After he made his debut as an actor on “King of Baking, Kim Takgu”, he successfully earned mega popularity in short period of time, and nis ow recognized as an A-list South Korean actor who works in various aspects. Let’s dig up more about this multi-talented actor and keep on reading!
Full Profile of Joo Won
Real Name : Moon Jun Won (문준원/文晙原) Stage Name : Joowon (주원/周元) Nationality : Korean Occupation : Actor, Model & Singer Agent : Huayi Brothers Birthdate : September 30th, 1987 Birth Place : Hannam-Dong, Seoul, South Korea Hometown : Seoul, South Korea Western Star Sign : Libra Chinese Star Sign : Rabbit Blood Type : O Height : 185 cm Weight : 68 Kg Religion : Christian (Protestant) Languange(s) : Korean Instruments : Piano, Violin, Guitar Twitter : @Moonjunwon Instagram : @zu.won_moon.jun.won Cyworld : jun1moon Weibo : Actor Zhou Yuan Official Website : www.joowon508.com
Facts and Trivia About Joo Won
The actor said himself in an interview that his charms are being gentle and modest. The directors who also have worked with him point to his ‘sincerity and hard work’ as his advantageous points. Perhaps that is an obvious answer for a person such as him to form so many fans, and to soar as an actor in a short period of time. Let’s find out about his colorful charm and past stories that cannot be missed!
Joo Won’s Early Life
Joo Won’s real name is Moon Joon Won. The name Joo Won is the stage name that was given to him by his father with the meaning ‘God-willing’. He is known to continue his faithful Christian religious life by praying time to time in his busy schedule. In his early life, he attended Seoul Hannam Elementary School (서울 한남 초등학교) and Bundang Middle School (분당 중학교). Then he graduated from Kaywon High School of Arts – Theater and Film Department (계원 예술 고등학교 연극 영화과) and thereafter enrolled at the Sungkyunkwan University where he studied Theatre and Arts. Later in 2013, he declared his intention of continuing his studies at the Konkuk University – Graduate School of Mass Communication. Puberty was a ‘dark time’ for Joo Won. Especially when he was 15, Joo Won shared that he would have told himself to enjoy the soccer matches from the FIFA World Cup (held in Korea in 2002) more, instead of steering away as a ‘studious kid’. In 2006, he joined the Co-ed group called “Freeze” as a member singer. As nation’s first childern’s Educational Entertainer (Edutainer), they produced an album called “Tell me about your dreams”, showing the cute, bright and fresh side. But since his true vision was in acting, he changed his course to musical and withdrew from the group shortly afterwards. As a child, he was introverted and reserved. Desiring to change that aspect of his character, he took up drama classes and inadvertently discovered his life’s passion. An unassuming youth, he gradually became a star. Fate has certainly been re-written, but his fundamental personality remains. When he was young, he sang solo a lot in church choir. He received lots of praise for having a beautiful voice. Even relatives said he could have become a singer when he got older. However, he lost confidence in singing when his voice started to change, so he couldn’t even think of working in entertainment industry, especially due to his looks. His confidence fell to the bottom when he was in junior high school. “At that time, I was wearing spectacles, I was really a very ordinary student. I wasn’t tall either, about 170-175cm. But I grew 10 cm taller when I was in senior high school and now I am 185cm tall“.
Joo Won as An Actor
Joo Won signed an exclusive contract with his previous agency, Huayi Brothers. He renewed the contract after seven years under the same agency. He isn’t afraid to try different genres or take on controversial or challenging roles, and that’s why people love him so much. His biggest motivations as an actor are honesty and hard work, which was already apparent during his musical days. He said, “The project that I was acknowledged as musical actor was “Spring Awakening”, then because of an unexpected emergency I helped the lead actor as understudy. It was an unplanned start; I just wanted to do this performance together. Even if there was no show I would arrive early at the venue daily to mop floors and practice by reading the scripts twice.” Just like that, opportunity descended upon a secretly prepared Joo Won. The actor who was lead suffered an injury, thus leading Joo Won to take the stage and achieve success for the musical. He has excellent foresight of selecting projects that showcase his brilliant skills and have also rewarded him with successful ratings. He said this about his principles for work: “Every time I work, I will tell myself that I do not work alone. Everything is done as a team. Therefore, I have to understand all staff who work with me as well“. While filming “Baker King, Kim Tak Gu” he was reprimanded a lot but even then, he would not show any dissatisfaction. “After seeing that I did not give up, the PD even commended me. I pretended to be unaffected (by his scolding) and appeared very tough. As I persevered day by day, he slowly accepted me“. The longer he acts, the more skills he picks up. He learned to bake while filming “Baker King Kim Tak Gu” and by his own admission he is pretty good at it. “Honestly, I think I am gifted at baking,” he said in an interview with Ten Asia. “I had so much fun learning how to bake, and I continued to do so on the set. The staff members told me that I should open my own bakery. I received rave reviews for the bread that I made for the people at my agency. I have the most confidence in baking red-bean bread and peanut topped bread.” Baking, martial arts, and conducting skills are just a few of the skills that he has mastered for his drama roles. He wants to age gracefully as an actor, and cited Leonardo De Caprio as an example when he was interviewed by InStyle magazine. If he can work with him, the action project would be interesting. “I want to get old like actor Leonardo Di Caprio, because he used to be a pretty actor in Hollywood, but now, he perfectly changed his image in accordance with his age and role”. His most challenging scene to date? Driving in a car with cameras positioned all over his windshield, leaving him with a restricted view as he drove into walls and such. What a thrill-seeker! Movie characters he desired was #1 Notebook, #2 Pirates of Caribbean, #3 is the piece that has many series. One of the most notable and challenging portrayals by Joo Won was that of Park Shion, an autistic savant who turns into a genius paediatric surgeon, in the South Korean medical drama TV series “Good Doctor”. The series more or less retained its number one spot in its timeslot while being aired on KBS2 from August 5, 2013 to October 8, 2013. After four years of absence from the musical scene, he returned to the musical stage with the Korean version of “Ghost the Musical” in 2013, essaying the role of Sam Wheat. Due to schedule conflicts, he has since stepped down from 2 Days & 1 Night to concentrate on his acting career. The actor injured his nose while filming the drama 7th Grade Civil Servant, but it was nothing serious. Again he injured his nose but this time in the variety show 1 Night 2 Days, this time was not anything serious either. His most serious injury to date happened on the set of “Bridal Mask,” when he hurt the ligaments in his wrist. There are lots of action scenes in the drama, many involving martial arts, and acting in them resulted in several injuries. Joo Won hurt his wrist in one scene where he had to block an oncoming kick but missed his cue. He dislikes filming in the cold.
