Hwang Jung Min (황정민) – a name Korean movie goers will not forget.

If you pick your movies or dramas just by the look of the leads, you could have easily skipped his work.  But – you really have *NO IDEA* how much you’ve missed out.  Seriously.

I have not exhausted his work yet.  Actually I bumped into his work purely by accident.  After I watched k-drama “Lovers in Prague” (프라하의 연인, 2005, SBS), I was interested in seeing more work of both leads, Jun Do Yeon and Kim Joo Hyuk (whom I have briefly discussed before).  Then I came across this movie, “You Are My Sunshine” (너는 내 운명, 2005, Korean Movie) with Jun Do Yeon as the Female Lead and Hwang was the Male Lead.  I had no idea who Hwang Jung Min was then.  After watching “You Are My Sunshine”, I became more curious of Hwang.  His role in that movie was a “below average Joe”, late middle-aged farmer Seok Joong who received coffee delivery from Eun Ha, a staff of a rural coffee shop.  She delivered products of the coffee shop in a small town, and sometimes she offered “special services” to the male customers as well.  This is a melodrama.  Then I watched Hwang’s another movie, “A Man Who Was Superman” (슈퍼맨이었던 사나이, 2008, Korean Movie).  Hwang played a superman whose single mission is to save the earth and has been doing that for the longest time, until a producer/reporter met him and looked at the ”superman”’s x-ray report.  This is a very meaningful story that makes you think and reflect a lot.  I was swept head over heel - Hwang Jung Min’s performance was shockingly and amazingly solid.  Since then, I’m convinced – show me his name, and I am sold (almost).

Yesterday I heard of Hwang’s movie, Shadow Murder (검은집, also called Black House) (2007) (original story from a Japanese horror novel by Yusuke Kishi which has also been made into a Japanese movie ”The Black House“(1999)), where he played a new insurance agent investigaing a death of a boy which leads him to a series of murder cases.   This is a thriller.  I am looking forward to this when I get a hold of it.  Actually, I am going to watch his first k-drama “That Fool” (그바보, 2009, KBS2) – I think it will be worth just by enjoying his performance.

Hwang Jung Min – a sweet charm in the heart.  A rare gem in the K-entertainment industry.   Highly recommended.