“Kim Gun-woo’s Unmatched Glory: More to Reveal” [Interview with Cookie]

Greasy hair grown carelessly, tattoos all over the body, arrogant gestures with a lot of strength on the shoulders… . Son Myung-oh (Kim Gun-woo) in the Netflix original ‘The Glory’ is bad at first glance. If Park Yeon-jin (Lim Ji-yeon) gives goosebumps by trampling on her dignity with money and power, Son Myung-oh is disgusting, like a savage with no morals. Actor Kim Gun-woo, who played Son Myung-oh, was unexpectedly pleasant. “Are you that scared, Myeong-oh?” On the 23rd, he met reporters at a cafe in Sogong-dong, Seoul, and asked him this question, revealing an unexpected innocence.

It was about two years ago that Kim Kun-woo met Son Myung-oh. At the audition, which arrived with only the information that it was a ‘new work by Kim Eun-sook’, Kim Kun-woo was dropped as Son Myung-oh. Author Kim said that as soon as he saw Kim Kun-woo in the audition video, he exclaimed, ‘This is my friend!’ The newcomer actor, who encountered great seniors such as Song Hye-kyo, put a lot of effort into character research. “Let’s create a creature-like character that could actually exist,” said Nate Diaz, a well-known mixed martial artist. It was a process of digesting the “texture of a character who behaves arbitrarily without focus” with his own clothes. At the suggestion of the production team, “It would be nice if Myeong-oh had a slim body,” he also lost 3kg.

Son Myung-oh, who was born in this way, was called the epitome of evil. “Will you check the heat for the ‘correcting iron’ from now on?” When Park Yeon-jin said this, Son Myung-oh, the leader of the action, rubbed Moon Dong-eun’s (Song Hye-kyo) skin with a hot beauty tool as if he had been waiting for it. Even when he reunited with Moon Dong-eun as an adult, he said, “I am innocent.” Kim Gun-woo saw that “Myeong-oh is a person who does not know what is right or wrong”. “Myung-oh grew up without parents and could fall into any path. Wouldn’t he have made such a mistake just to survive? Even when I read the script, I didn’t have a strong impression that Myeong-oh was scary. Rather, I thought he was stupid because he was so easily drawn into Dong-eun’s plans (laughs).”

Kim Gun-woo rose to stardom as the work became a hot topic, ranking first in Netflix non-English TV series viewing time for three weeks in a row. Did they even joke that “Kim Kun-woo’s SNS preparation before the release of ‘The Glory’ seems to be preparing to become a star” (Lim Ji-yeon)? Kim Kun-woo said, “There are more people who recognize me on the street or ask for my autograph or photo. I get a lot of service at restaurants,” he laughed. He even has a foreign fan who openly courts him through social media comments. However, Kim Gun-woo was not easily excited. “I’ve been determined to be called Son Myung-oh for a while,” he said, “this bubble will fall someday, so I just have to be faithful to my work.”

Choosing the musical ‘Paris Bakery’, which opens in May, as his next work is also a decision that would not have been easy if it had not been for this kind of pulpit. Kim Gun-woo said, “I have a longing for the stage,” and said, “When I performed at school, I felt alive as I shared my breath with the audience.” He started dreaming of becoming an actor after going to an acting academy with a friend at the age of 19, with the entrance exam just around the corner. The ‘acting genius’ who entered Korea National University of Arts as the top of the entire drama school had confidence and humility in the golden ratio. The inner muscles of the actor, who experienced the fluctuations in viewership ratings and walked the tightrope between interest and indifference, were revealed.

“Before meeting ‘The Glory’, I went through a slump due to repeated failures in auditions. But he trusted me. It wasn’t the belief that ‘I’m going to become a superstar’, I also thought that there would be a use for it somewhere. I love acting very much. Of course, there is also the stress of acting. It’s difficult enough to make me think I won’t be able to master acting until I die. But looking back, those times made me grow. I still have a lot of things I want to show you and I have to show you.”

Reporter Lee Eun-ho [email protected]

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