Actor Kim Moo-jun recalled his time working in Japan and also spoke about dating rumors.
On the afternoon of the 23rd, actor Kim Moo-jun met with OSEN at a café in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and conducted an interview marking the end of the SBS Wednesday-Thursday drama Dynamite Kiss.
Kim Moo-jun played Kim Sun-woo, Darim's (Ahn Eun-jin) close friend and a single-dad photographer in the drama. Kim Sun-woo, who raises his 6-year-old son alone and runs a baby studio, is a kind and delicate character who, in one way or another, becomes Darim's fake husband.
Earlier, Kim Moo-jun showed active work this year, appearing in three projects. Starting with the Japanese drama Caster, then Netflix's Genie, Make a Wish, and finally SBS's Dynamite Kiss, he met viewers each time with different genres and characters.
How did the Japanese drama role come about? He said, "I didn't set out to do a Japanese drama, but I was given an audition opportunity for the role. I actually went to the audition, read the lines, and met a few times. I went to Japan two or three times to talk, and then I was given the chance to shoot."
Will he continue activities targeting Japan in the future? Kim Moo-jun said, "Of course I'd like to do anything if given the opportunity, but it's not something that happens just because I want it, so if an opportunity is given, I would be honored to do it all," adding, "I tried Japanese for the first time, and it was my first time visiting Japan as a country. It's a completely new culture. It was my first time talking with Japanese people, and doing something new in a completely different environment felt different from Korea. Even just breathing felt different; it felt like a new experience."
Also, Kim Moo-jun played Korean intern doctor Park Min-jae in Japan's TBC Black Pean 2 and shared the screen with Arashi's Ninomiya Kazunari. Asked whether he had any recognition of Arashi's Ninomiya, he said, "I didn't know him at all. I told my older brother. I said I didn't know. My brother didn't say much. He treats me like a neighborhood older brother despite the age difference and has kept in touch with me. He contacted me two days ago too," he revealed.
He added, "He took such good care of me that people around me found it surprising. He's totally famous in Japan, but I called him Baby-chan. People found it very surprising, but to me he was just a good older brother. I call him Nino hyung. Or Baby-chan. Then he calls me Mujun, Mujun." Kim Moo-jun explained that "Ninomiya hyung sometimes asks about Korea. He asks about the weather, and because earthquakes often occur in Japan, I also check in, and he asks about things he's preparing, and we exchange light greetings," saying they still maintain their relationship.
However, Kim Moo-jun's activities in Japan fizzled somewhat after dating rumors with Nagano Mei, who he had co-starred with, surfaced, and in Korea he received more attention for the dating rumors. When asked whether it was upsetting that his Japanese work did well but was known domestically only for dating rumors, he said, "I was happy during my activities in Japan, and fans gave me love, so it's an unforgettable memory. When that issue arose, I thought, 'I'm not just an ordinary person but a public figure, so I need to be more careful with every word, every expression, and every action,' and I think it made me mature one step.'"
Kim Moo-jun won the rookie award that year through the MBC drama Yeonin and has been steadily building his filmography and growing every year. When asked what he felt he had grown in, he said, "I keep finding things I'm dissatisfied with. I feel I need to work harder and practice. In Yeonin, I did a lot of scenes with senior Namkoong Min. I never had a scene with Eun-jin nuna, but she talked to me until the end of filming. I try to take that kind of advice and apply it."
When asked specifically what advice Namkoong Min gave, he said, "I have a scene in Yeonin where I cry out in despair. The script came out and Namkoong Min told me as he was leaving, 'Mujun, I saw the script. That scene looks difficult. I'll look forward to it.' What he told me was, 'Memorize the script thoroughly at home, and on set forget the script and think only about the emotion of the scene and speak as it comes out.'"
Kim Moo-jun said, "As my senior said, I memorized the script, and on set I really don't remember how we filmed it. When that advice from the seniors was realized, that moment stayed in my memory and made me want to act. It made me think again about how I should act—speak as it comes out—and it was something that helped shape my acting philosophy greatly."
He added, "Hearing that from my senior and doing Yeonin together—doing the crying scene and then after episode 18 aired, So-hyun Sea-ja gained attention. And connecting that to the rookie award, in a way it was an unforgettable moment."
[Photo] 9Ato Entertainment, SBS Dynamite Kiss provided
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