Actor Joo Won's Song Picks

Actor Joo Won [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

He is more familiarly recognized as Ma-joon than Joo Won. It is only natural since KBS TV series "Bread, Love and Dreams," in which he took on his first acting role, marked over 50 percent in viewership ratings. Yoon Si-yoon, who played the main character Kim Tak-koo, too was a rookie but many more were surprised by the casting of this 23-year-old who nobody had seen or heard of.

However, Joo Won, who confidently shouted, "I can do it" when he met with the show's writer for the first time, is a bold actor who held onto the opportunity which came to him rather than becoming shocked or fearful of the unexpected casting. Joon Won, who joined the theater club in middle school to fix his withdrawn personality, found what he wanted to do for life and after attending Kaywon High School of Arts and majoring in acting at Sungkyunkwan University, he came to stand on the stage of musicals. After debuting through "Alter Boyz" in 2006, it was the sincereness he showed to creating his character which won him the leading role for "Spring Awakening," every musical actor's dream. "I don't think you need to be scared when you're faced with something new. Whether it goes well or bad, it's something you have to face. The moment you wonder whether you'll be able to do well, you'll become bad at even what you're good at because of that lack of confidence."

His personality, optimistic enough to say that his memory of having to adjust to dramas and pull off all-nighters to shoot his scenes was "A lot of fun!", is actually rather closer to that of Tak-koo's. And he showed the playfulness of a guy in his early twenties by jokingly asking, "Joo Won's 'My Love.' Isn't that song great?" in reference to one of the songs to the soundtrack of "Bread, Love and Dreams" that he sang himself. Below are the songs Joo Won said go with autumn. "It may seem like I'll be giving similar reasons for liking the songs but I think it's the melody and lyrics that are the most important when it comes to liking a song."

1. Sung Si-kyung "I Want to Dream Again" (translated title, 4th album)
"I really love Sung Si-kyung's songs a lot. I like 'On the Street' as well and the song I sing the most at karaoke rooms are 'Two People.' The song is good, so are the lyrics, and it gets even better when Sung sings it. He has a voice which is quiet yet makes people heed their attention to." "Two People," one of the most often sung songs at weddings, is one of top balladeer Sung's most famous songs. Sung, who has been popular during his 10-year career since 2001, was recently discharged from the military and will return to fans in May with a duet song with IU.

2. Kim Hyun-chul "The Train to Chuncheon" (translated title, 1st album)
"I was a bit sad when I first heard this song. It made me feel a bit lonely and somehow peculiar. Then I came to hear about how he wrote the song later on and it was about him missing his past lover while on a train to Chuncheon alone. In the past, he had ridden the train with his girlfriend. The song sounded different after hearing this." On the year that Joo Won, born in 1987, turned two, 21-year-old singer-songwriter Kim Hyun-chul released his first album. He received the attention of both the public and critics for his bossa nova style songs and refined lyrics and came to be called the genius and prodigy of the music scene in the early 90s.

3. Eric Benet "Hurricane"
"I like Eric Benet's songs. I like his tone and the melodies to his songs but I like 'Hurricane' and 'Still With You' in particular because of their lyrics. I don't understand the English completely but I think it was along the lines of 'What you fear most is sometimes what you need the most and a hurricane is sometimes the remedy to your pain' and it's encouraging to listen to when I'm having a hard time." Eric Benet, who has been one of the main singers in the American R&B scene since the release of his first album "True To Myself" in 1996, has a wide fanbase in Korea as well and saw a sold-out first concert in the country last December.

4. Ra.D "Realcollabo" (2nd album)
Ra.D. One cannot tell what his nationality is from hearing his name and many do not even know of his identity. The fact that he was the original composer for Brown Eyed Girls member Narsha's first solo song "I'm in Love" from July of last year is what is relatively well-known about his career. But Ra.D, having worked with musicians such as ChoPD and Dynamic Duo while a singer-songwriter and producer since his debut in 2002, won the award for best R&B soul album with his record "Realcollabo" at the Korean Music Awards last year. "I'm in Love," the first track to "Realcollabo," was a song which, for a while, was talked about as a 'classic recognized only by people who know of the song.' "There are various versions to it but I personally like the piano version the best. The lyrics to it are beautiful as well. (laugh)"

5. Yoon Jong-shin "Woo" (5th album)
"I like Yoon Jong-shin's songs a lot but I like 'Reincarnation' in particular because of its uniquely dreamy vibe. Both the melody and lyrics make you feel like you're in a dream, which usually isn't something that's easy to feel from songs. I also got to meet Yoon on a variety show but I didn't get to tell him I like his songs although I was so happy to see him so I'm disappointed about that." Over the past few years, Yoon has become more widely recognized as a TV personality but he is actually a singer-songwriter acknowledged by all for his musical talent. The student in college who in 1990 sang 015B's song "On an Empty Street" from their first album in a beautiful high-pitched voice, has released 11 full-length albums during the past 20 years and produced numerous hit songs including Sung Si-kyung's "On the Street." Also having been a judge on season 2 of cable music channel Mnet's singing competition "Superstar K" where he provided logical and insightful evaluation on aspiring and soon-to-debut singers, Yoon seems to be well on his way to becoming a legend.

Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@