[Interview] Park Hae Jin On His Celeb Friends, Marriage and Comeback

Park Hae Jin, who is gearing up for his comeback to the domestic industry after a three-year long hiatus, revealed his unexpected friendships with Dynamic Duo, Bae Doo Na and Yoo Seung Ho in an interview with enews on February 6.

He also spoke about his ideal type of woman as well as marriage, and shared anecdotes related to his upcoming movie, Snow Sea.

When asked if he had best friends among fellow celebs whom he can count on in difficult times, he answered, “I’m not that close to fellow celebs and associates but I maintain friendships for a long time once I get close to someone. I’ve maintained friendships with Dynamic Duo, Bae Doo Na and Yoo Seung Ho.”

He continued, “Back in early days of my debut, I got to know them as we modeled for Nike. We kept meeting at various events and started talking and naturally became friends and took on the nickname of ‘Nike Family’. Dynamic Duo hyungs invited me to their solo concert recently, but I couldn’t go as I injured my leg. Later they scolded me. I heard that Bae Doo Na nuna’s been busy these days with filming Hollywood movie, Cloud Atlas. She advised me to study English first if I want to advance into the States.”

He added, “Seung Ho, who has been filming Operation Proposal, said he is worried about his weight gain. I also gained 10 kg to play the character of swimmer in the movie, Snow Sea, and I feel a little bit uncomfortable.”

On Park Shin Hye, with whom he had scandals, he said, “She was just a friend, like a younger sister. We′ve become distant since the rumors broke and we scarcely talk these days. When we used to get along, she was like my real younger sister to me, but now she′s all grown-up like a mature woman. I’m always supporting her.”

He chose also Jeon Mi Sun as his ideal type of woman.

“Since I was younger, I dreamt of a woman who is calm but strong and has an image of good wife and wise mother, and Mi Sun nuna perfectly fits my dream woman. When I met her in person in the drama, East of Eden, she seemed like she intentionally put a distance between us after she knew I thought of her as my ideal woman. But later I went to see her theater play One Night, Two Days with My Mom by myself and gave her flowers and cakes. Since then, she has become a close sunbaenim (senior) to me. Her daughter resembles her and is so pretty.”

Unfortunately, Park has suffered from legal disputes with his former agency over the last three years.

While he was gaining popularity with his drama, Hot Blood, he lost weight from 72kg to 65kg for a short time due to rumors related to his military duty exemption and conflicts and legal disputes with the former agency.

He said, “I couldn’t trust people. I just continued to lose weight. But my mother lost more weight than I. She must have had such a difficult time. But I could hold out thanks to my mother, sister, brother-in-law and my niece. I’m living with my mother for the first time in 17 years. I rented a house and my five-member family is living together."

"On New Year’s Day, my mother cautiously told me, ′Don’t you think you have to get married now?′ As I came to realize the importance of family and because I want to have a daughter like my cute niece, I started to feel I wanted to get married. But first off, I’ll focus on acting since I made a comeback and then I want to date someone if I can meet a nice person.”

He′s chosen Snow Sea as his next piece. He will be playing a swimmer who loves a terminally ill woman (Lee Young Ah).

“Interestingly, we stood on the same stage at Andre Kim’s fashion show. I met her for the first time then, but since then, we′ve become close after we treated the staff members of Snow Sea together. We had our first round at the pork hocks restaurant run by my mother and the second round at Lee Young Ah’s mother’s restaurant before going to a karaoke run by Lee’s uncle. All staff members were happy about our cooperation,” he said.

Last year, Park took over China with his drama, Marriage Story and is slated to take home the most popular Asian male actor award at the 2012 LETV Film & Drama Awards, which will be held on March 23 and will continue carrying out overseas activities while working in Korea.

He said, “I’m planning to hold fan meetings in Japan and China in February and March, and to make a comeback with a Korean TV drama around summer. I know I can exist as an actor thanks to my fans. I’ll try harder to be an actor who won’t let down my fans.”

Photo credit: Kim Byung Kwan

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Park Hae Jin 20120207 Snow Sea 20120207