that we’ll dislike and hate.” We can see the purity and honesty through Jo Hyun-Jae’s eyes when he is talking about Han Yi-Joon. Jo Hyun-Jae said that the reason he chose the character of Han Yi-Joon was because his characteristics are so far and different from his own.

Seo Dong Yo– Going into Baekjek

Now Jo Hyun-Jae is busy filming his new drama series— “Seo Dong Yo”. This drama series will be shown in Korea this coming September (2005). “Just because the director is Lee Byung-Hyun, I agree to act in this drama as soon as I received the invitation over the phone.” Quite different from what I guessed before, such a careful and patient guy – Jo Hyun-Jae – will also be affected by the director! Lee Byung-Hyun is the director that everyone in Korea knows. This director has produced many famous dramas before, such as “The Legend of Doctor Hur-Jun” and also “Jewel In The Palace” (The Legend Of Dae Jang Geum). All of his dramas got  very high audience ratings.  “Seo Dong Yo’s” background is based on Baekjek. Seo Dong married the Princess of Shilla, then he became the king of Baekjek. The lead actor is Jo Hyun-Jae.  “Seo Dong Yo” is expected to have 55 episodes and Jo Hyun-Jae will transcend Korea with this new drama, like “Dae Jang-Geum”, which has become a part of Korean culture.

THE END

Credit:

We are not sure about the source of this article, most probably from Korea.  The Chinese text is taken from a Chinese magazine in 2005.  We’re reprinting it here because it contains some interesting observations about JHJ.

Original Chinese text by: Angel’s Tears (www.johyunjae.cn)
English translation by: pjcheah (www.dearjohyunjae.com)

(Edited by wulijohyunjae)