Act cool only: Kim Jae-wook admits public persona just an act
PUBLISHED ONNovember 25, 2019 11:06 AMByKimberly Anne LimKim Jae-wook may be one of the hottest stars in Korean showbiz but he sure doesn't act like it.
In an interview before StarHub Night of Stars 2019 on Sunday (Nov 24), the 36-year-old actor had an adorably self-deprecating response when asked about his cool image.
According to Jae-wook, who shot to stardom as a suave waiter in the 2007 hit drama Coffee Prince and most recently stole viewers' hearts as an aloof museum director in Her Private Life, it's all an act.
And it seemed that viewers are buying what he's selling — Jae-wook bagged the Best Male Asian Star award at the show while Park Min-young, his co-star in Her Private Life, won Best Female Asian Star.
"I'm thankful that people find me cool," he said. "I may seem cool because the acting role requires me to be cool and show a lot of charm but I'm not cool by nature."
"Outside of acting, I'm a regular guy, just like every other Korean, living a normal life," he added.
Park Min-young wants to go clubbingPark Min-young and Kim Jae-wook, the stars of hit Korean drama Her Private Life, dished with us about their private lives when they were in town for StarHub Night of Stars 2019. Watch till the end to find out what Park Min-young has in mind for her next role and what's on Kim Jae-wook's list of must-do activities before he turns 40. #StarHub #StarHubNightofStars #KimJaeWook #ParkMinYoung
Posted by AsiaOne on Monday, 25 November 2019
While he might claim to be an average Joe, the self-confessed travel junkie is all about going off the beaten path — at least, while he still can.
The actor, who has jetted to Germany, France and Taiwan in just the last couple of months, wishes to eschew the usual tourist hotspots for less-developed countries when we asked him about his future goals.
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He said: "I try to travel as much as possible when I'm not working. Right now, I can still do it physically so I hope to go to countries where life is tougher like Third World countries."
If you needed more proof that Jae-wook isn't as aloof as his screen persona, the actor confessed that he is a huge softie when it comes to his pets.
The proud owner of a dog, Da-eum, and a cat, Mu-ryang, waxed lyrical about his fur babies, sharing that they are a breeze to raise.
"Raising a cat and a dog together is not hard at all. It's a relief that both of them have good personalities.
"They were raised together since they were young. The dog acts like a cat sometimes and the cat acts like a dog sometimes. It's funny to watch."
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Da-eum and Mu-ryang, who make frequent appearances on Jae-wook's social-media accounts, might be well known to his diehard fans. But what fans might not know is how they got their names.
"I adopted my dog Da-eum when it was young. Then I got a cat and decided to raise them together. I wanted to name them after the Korean expression kam ge mu ryang which means to be thankful and deeply moved," Jae-wook explained.
Unfortunately, Da-eum did not take to his new name, said Jae-wook.
"I tried calling Da-eum 'Kam-ge' but he wouldn't react. But the cat is still called Mu-ryang."