February 21, 2005

No airs about this king

Korean Heavenly King Lee Byung Hun charmed his fans of his recent trip here with his friendliness and warmth

By Miharu Chang
changmc@sph.com.sg

FOR someone so big, Korea's Four Heavenly Kings, Lee Byung Hun doesn't have his heads in the clouds.

No entourages - he arrived in Singapore last weekend to promote his self-titled DVD box set with only his manager and assistant in tow.

No personal makeup or hair stylist - he employed the services of our own celeb hairstylist, David Gan, and stylist Johnny Khoo.

And loads of spontaneity: He asked to see what Singaporeans do on the weekends, and even tried reverse bungee on a whim.

Instead of holing himself up in his ivory tower - or in this case, the presidential suite of Grand Copthorne Hotel - the 35-year-old, who is perhaps the most easy-going of the royal quartet, chose to mingle with the locals.

SATAY LOVER

On Friday, the popular actor tasted chilli crab and satay at the popular Ubin Seafood (Keppel) open-air restaurant, much to the pleasant surprise of other diners.

The next evening, he took a stroll down Boat Quay and Clarke Quay, and did the unthinkable - the G-Max reverse bungee.

Miss Christina Bong of InnoForm Media, who accompanied him, told The New Paper: 'He said he wanted to see the local culture and what we do on weekends, so we took him to Boat Quay.

'When he saw the reverse bungee, he immediately said, 'I want to try it. Looks like fun'.'

Before she could react, the star of All In and Joint Security Area was already heading towards the five-minute ride, together with his manager and assistant.

'We were like 'Wow!', but he was so cool about it. He didn't scream. He was smiling away, waving and stretching his arms out. He really enjoyed the ride.'

The third Korean Heavenly King to visit the Lion City after Bae Yong Jun and Won Bin (leaving only Jang Dong Gun), Byung Hun is known to be sporting, adventurous, and a craver of new challenges.

During the media conference held at Grand Copthorne yesterday morning, he spoke about his biggest passion - acting.

Over 50 members of the media, including a few from Japan and Malaysia, were present.

Flashing his trademark pearlies, Byung Hun said through an interpreter: 'A lot of younger actors ask me how I learnt acting, and my advice to them is, you have to experience all kinds of emotions, be it embarrassment or shyness.

LIVE REAL LIFE

'Actors have to live other people's lives, so you have to relate to the common people and their lives.

'You cannot be too detached. You cannot pretend. You have to experience how real people live their real lives.'

True to his words, Byung Hun, who holds a degree in French literature and speaks reasonably good English, has extended his stay here by one or two days to 'see more of Singapore', according to a spokesman.

Celeb hairstylist David Gan was singing Byung Hun's praises.

'He's the first Korean star I touched! He's very charming and easy-going. No airs at all,' David told The New Paper.

'He doesn't behave like a star, but he already has that X-factor in the way he carries himself.'

Simple is the way to go for Byung Hun, as David said he likes his hair natural. No thick layers of foundation for his face either, only concealer to cover spots.

Voted by fans as Korea's Most Perfect Man and Most Reliable Man, he is a nice cross between Yong Jun's extreme gentlemanliness and Won Bin's cool aloofness.

Byung Hun speaks eloquently, laughs easily, gestures a lot, and has a habit of fiddling with his wavy fringe.

He admits frankly: 'I'm not a perfect man. Okay, I try to be perfect when I'm working. But in real life, I'm quick-tempered and sometimes clumsy.'

But that temper didn't show, not even when asked about the recent controversial 'entertainer's X-files' - an in-depth study commissioned last November by a top Korean advertising agency on the advertising value of 99 A-list Korean stars.

Byung Hun was alleged to be stingy, while his ex-girlfriend, actress Song Hye Kyo, was said to have broken up with him over unusual sexual requests.

ELUSIVE

Byung Hun just smiled and said in English: 'Sorry, but no comment.'

As for whether he and Hye Kyo still keep in touch, he let out a hearty chuckle, rubbed his chin, cleared his throat, and finally decided to feign ignorance.

'I didn't understand!' he said with a playful laugh.

When we protested that he obviously understood the question, he chuckled again and said in English: 'Yeah, sorry but I want to concentrate on the promotion of my DVD.'

Source: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/hey/0,4133,Hey,00.html