Interview: Joo Woon

My name is Joo Won. My given name is Moon Joon-won. My father came up the name Joo Won for me after I made it into college. It means 'what the Lord wants and what I should do for the Lord.' 

I was born in Seoul on September 30, 1987 but I currently reside in Yong-in. 

My family is composed of my parents and my brother who is five years older than me. My brother and I are the type of siblings that if we don't talk outside of the house you wouldn't think we were related. One can say that my brother is a 'real man' because he is well-built and has a tough personality, whereas I am thinner and the soft type.

I suddenly grew tall when I was in eighth grade. Up until then I was always second or third shortest in my entire class but during vacation I grew 20 centimeters. I used to sit way up front in the classroom but moved to the back and even though my friends changed [their personalities] I was always introverted until I began theater. (laugh) Right now I am 185 centimeters tall and weigh 67 kilograms.

I take after my father personality-wise and look like my mother appearance-wise. My mother is quite the beauty. She even tried out for a talent search during her younger years and I heard that out of the three examinations she made it through the first two. 

I am currently enrolled in the School of Art for acting in theatre, film and television at the Sungkyunkwan University. I really enjoyed acting when I first started college but I enjoy forming relationships more. That is why I went to the set whenever one of my seniors had a production and I helped with the lights and making the set. I liked how more and more people looked for me. 

There are several scenes in KBS' "Bread, Love and Dreams" where I get slapped and actress Eugene hits really well. What I mean is that even though I got slapped by her it didn't hurt. I was okay after getting slapped in the face but she felt really bad afterwards. However, it hurts even though actor Yoon Si-yoon doesn't hit you. (laugh) While we were rehearsing, Yoon Si-yoon was so immersed in his acting that he wasn't able to distribute his strength when he grabbed me by the collar bone and I got this bluish bruise on my chest. When actor Park Sung-woong saw the marks, he told me that Yoon Si-yoon gave him a bruise as well. (laugh) 

Honestly, I think I am gifted in baking. (laugh) I had so much fun learning how to bake and I continued to do so on the set. The staff members told me that I should open my own bakery. I received rave reviews for the bread that I made for the people at my agency. I have the most confidence in baking red-bean bread and peanut topped bread. 

The worst thing that has happened at a performance was during "Grease." I was supposed to appear on stage looking cool while playing the guitar on the second floor but I was in hurry and I slipped and slammed both my shins on the steps. I was in so much pain that tears ran down my face but I kept smiling and just sang. 

I really wanted to make my character Melchior in the music "Spring Awakening"look like a child. I also look younger than Kim Moo-yeol who is older than me. I thought that I should try to make him look like an innocent middle school student because I gained some weight at the time. In the crying scenes I cried like a child who lost 100 things rather than just three. 

I made an appearance on Mnet's "Superstar K" last year. I saw the footage for the first time after they [cast of the show] came to our set for the musical mission. I even questioned myself saying "Who is that?" because I was a bit chunky back then and I laughed to myself reading the comments like "Who are you? I came to see Goo Ma-joon." 

The song that I sing the most whenever I go karaoke is Sung Si-kyung's "Two People." I like ballads and I like the tunes "On the Street" and Yoon Jong-shin's "Reincarnation." 

Once I sang the song "Look at Me, Gwisoon" while at a musical event. I prepared a different song during the rehearsal but the other actors didn't want me to ruin the atmosphere so I changed it an hour before the event. It was fun, even though I had to memorize the lyrics in a hurry. 

I began to hear that I looked a lot like actor Kang Dong-won after making my debut. I was quite surprised to hear that I resembled such a handsome actor and it’s great to know that I have similar qualities to someone else. (laugh) From now on I hope to add onto those qualities and show more of myself. 

I want to become a humanitarian with whatever job I take on. My mother always told me that I should be someone who has a lot of affection and is humane regardless of the job or position that I'm in. 

I recently took part in a recording for KBS variety show "Happy Together 3." I worked really hard on the show because I thought I would come off as someone who is boring since everyone on the show is so funny. My hidden talent? I didn't particularly have one but I did everything that they wanted like singing or reciting lines. I feel that being on entertainment programs are really hard. I think the show will air on September 30 on my birthday. 

Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun 

Photographer : Chae ki-won 

Editor : Lucia Hong luciahong@, Jang Kyung-Jin

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