[GUIDEBOOK ON BECOMING A FAN] Choi Woosik's Transformation to a 'Hogu'

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I can still remember how much I was surprised when I watched the movie 'Set Me Free' in Busan International Film Festival. I didn't expect Choi Woosik, whom I thought was mischievous, could naturally become Youngjae [T/N: character name in the movie] who was so insecure. For just that one experience, Choi Woosik has become someone different to me. Quite a lot of people might have misunderstanding about Choi Woosik.

For people who reached the stage of being awared of and getting used to the name of Choi Woosik and his face, or for the people who always seem to see Choi Woosik everywhere, we have prepared the 'Guidebook on Becoming a Fan'. If you have already fallen for him, we hope that you will fall even deeper.

His real name is Choi Woosik, and he used to use the name Eddy Choi, in Canada. He was born in 1990, making him 26 years old this year. He spent most of his school days in Canada. He immigrated to Canada at the age of 11 and studied in there until the age of 20. He got in to Canada's famous university - Simon Fraser University. For now, he has ended his study in Canada's school and is studying Asian Literature in Chungang University.

Choi Woosik's hobbies vary extremely. Ever since staying in Canada, he's interested in surfing and hiking. As spending his young days in 'the Country of Snow', he is good at skiing and ski boarding. Another hobby of his is to stay in his room. He likes to spend his time playing with his pet dog Choco and playing games. Choi Woosik enjoys drinking with the people he's close to as well. Although he can't be said as very good at drinking, he likes such atmosphere. He is close with the people he has worked with, like Park Seojoon and Im Seulong.

He dreamt of directing before becoming an actor. He began to learn acting as he thought it would help with directing. With the role of a cute young guy, he debuted in 2011 via the movie 'The City of Violence'. His representative movie work is the short film 'Etude, Solo'. Though it wasn't much of a popular movie, it was the reason how he got cast for Director Kim Taeyong's 'Set Me Free'. (Director once said that he kept his eye on Choi Woosik in that film)

# As For My Charm...

We asked Choi Woosik. What's your charm? He replied with a mysterious answer, that "my charm is that it's hard to find charm in me". He explained that it means the reversal and fun of him being able to present extraordinary character with his ordinary appearance and his own acting..

[Translation of quote in image: "I am probably an extremely normal person. That's why I don't know what to say whenever I receive such question. I guess it is charming that it is difficult to find a charm in me. However, all the characters that I acted as were definitely not ordinary. As my ordinary appearance and such dramatic character meet, it becomes more unexpected and the fun is maximized. Even my family always say, "how can you even become the main lead on TV?" (laugh)]

He tends to describes himself as 'ordinary' in interviews all the time. If there were ever praises on his acting and appearance, he felt awkward. His face certainly is not sculpture-like. It might be because of the characters he had been playing were usually shown playful that, it can be seen that the dark side of Choi Woosik also exists in works like 'Set Me Free'.

Even though there are people who say single-eyelid is the recent trend, it somehow suits historical drama too. He already acted in 4 historical dramas, including 'Rooftop Prince' (though it is not 100% historical drama), 'The City of Violence', 'Deep Rooted Tree', and movie 'Marital Harmony' that is set to be released in 2016.

# Jealous of His Milky Skin

Choi Woosik has good skin. It's said that (quality of) skin is 90% inherited, it seems he is lucky. The real worth of Choi Woosik's skin can be confirmed on SBS's 'The Law of Jungle: in Nicaragua'. His blemish-less bare face was very smooth. (Though of course various troubles would appear)

His skin is so milky that he doesn't need any reflecting plate. It is to the extent that UEE who worked together with Choi Woosik in 'Hogu's Love' would become worried. Although his pale skin shone in all the works he had been in, 'Hogu's Love' was the one that made his skin look especially milky. Adorable Kang Hogu was completed with baby-permed hair and pale baby-like skin. As his skin was pale, outfits with any color matched with him. He survived with pink that male would hesitate at, sharp primary colors and even achromatic colors.

# There Is One More Thing that is Tall/Long

Though he has such a baby face, he has a height of more than 180cm. One would think that he doesn't look that tall on screen, but with the small face and slim figure he's originally born with, he looks even more tall in real life. He is originally slim, but not to the point that you'd hate to see it. Somehow it matches well with the young boy image Choi Woosik has. There are even people who thought Choi Woosik was a model too. His limbs are long and his ratio is good that he can carry different kinds of outfit. Such charm can be shown even more when he wears nothing too stood out, but just some basic items.

Besides his arms and legs, there's one more thing that's long. That's his fingers. His fingers are really pretty. Straight, long and pale. If you want to see Choi Woosik's 'Fingers Acting', we recommend you the movie 'Big Match' where he acted as the genius hacker Gu Ru.

# His Facial Muscles Work Hard

It can always be heard that "(Choi Woosik's) acting is good". What is especially stood out is his 'eyes acting'. Those eyes without double-eyelids are attractive. There are so many different ways his eyes express. The daze and kindness shown from his eyes in 'Hogu's Love' and the insecurity from his eyes in 'Set Me Free' are poles apart. These are eyes that should definitely not go under double-eyelid surgery.

When he acts out the scenes where he's wrecked, his facial muscles work a lot. He refreshingly(?) roll his eyes back when he fainted in 'Rooftop Prince'. When he gives forces to his eyebrows, the wrinkles that appear are like those in animation. You should compare his eyebrows when his character is falsely accused and when he gives a sharp facial expression. His lips also move when he moves his eyebrows. They are especially harmonious when he expressed he's dejected.

# Conquest of Choi Woosik's Filmography

Which works should one watch in order to get to know Choi Woosik's true charms? There are 2 works that Choi Woosik recommends, and those are 'Set Me Free' and 'Hogu's Love'. When speaking about 'Set Me Free', Choi Woosik expressed the reason he recommends it, "It seems that I receive a lot of love through 'Set Me Free'. During the filming of the movie, it required a great spirit on challenging and it was much difficult. It is therefore a film that I am as much thankful of".

[Translation of quotes in image. Above: "It seems that I receive a lot of love through 'Set Me Free'. During the filming of the movie, it required a great spirit on challenging and it was much difficult. It is therefore a film that I am as much thankful of""Secondly, I would like to recommend 'Hogu's Love'. I acted as a character that has similar personality as me and had fun filming it. During the filming, there were many times that it become so funny that it was hard to go on. And though every time I act, I learn a lot and feel a lot, while working for these 2 projects, I was especially happy, tired and pleased. I want to share such moments (to others)!"]

'Hogu's Love' is another work that cannot be left out aong Choi Woosik's filmography. Choi Woosik explained, "I acted as a character that has similar personality as me and had fun filming it". The characters in 'Set Me Free' and 'Hogu's Love' are completely opposites, which is why they must be watched.

Who else can express Kang Hogu in 'Hogu's Love' with such color other than Choi Woosik? The actors all exclaimed that "Hogu=Choi Woosik", expressing how synchronized he and the character are. It is a work that shows he is capable of leading with the main role in a long drama. The scenes of Choi Woosik doing the 'Bbiyak bbiyak Chick' dance and 'Sleeping with Squids' are must-watches for sure.

'Set Me Free' is the movie that got Choi Woosik Blue Dragon Movie Awards' Rookie Award and Busan International Film Festival's Actor Award last year. It can also be said that it is the movie that let the audience discover another side of Choi Woosik, who mainly acted as a bright and playful character in his previous works. You will be able to see Choi Woosik's ability when his emotions were extended coldly in the later half of the movie, which required difficult acting skills of breaking down.

Please watch 'Special Affairs Team TEN'. Besides being able to watch Choi Woosik, the drama itself was quite fun too. Though it talks about one big story, there are also focused episodes of each chapter so one can watch it occasionally. The must-watches are season 2's episode 11 and 12. They are the episodes that focused on Park Minho's (Choi Woosik's character) kidnapping case.

EBSe's 'Star English' is an interview program that is done in Englsih. One would want to skip this if he/she is nauseous to English, but as different sides of Choi Woosik were shown in it, let's endure and watch it. (There's also subtitles provided. But of course in English!) You will be able to listen to Choi Woosik talking about his life in Canada, his life as a student in Korea's university, his hobbies , what he felt after coming back to Korea and more.

'Heartbeat' is a variety program where Choi Woosik became a rescue worker. Although the view rate of the show remained as single digit, it is a program that received many praises as it showed the extremes rescue workers face, and introduced many sad cases. You will be able to see how Choi Woosik dealt with urgency.

Short skit 'Principal Investigator - Save Wang Jo Hyun!' is another work that can be done watching shortly. Choi Woosik who was good-for-nothing (in the drama) was the best. The vintage fashion is also worth noticing. In one short skit, there were mentions of one-side love, small investigation and domestic quarrel here and there. It will be even more fun when placing attention to the transformation of Choi Woosik's expression in all different situations.