Kim Sung Cheol And Lee Sang Yi Dive Into Their Close Friendship, Upcoming Dramas, And More

Aug 08, 2021

Long-time best friends Kim Sung Cheol and Lee Sang Yi spoke about their friendship, careers, and more in a joint photoshoot with Elle magazine!

Kim Sung Cheol explained, “We first met as college classmates and it feels like just yesterday that we were chatting about all our little concerns regarding dating and our futures. But the future we were dreaming about then has become a reality. There are often still times when I can’t believe it.”

Lee Sang Yi added, “Sung Cheol said the same thing at the 2017 Korea Musical Awards. We were both nominees for the Rookie Award and it felt so different because it was our first time meeting in such a large-scale situation. In the end, Sung Cheol won the award and I remember frankly telling him, “I’m jealous. Since I’m jealous, you pay for dinner.”

Kim Sung Cheol responded with a laugh, “You did not respond so coolly.” He continued, “I cried when I went to watch the first musical Sang Yi led and when I saw him win the Male Rookie Award for ‘Once Again‘ at the 2020 KBS Drama Awards.”

Lee Sang Yi asked why and Kim Sung Cheol responded, “Because I vividly remember all the time and effort we put in until that moment. They were tears from being deeply touched. I can’t believe that there are now so many people supporting us. I’m really thankful.”

Recently, Lee Sang Yi made his debut as a singer as a part of MSG Wannabe (JSDK) from “How Do You Play?” He commented while laughing, “I put on my name tag like an idol, did camera rehearsals, and my competition was 2PM. It was such a fun experience.”

Kim Sung Cheol added, “My mom recently saw ‘How Do You Play?’ and asked, ‘Sang Yi is doing so well. Is your relationship okay?’ However, I’ve never thought of Sang Yi as a competitor. Our journeys have been similar but our styles are different and I believe we have our own paths to walk.”

The pair also picked their favorite works that the other has done, with Lee Sang Yi sharing, “‘While the short but memorable acting from ‘Sweet Home’ and ‘Vincenzo’ received a lot of love, I think for me is Jailbird from ‘Prison Playbook.’ I especially liked Jailbird’s crying scenes.”

Kim Sung Cheol picked “Once Again” and explained, “You made a lot of people’s hearts flutter as ‘Sadon couple’ with Lee Cho Hee. I want to also one day be the main character of such a sweet romance.”

In their next projects, both actors will be appearing as producing directors (PDs). Lee Sang Yi shared, “I’ve been filming diligently while going back and forth from Pohang. My character, Ji Sung Hyun, is a bright and free-spirited variety show PD who like me, takes food very seriously. Kim Seon Ho and Shin Min Ah, whom I’m starring with in ‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha,’ treat me very comfortably so I’ve been filming really enjoyably. You’ll be able to see our cute banter.”

Additionally, Kim Sung Cheol will be starring in “Us That Year” (literal title) alongside Choi Woo Shik and Kim Da Mi. He remarked, “I will portray Kim Ji Woong, a documentary PD who is quite cold. This is the first character I’m acting as with this kind of personality so I have a lot of concerns about how I should act. It’s to the point where I pulled out ‘An Actor Prepares’ by Constantin Stanislavski, a book I studied while preparing to enter college.”

Lastly, the two friends shared a recent happy memory together. Kim Sung Cheol explained, “I know all of Sang Yi’s houses from his first-ever home by himself and he’s always very clean and organized. However, I recently went to his house for the first time in awhile to prepare for our Elle stage performance and it looked like the house of someone who was really busy and out of it. I felt proud. I wished that we could both just go like this forever.”

Lee Sang Yi added, “While practicing our song together, there were quite a lot of things we needed to fix but I was happy that we have the type of relationship where we can get to the point instead of beating around the bush. The fact that in our relationship, we know each other’s abilities and can easily talk about things without worry, gradually makes our relationship that much more precious.”

Watch their duet for Elle magazine here!