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| This is a scene from Mnet's ghost romance drama "Mimi," starring K-pop idol Max Changmin. / Courtesy of Mnet |
26-year-old TVXQ star returns to small screen
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TVXQ's U-know Yunho, left, and Max Changmin pose in this promotional photo. |
Popular K-pop duo TVXQ's Max Changmin (Shim Chang-min) has always been a sweetheart for K-pop fans. With his charismatic performance on stage, the baby-faced star has shown enough charm to make his fans' hearts race.
Not only has the title song of TVXQ's recent album "Something" topped many local on-line music charts, he also bagged the emcee role in KBS's variety show, "Cool Kiz On The Block," winning the Best Entertainer Award last year.
Despite being in the showbiz industry for almost a decade, the 26-year-old idol says he still has more to show. This time, the multi-talented star returns to the small screen as webtoonist Han Min-woo in the "ghost" romance story, "Mimi."
The four-part mini- series drama started out with scenes lead character Han was working on, mixed with water-colored, painting-like scenes and music net's namesake background music.
Borrowing a format of mystery and fantasy, it features the journey of Han, who has lost part of his memory and tries recovering it with key words noted on his calendar _ "art room" "bike" and "first kiss." Based on the three main characters of Han, his first love and the present one, he goes back and forth between the past and present over the span of 10 years.
"People around me initially expressed concerns about Changmin playing the lead role. But, I thought no one else personifies Min-woo better than him," said Song Chang-su, the series director, referring to the risk of casting the idol for the male lead at a meeting with the press, when he presented his drama at Patio9, Nonhyeon-dong, southern Seoul, on Feb. 18.
Reflecting Changmin's global appeal, stacks of rice adorned the hall ways and inside the press room, donated by his multi-national fan clubs, including those in Japan, China, Vietnam, Canada, Peru and Saudi Arabia. In total, they sent some 13 tons of rice as a way of wishing him success in his new drama.
And director Song was mostly right, as on-line websites were flowing with positive reviews and comments. All in all, the performance of Changmin for the music channel seems to be successful.
Soon after the first episode of Mnet drama "Mimi" premiered Friday, the online community has been buzzing with reviews and commentaries from his global fan base.
Many of them were clearly happy to watch such a beautiful cartoon-like romantic drama starring their idol. Others described the story as a very moving one, so much that they can't wait for the next episode.
Changmin was able to properly portray the fragile state of the lead character and the emotional turmoil he was experiencing in the course of his fight to regain his lost memory. He sounded very natural, and displayed a rare skill of being able to relate to viewers throughout the entire 70-minute long drama.
"I myself feel the change. Compared with a few years ago, I am more focused and comfortable on the role I am playing," he commented about his acting during the press meeting.
The must-see scene is the first kiss that Min-woo had in the high school art room. Two days were spent to depict the tender and heart-pumping mood of first love, including the moment of the characters' interlocking looks and the sweet mood after the kiss, he added.
"Although it won't be easy to act out the 28-year old and 18-year-old Min-woo, who have totally different memories and emotions, I have enjoyed filming it. As much as it is a story of one's first love that anyone can relate to, I ask for a lot of interest and anticipation."
His previous acting experience includes co-starring in "Paradise Ranch (2011)" with actress Lee Yeon-hee and, although less-known, starred in a Japanese action film, "Fly with the Gold (2012)."
For that role in the movie, he won the Newcomer of the Year Award at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2012, and became the first Korean artist to be nominated for a Hochi Film Award in Japan that year.
