[Interview] Joo Won talks about his achievements of this year & new film 'Catch Me'

There is a young actor who spent the busiest year ever. The young man is none other than Joo Won, who casted in drama ‘7th Grade Civil Servant’, drama ‘Good Doctor’, musical ‘Ghost’, and movie ‘Catch Me’ just in this year.

During an interview that he recently had with StarN at a café that is located in Palpan-dong, Jongro District, Seoul, Joo Won showed a pure passion for his profession.

◇ Adopting romance-comedy genre

‘Catch Me’ not only is the first film that Joo Won played as the main character, but it also is the first romance-comedy film of his career. However, Joo Won told that he is very excited to present a romance-comedy film.

He has been getting widely recognized for his acting even though his age is still so young, but he told that he really had no confidence for romance-comedy genre.

Joo Won told that he felt interests in romance-comedy genre for the first time while casting in ‘7th Grade Civil Servant’. He said, “Romance-comedy films usually get led by the main actor and main actress, just the two of them. Indeed, I was not sure if I was ready to bear the responsibility before casting in ‘7th Grade Civil Servant’, but I started gaining more and more confidence as the drama went on.”

He continued, “While I expressed 10% of me and 90% of the character in other works, I had to express 50% of me and 50% of the character in romance-comedy genre. I could express myself much more freely, and I could have a lot of fun. It was a great experience to cast in a romance-comedy film.”

Joo Won told that the biggest reason why he decided to cast in ‘Catch Me’ is because he thought he would be able to show much more things in the film.

He kept his voice tone low and calm during the interview, and he said, “In the film, Ho Tae starts out as a young student who falls in love with his first love. Then, he turns into a professional profiler who gets emotionally devastated after meeting his first love, but he still shows an unchanging love for her. I thought that I would be able to manage the complicated expressions.”

Many actors feel embarrassed to speak corny lines while shooting romance-comedy films. However, Joo Won said, “I did not feel the lines corny. I could understand why Ho Tae would speak in such ways, because I knew what he was going through.”

He also said, “It was the same when I was casting in ‘Good Doctor’. Many people thought that my love for Moon Chae Won was corny, but I did not get such a feeling at all, because I knew what my character would go through.”


Regarding singing in dramas or films, he said, “I am not much of a good singer, but many people still think that I should sing well, because I am a musical actor. But, very fortunately, singing in ‘Catch Me’ was not as tricky as others.”

◇ Working with Kim Ah Joong, the ‘Queen of Romance-Comedy’

Joo Won showed fabulous teamwork with Choi Kang Hee and Moon Chae Won in ‘7th Grade Civil Servant’ and ‘Good Doctor’. This time, he was partnered up with Kim Ah Joong, who goes by the ‘Queen of Romance-Comedy’.

Joo Won was already feeling a heavy pressure on him, because it was the first time for him to play a main character, and he told that Kim Ah Joong became a huge support for him.

He told that he learned many valuable lessons from Kim Ah Joong, and he said, “She casted in romance-comedy films for many times, and she was a phenomenal improviser. I think she saw many things that I could not see, and I was deeply impressed by her sophistication.”

Kim Ah Joong casted in ‘Catch Me’ as a legendary villain named ‘Yoon Jin Sook’.

Joo Won described Yoon Jin Sook as a very cute villain. He said, “Yoon Jin Sook puts many people in troubles, and Kim Ah Joong came up with very unique ways of expressing the character.”

Joo Won told that the film includes a great number of improvised lines and scenes, and aroused anticipation for his great teamwork with Kim Ah Joong.

◇ How he found his talent in acting

‘Catch Me’ is a romance-comedy film about a professional profiler named Lee Ho Tae starting to chase a legendary villain named Yoon Jin Sook, who is, indeed, his first love. Who ‘caught’ the talent that Joo Won has as an actor, and what did Joo Won ‘catch’ this year?


In the movie, Lee Ho Tae, a fine arts major student, becomes a police after hearing Yoon Jin Sook saying that she hopes to get married to a policeman. Regarding how he decided to become an actor, Joo Won gave credits to his parents.

Joo Won said, “I studied well, and I was the leader among my friends. However, I started losing interests in everything, and started becoming more and more awkward from some point.”

He told that his parents recommended him joining a drama club, and he said, “I started gaining my old personality back after joining the club, and that is when I started falling in love with acting.”

Regarding achievements that he made this year, he said, “I had more fun than ever. I was exhausted, but for sure, I had more fun with my job. I also started to know how to communicate with the staffs.”

He told that he wishes that next year would be nothing more or less than this year, and he said, “I had a lot of job this year, but I could manage them smoothly thanks to many people’s considerations. I hope I would be able to continue my career just like this next year.”

Regarding the intense competition that ‘Catch Me’ would have to go through against many other major films, he said, “Everyone yearns for love, and everyone struggles for love. ‘Catch Me’ is the only romance-comedy genre which expresses the yearning and struggles that love brings to people, and people would be able to enjoy it in a bit more relaxed manner.”

Meanwhile, ‘Catch Me’ will be officially released on December 18th.

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