Meet Kim Young-dae, appearing in Shooting Star alongside Lee Sung-kyung before The Penthouse: Wa

He started acting out of curiosity

Growing up, Kim never thought of becoming an actor. His childhood dream was to be a footballer, he revealed to The Star magazine. Imagining he would go to university and get an ordinary job like everyone else, he studied commerce at Fudan University in China.

But destiny put him on a different path. While the first year student was on holiday back in Korea, he met the boss of his agency, Outer Korea, W Korea reports. He’d had offers before, but this time was different.

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“When I got that casting offer as an adult, I became curious about what it was like. I had gotten tired of living life while going with the flow. It felt like my life had been too calm and quiet until now,” he said.

“And I had ambition about a new field. I had only thought about graduating and getting a job, but I was fascinated when I coincidentally came across a new world. Thinking of it as a big challenge, I thought, ‘Why don’t I try it?’” he said, according to Soompi.

His parents strongly opposed it, however, so he had to beg them to let him take a two-year break from school.

His big break

After some small roles, the script of Extraordinary You (2019) landed in Kim’s hands. The rookie actor portrayed Oh Nam-joo, the rich, arrogant and overbearing leader of the school’s most popular clique, A3, who falls for a poor but kind-hearted girl. The role is reminiscent of Lee Min-ho playing F4 clique’s Gu Jun-pyo in Boys Over Flowers. Kim really made an impression and, from then on, fans even started calling him Oh Nam-joo instead of his real name, he shared according to Zapzee.

But after his next performance – in 2020’s The Penthouse: War In Life – fans switched to calling him by the name of his character Joo Seok-hoon, an arrogant, rebellious and rich kid who doesn’t hesitate to bully peers at school.

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Most importantly though, Kim’s parents are now his biggest fans. “Now they’re cheering me on and are curious about my work. I still have a long way to go, but I’m proud just of having changed my parents’ minds,” he said, according to Soompi.

He wants his own signature

Another of Kim’s nicknames is “little Gang Dong-won” for his uncanny resemblance to the famous actor. He is grateful for the comparison but shared that he hopes to show “more of himself through his acting”, according to Soompi.

“Everyone in the entertainment industry is so attractive. I have recently begun to think that I have about one per cent of my own style. I want to find my own style and develop it more. I want something that makes me different,” he said.

He finds acting fun

Without any formal training, Kim finds acting challenging. His key to conquering it is to enjoy uncovering various sides of himself through acting. “The process of discovering my own strengths while acting is a lot of fun. I think I even gain more energy because it’s so much fun,” he said, according to Soompi. “Enjoying myself is what gives me the strength to overcome any pressure.”

He also sees K-drama as a gift to viewers and hopes to present more varied performances in time. “I first picked characters that fit me well. Nowadays, I’m thinking a lot about characters that can be expressed in more various ways,” he told The Star magazine. “I actually have more different looks than I thought. And I think that I have the ability to make those looks more charming through my efforts.”

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He has other gifts too

Having studied in China, Kim showed off his language skills in a behind-the-scenes YouTube clip from Extraordinary You when he was asked to speak some Chinese and English too.

He also has a hidden talent for music. According to his agency’s website, he can play piano and guitar. While filming The Penthouse: War In Life, when his character had to play piano while thinking of Bae Ro-na (Kim Hyun-soo), he surprised the production team with his skill.

“I learned to play when I was young, and I played continuously for many years, but I never played again after middle school. That’s why I forgot everything. I’m trying to remember what I played when I was young,” he said.

He loves to travel

If Kim had 30 days of holiday, he would use them all to travel, he told The Star magazine. He also said he would choose teleportation as his superpower, to allow him to travel easily.

The next place that he wants to visit is the US, as he has never been. If he became a YouTuber, he also said he would focus on travel content.

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