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Kang Ki-young: “I got rewarded with ‘Woo Young-woo’ after a long wait”

Actor Kang Ki-young perfectly succeeded in transforming to a new image. He had had to wait long, but he finally met a new character, Jung Myung-seok, as his reward.

Kang Ki-young recently met with Star News at a cafe in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to share his thought on the end of the ENA drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” (written by Moon Ji-won, directed by Yoo In-sik, hereinafter referred to as “Woo Young-woo”). “Woo Young-woo” depicts the survival at a large law firm of Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin), a new lawyer with both a genius brain and autism spectrum.

In the drama, he plays Jung Myung-seok, a senior lawyer in charge of newbies Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin), Choi Soo-yeon (Ha Yoon-kyung), and Kwon Min-woo (Ju Jong-hyuk), who always wants to show them the right way. He also had a great influence in the drama as he was also called the ‘Unicorn Boss’.

Before the interview, Kang Ki-young said, “Thank you for giving us so much love. I’m sad to see that “Woo Young-woo” is already over. It really feels like the drama has ended. I don’t know if I can see you again, but thank you for loving me.”

As “Woo Young-woo” caused a syndrome by recording 17.5% in the last episode from 0.9% in the 1st episode, when asked if he was confident that the drama would go well, Kang Ki-young replied, “I was sure it would do well, but I didn’t know it would become such a syndrome. ‘Woo Young-woo’ was so pretty and lovely. Personally, I like works like that, works that make viewers feel less tired and make me want to act more,” he said.

◆ “An unexpected rest…But I got rewarded with ‘Woo Young-woo’”

Kang Ki-young said of Jung Myung-seok in the drama, “At first, I was stuck to expressing myself as an extrovert. The image of an experienced and ‘senior lawyer’ has locked me in. However, I think I became the current Jung Myung-seok because I focused on the chemistry of the actors,” he said adding, “At first, I had this burden, which is because I have never played such a role in determination. As I progress, Myung-seok came to life as I get used to it and thanks to other actors as well.”

Unfortunately, Kang Ki-young has had no work since the tvN drama “At Eighteen” in 2019 and the movie “The Book Of Fish” released in March 2021. In response, he said, “I unintentionally took a rest. As the release of the movie I filmed was delayed, I wanted to play a role that I had never played before. It was Jung Myung-seok of ‘Woo Young-woo’ and I feel rewarded,” he said with joy.

Jung Myung-seok is a really cool role no matter who plays him. I don’t think there are many bosses who repeatedly give opportunities to his subordinates. Myung-seok looked at Woo Young-woo unrealistically, but Woo Young-woo actually satisfies him with the results. I think he looked more like a unicorn because the chemistry between the two was good,” he said.

This work helps push Kang Ki-young one step into stardom. He even went viral online with the meme “Mom, I think I like married men.” Kang Ki-young said, “Thank you for thinking so. Anyway, my role was a fun and pleasant function. I thought the public wouldn’t be curious about me. That’s because Kang Ki-young thought so, too. But Myung-seok has stimulated curiosity about me. I’ve become eager to show a new side of me thanks to that,” he said.

He also drew attention with his ad-libs. In the 1st episode, Jung Myung-seok heard Woo Young-woo’s introduction and said, “It’s very funny.” In the 8th episode, Jung Myung-seok said on the phone, “Isn’t it 3:10 a.m.? When even the birds, the baby sheep, and Myung-seokie are sleeping?” etc. drawing laughter with his ad-libs. “I tend to try to fill in the gaps every time. This time, I can feel that people are expecting my acting. I also did things that didn’t go on air as well,” he said. “I think they liked my ad-libs because those were words spoken by the character himself rather than me trying to stress my acting. There are a lot of scenes that have been edited out.”

◆ “I was also shocked by the setting of stage 3 stomach cancer… I tried to build up”

About the second half of the drama, Jung Myung-seok is suddenly diagnosed with stage 3 stomach cancer. After the broadcast, viewers were shocked by his sudden illness. Kang Ki-young said, “(Regarding stomach cancer) I tried to build up. I was nervous because few of the characters I played had this narrative. I wondered how to express it because it seemed like it wasn’t just an external picture. Woo Young-woo was very helpful. It’s a role that makes Jung Myung-seok look back. There’s a thing called ‘taking care of Jung Myung-seok in Woo Young-woo’s style’, right? In fact, I was really touched when I saw such an appearance. This kind of feeling was unfamiliar, but I thought that emotional exchange was like this.”

◆ “The moment I get attention as an actor, I’ll go back to the beginning”

Kang Ki-young entered his second heyday as he gained numerous nicknames such as “sub-dad” and “office papa“. When asked “When does actor Kang Ki-young return to where he started?”, he answered, “It’s the moment I get attention as an actor. If it were in the past, I’d be excited. But now that I’ve been receiving attention then falling down many times, it’s important to be calm. Because I’ll stay quiet after the drama is over, I think it’s an issue and I have to look back on my initial intentions. When will I get this much attention again? It’s not going to last long, so it’s right to show myself through acting.

Source: daum

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