Dad roles starting to interest baby-faced Kim Soo-hyun

We've seen Kim Soo-hyun play many roles on screen over the years, but there's one bridge he has yet to cross — playing the role of a father.

It's a role that may seem ill-fitting to many, mainly due to his baby-faced appearance.

Speaking to students at a Marina Bay Sands (MBS) community engagement event held last month, Soo-hyun shared about his role in the new black comedy series Knock Off and how he was drawn by his character's "troublemaker" father, Kim Man-sik (Yoo Jae-myung).

He added that the experience prompted him to consider the possibility of pursuing K-drama fatherhood.

The comment by the 36-year-old actor drew reactions of surprise from the audience.

It's not a reality that's too far-fetched, according to the actor, famed for his roles in My Love from the Star (2013), The Producers (2015) and recently, Queen of Tears (2024).

"They are a very silly pair," said Soo-hyun of the father-son dynamics in the series, wherein Man-sik introduces his son to the counterfeit industry. "So it makes me think that I can maybe take on the role of a father sometime."

And the role of the son, counterfeiter Kim Sung-joon, was one he picked on his own, out of what he called "intrigue".

"I don't necessarily limit myself to choosing characters that I haven't played, even if I've played similar characters in the past.

"I don't have any set ideas and limitations in what my acting roles are. Instead, I choose them based on how intriguing the character feels to me. And I think I chose my role in Knock Off with this criterion in mind," said Soo-hyun.

His character, Sung-joon, is a regular office worker thrown into a world of mystery and shadow as he loses his job in the 1997 Asian financial crisis. He turns to the shady world of counterfeiting in an attempt to rebuild his life, eventually climbing to the top of the counterfeit industry.

In the process, he meets his ex-girlfriend, Song Hye-jeong, played by actress Jo Bo-ah who also attended the event. Hye-jeong is a special judicial police officer who cracks down on counterfeit goods, and the two begin a tense relationship.

Working with the 'most talented actors in all of Korea'

With such a star-studded cast, one can expect that director Park Hyun-seok's creative process working on Knock Off is nothing short of positive. In fact, he called it a "collaborative experience" with "the most talented actors in all of Korea".

Hyun-seok also regards his time working on the show to be distinct from his other works. "In previous projects I worked on, I used to give a lot of directional notes to my actors.

"But in Knock Off, I would say I'm relying very much on them (Soo-hyun and Bo-ah) to create these scenes together instead of [me] giving directions."

Furthermore, Hyun-seok credited the successful filming experience in part due to the drama's grounding in real-life events from the 1990s and 2000s, where the story is set, rooting the actors' emotions in authenticity.

And when it comes to good acting, Bo-ah shared the same sentiment as her co-star Soo-hyun in not being overly selective with her roles — especially when she first started out in her career.

She imparted some words of advice to hopeful actors among the crowd of students present at the event, organised by MBS and held in conjunction with the Disney APAC Content Showcase.

"I didn't really overthink things too much in the projects I was in. I really tried to give my best to every single project I participated in and not be afraid of taking on new challenges. So, if you actually have the passion for something, I'd say just go and work hard for it," expressed the 33-year-old.

Knock Off is currently in production and will premiere on Disney+ in 2025.

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kristy.chua@asiaone.com

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