Park Ki Woong Joins "The Musical"

Aug 04, 2010

Park Ki Woong (Chuno, Story of a Man) has been added to “The Musical,” the drama series starring Goo Hye Sun, Daniel Choi, and Ok Joo Hyun. He’ll play a cool-headed musical producer, and complicates romantic matters as the third leg of the love triangle with Goo and Choi.

Park had first heard about “The Musical“ from director Kim Kyung Yong while he was shooting “Story of a Man“ (aka “The Slingshot”). When that drama wrapped, he went to Kim as soon as he heard the treatment had come out, and had an instant liking for the character he is now portraying. “Yoo Jin” is the type of man who trusts money over people (although he harbors pain that he keeps hidden from anybody — of course!).

Park felt such enthusiasm for the project that he drew his own sketch of the character and sent it to director Kim, which you can see below. (Drawing is one of Park’s hobbies, as he explained in a previous interview.) The drawing was so similar to the director’s idea of the character that he gave Park a nickname, “Chado Ki Wong,” where “chado” is a shortening of “cold city man” (차가운 도시 남자). After he was cast, Park cut his hair to match the drawing and dyed his lightened hair to a darker brown.

While that type of character is nothing new to dramas, it IS new to Park, who has spent most of his career playing laid-back types, as in “Love & Marriage” and “When Night Comes.” I’ve always found Park endearing, but it wasn’t until he took on the role of an autistic financial genius in “Story of a Man” that he started to show his acting potential. By his own admission, he’d been skating by in earlier roles but took a much more serious, intensive approach to that drama, which in my opinion paid off handsomely.

I’ve been iffy on this drama and I still am, but the addition of Park Ki Woong makes me look forward to it a LOT more.