Jo Hyun Jae

prissymom continues and concludes:

I have made a list of my favorite scenes with our JHJ in it in “3 Dads 1 Mom” —  these are the scenes that I keep going back to again and again:

1.Episode 3 – the WONDERFUL scene.  This is when Soo-Hyun (SH) goes to the art gallery owned by Park Seo Yeon (daughter of his rich client) to try to attract the attention of the rich girl and impress her with his knowledge about art.  He keeps exclaiming “WONDERFUL!” in such a serious manner with his right hand tucked under his chin and his left hand tucked under his right elbow, only to find out that the art piece that he is looking at is actually a pail containing cleaning tools left by a cleaning lady on the pedestal reserved for art pieces.  He looks so serious and so handsome but still so funny that I can’t stop myself from laughing out loud.  Until now I still find myself laughing whenever I remember that scene….WONDERFUL indeed!!!

2.  Episode 3 – pear eating scene.  This is before Ha-Seon (HS) is born and Na-Young (NY) loses consciousness while selling children’s books.  When NY recovers consciousness, she is transferred to a room.  While the other two dads are out, SH peels a pear for NY, but he peels it too thick.  So as not to waste the very expensive pear he eats the remaining flesh/meat off the peeling.  He does this again when it is the Shin Sung-Rok (SSR) character Kyung-Tae’s (KT) turn to be hospitalized due to a stab wound.  SH looks as if he is thoroughly enjoying himself eating the remaining pear off the peeling, and so self-assured that his stinginess is a positive trait in a person!!!

3. Episode 3 – first Lamaze class.  Our JHJ looks so funny in the pregnancy suit (big belly and big boobs!!!)

4. Episode 4 – HS’s birth.  When the doctor announces that HS has finally come out, all 3 dads are of course happy and amazed.  Shin Sung-Rok (SSR) shows his amazement by smiling dumbly.  Jae Hee (JH) expresses his amazement by smiling and dilating his eyes to the widest extent possible so that he looks more scary than funny. Then there is our JHJ: he doesn’t smile, he doesn’t dilate his eyes.  Still acting true to the SH character, he is still serious but you could see in his slightly agape mouth and in his eyes the amazement a man would feel at such a miraculous moment.  No exaggerated facial expressions but the sense of wonder is written all over his face and sparkling in his eyes.  I keep going back to his face during this scene because I really love his reaction here.  You have to be pretty quick to catch his face in this scene because his face is shown for just a few seconds.

5. Episode 5 – first scene between JHJ and his father.  I love the way this scene is handled: there is our JHJ washing his dad’s feet and shaving his face quietly, calmly, and patiently while his father is talking all the time.  Our JHJ doesn’t show too much emotion here but you could sense the many emotions that are boiling beneath the surface — love and pity for his father; frustration at not being able to do more for his father; maybe he also feels burdened at having to take care of a sick father, not having someone to share the burden with; maybe guilt for feeling burdened at all; his resignation to his fate of having to care for a sick father, maybe for the rest of his life (this can be seen when he handed his credit card to pay off his father’s current bills in the facility – his face long, his shoulders down, his movements slow); and then drinking alone in that bar, maybe to drown his sorrows.

6. Episode 7 – counting money scene.  The 3 dads are in a place with the people to whom NY’s dad owes money to pay off the debt; then everybody starts counting the bills.  The Jae Hee character Kwang-Hee (KH) hands a bundle of bills to SH to help in the counting and then SH, like the expert moneyman that he is, expertly fans the bills in his hand and starts to count, not one at a time but several bills at a time.  Our JHJ really looks like an expert at counting large amounts of bills in that scene, and he is so true to his character of taking money seriously.  I wonder how long it takes him to master the trick of fanning the bills in one hand?

7. Episode 9 – losing HS scene.  I love this scene so much because here we see JHJ being the quintessential dramatic actor that he is.  He is panic-stricken and so afraid that he has lost HS, as any adult would be at losing a child who is in his care (whether that child is his or not).  You sense the panic and the fear in the way he goes up and down the aisles; you sense the urgency in his voice which is loud enough to be heard by other shoppers but not too loud as to terrify people.  You can see in his face that he is about to lose control, and finally when he sees HS again, he totally loses control of his emotions for the first time in this drama.  When he is hugging HS close to him after finding her again, you sense the mingling of relief and remembered fear in that hug and in that silent cry.   He never ever exaggerates his facial expressions or his body movements and his voice is not too loud, but still you sense all the conflicting emotions that he is trying to convey. I love it when he lets go of his emotions in his dramatic scenes but never loses control of his acting.  He makes acting these dramatic scenes so effortless that they seem real and not contrived.

8. Episode 14 – campfire scene.  I just love JHJ’s rendition of “Now It’s Goodbye”.  I admit that this is my most favorite scene; I keep going back to it.  I cannot find the right words to express how I feel when I see and hear him sing this song in this episode.

9. Episode 15 – videotaping scene.  This is the scene where SH sneaks into KH’s room to get the videocam so he could record a new message for HS.  Earlier KH and KT ask him to record a message and he does.  But it is a short one and is delivered curtly, maybe because he doesn’t want his friends to see him cry.  And cry he does when he records his second message.  Again no exaggerated facial expressions, no loud cries, just his eyes tearing up, his voice raspy with emotion, and his lips quivering slightly but you could sense the overwhelming sadness he is feeling.  And when he clutches the videocamera to his chest, you just know that he is so overcome with emotion that he could no longer speak.

Do I feel that JHJ made the wrong decision to play the role of Soo-Hyun?  No, absolutely not!  I love seeing him in this lighthearted drama.  I also enjoy watching him during his male-bonding moments in the drama; he seems to be enjoying himself so immensely.  We are so used to seeing him act in serious/heavy dramas that to see him being part of comedy drama is refreshing and heartwarming.  I also have so much fun watching him doing funny stuff with such a straight face.   Would I want to see him in another romantic comedy?  Oh yes, absolutely!  But I hope it would be a meatier role than this one.  I have complete confidence in our Hyun Jae’s capabilities.

THE END

Oh by the way, wuliJHJ, in episodes 13-14 of this drama I noticed that there was something wrong with our JHJ’s right eye.  At first I thought he had a bad case of eyebags, it looked so bad that I asked myself why JHJ and the production people allowed JHJ to be filmed with such a huge eyebag, it distracted me so much.  Then as the episode progressed I realized that it was no ordinary eyebag, the area beneath his right eye was injured!!! Could it have been the result of the car accident he had while filming this drama? If yes, then it must have hurt so much, but I salute our JHJ for not stopping the filming to give his injury time to subside. And he is so unconcerned about his looks, another actor would have made such a fuss, raised such a ruckus and stopped filming until such time the injury has subsided, inconveniencing everyone just so he/she would look good on camera.   Anyway, whatever caused the injury I am glad that it didn’t leave a permanent damage to his handsome face or to his beautiful eyes.

JHJ was injured by Shin Sung-Rok during filming of 3D1M on the afternoon of May 9, 2008 (his birthday!).  SSR was acting drunk and splaying about wildly.  When he was hit, JHJ gave a loud shout, according to eye-witnesses at the scene.  Even though the injury was quite serious, he insisted on carrying on with the shooting.  First aid was administered on the spot , but he was not treated at a hospital until after midnight, and went on with the shooting the next day.  A make-up artist said the injury was so severe that no amount of make-up could disguise it as the wound was badly swollen.  JHJ was lucky not to be blinded!

Lastly, wuliJHJ, I would like to thank you for being my sounding board here (or should I write writing board?).  I am sorry the email is quite long, I have more than 12 months worth of negative vibes to purge after all (hahaha!!!).  I would like to thank you again for putting up a blog for English-speaking fans of our Hyun Jae.  You have given us a venue to air our views about the various issues concerning our Hyun Jae, a place to get updated info about him, a resource for new JHJ fans to gather information about him, and a place where issues about him may be clarified.  Keep up the good work and more power to you!!!!!

Well, prissymom!  We’ll take a bow. We thank you for your support of our blog and your contribution of this substantial article.  But we’d better stop before we sound like a mutual admiration society.

(Credit for photos: name on photos.  Thanks!)