A Stalker's Guide to Kang Ji Hwan
A beloved actor that has captured my heart. This is my first article, but I'm very excited and happy to share my favorite actor with you all. I've seen one drama by him and that's all it took. I then continued to watch almost all of his movies, because I didn't have time to marathon all of his dramas.I hope to watch Lie to Me and Big Man in the future.
Usually I don't have a favorite anything. Just because everything is, in its own way, something special and unique so it's the best by itself. However if you ask me my favorite Korean actor, of course I'll think of the big names first, but then I'll definitely reply "Kang Ji Hwan". It's difficult to explain why or how, but I'll try my best.
For me, I categorize "favorites" from the genres or things that have something in common and decide which one is the best, but Kang Ji Hwan just has and uses everything but stays the same throughout and still manages to bring himself. Confusing? Let's me explain: He can play roles of diverse and wide variety and I love it as well as him.
Coffee House
When I first saw Coffee House, I watched it because of the plot and the reviews. I knew nothing about Kang Ji Hwan, but I knew he was sexy and so I decided a good drama with a little eye candy-- even if it wasn't particularly popular- was something I wouldn't mind watching. So I sat down and watched the first episode... and instantly fell in love. He played a brainy character who was an author. For me, being a writer, the character reminded me of myself, but with his own personality put into it, I felt like everything was real. Kang Ji Hwan is weird no matter what role he is given. He puts himself into every one. His chemistry with the other actors was also amusing to see.
Over all it was a good drama, worth a watch even just for Kang Ji Hwan, because he made it so much more livelier and pleasant.. and ... stranger...
Runway Cop
Runway cop... what can I say? I loved it!!! Eye-candy, comedy, romance, and leaves room for the imagination in a lot of ways for the ladies. Runway cop was fantastic and only, ONLY because of Kang Ji Hwan, the main character who is a cop and has to become slimmer to be an undercover runway model (But Lee Soo Hyuk was awesome and so was Sung Yu Ri).
I will admit, most of the time I was saying "What the fudge is going on?!" and trying not to snort, because I was laughing so hard. I saw a lot of his funny expressions that were in Coffee House and some of things he did were the same, and is was the similarity that made me like it even more because it was used in a completely different setting to make it brand new. Except for this face:
This face was pretty much an original and was what I looked like while watching this movie and eating popcorn.
Rough Cut
I saw this movie when I saw his actor's profile on MDL. I looked at the genre and thought "no romance? no comedy?" and I felt like it wasn't going to be good because all I had ever seen him do was those two genres. What else was there to see? I honestly just thought his company wanted him to do it because all the roles he did were almost the same. I didn't know how ridiculous I sounded 'til now.
He completely surprised me. In this movie his character was a complete jerk and his acting made me hate him even if I still loved him. He didn't make me laugh as much as I expected I would and that was a change. It was different from what he normally would do and that startled me. And let me say this: I was SO proud!!! Seeing him in a different light and beginning to see the range of his superb acting really made me appreciate him even more. He could make me cry without laughing first.
It was totally completely different experience - seeing he could be something else than just a funny,adorable character. Even though his character wasn't as dark as So Ji Sub's,it was still delicious to see him as a dark, greedy, stuck up character without witnessing much of his good side.
Fighting!
I really appreciate Kang Ji Hwan and all his hard work that he puts into the roles he takes on! I love all of them and hope that his new productions will let me see even more and more of him!
Fighting KJH! So everyone all over can see your awesomeness!
Kamsahamnimda for reading! Thank you! :)
If there is an actor or an actress that is worthy of a Stalker's Guide in your opinion, and you have watched enough dramas of his/hers to prove it, please contact Elisabetta about it.