Actor Kim Rae-won talks about chemistry with actress Park Shin-hye in ‘Doctors’

SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) — Kim Rae-won, hero of the just-ended medical series “Doctors,” has confused some viewers regarding whether he was in a relationship with actress Park Shin-hye in real life with his way of looking at her in the drama.

And now he has opened up about the on-screen chemistry he shares with his co-star Park.

“We cannot but have good chemistry because she really cares about an actor who plays the opposite role,” the 35-year-old actor said during a news conference for the SBS series at the SBS headquarters in Mokdong, southwestern Seoul.

“There are actors who care only about their roles. But in this drama, Shin-hye and I were all open to each other and thus had no other option but to show good chemistry,” he said with his trademark bright grin.

“Acting cannot be done alone. In that sense, I think Shin-hye is a really clever actress,” he added.

“Doctors” depicts a coming-of-age story of Yoo Hye-jung (Park Shin-hye), a female high school bully who slowly changes, influenced by her supportive new homeroom teacher Hong Ji-hong (Kim Rae-won). Years later, they meet again as doctors in the neurology department of a hospital and fall in love.

Aired in South Korea from June 20 through Aug. 23, the 20-episode drama has garnered an impressive viewership of around 20 percent on average. The viewership was the highest among all dramas shown simultaneously at 10 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Actor Kim Rae-won

When questioned about if he felt uncomfortable in acting out a romance with the young actress who is nine years his junior, his answer was “No, not at all.”

“Park and other junior actors rather felt comfortable with me and treated me like their brother who is a few years older than them. So everything went naturally without having to discuss much about how to act.”

But he confessed that he changed his hair style to look much younger than his actual age.

After the show’s success, Kim said he is now happier than ever with the massive arrival of TV commercial offers.

“I’m really happy because viewers loved the drama very much,” he said, adding that he now wants to do another show like it if he can.

“Doctors” was his first melodrama in five years after “A Thousand Days’ Promise” in 2011. He next starred in the 2014 SBS TV legal thriller series “Punch,” in which he played a prosecutor who learns he has a brain tumor and just six months to live.

He then explored the role of an edgy complicated tough guy in the gangster film “Gangnam Blues” (2015) co-staring Lee Min-ho.

But such characters did not create as much buzz from viewers as when he radiated the amicable Prince Charming image he is known for.

He made his debut in 1997 through the drama “Me” and since then has played romantic heroes in such hit dramas like “Rooftop Room Cat” (2003) and “Love Story in Harvard” (2004), and films like “… ing” (2003) and “My Little Bride” (2004).

“I didn’t mean to avoid romantic comedies but just wanted to do something new and interesting.”

Since he had not done any medical dramas before, he wasted no time in accepting the casting offer for “Doctors” as soon as he read the script.

But as he shifted to the drama right after finishing the filming of a local movie, he confessed that he had no time to fully prepare for the role.

“I want to do a doctor character once again, in a really professional way next time. If I had more time, I would have visited an operating room to watch how doctors work,” he said.

Actor Kim Rae-won