Dramabeans » Lee Wan

Lee Wan reports for duty

javabeans — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:59:28 +0000

Actor Lee Wan headed off for his initial five weeks of army training on the afternoon of July 12, reporting at the Nonsan, Chungnam, training facility.

Born in 1984, Lee Wan is heading off to fulfill his mandatory obligation after one extension, which he’d been granted in order to be able to film his last drama, Swallow the Sun. At 26, he’s going a little earlier than many male celebrities who push back their service until the last possible moment at age 28, but note that this is still considered late for the average citizen. (Most men go off to do their service either after high school or university, so 28-year-old enlistees are actually the exception to the general rule.)

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Read the rest of Lee Wan reports for duty (241 words)

Stars weigh in on Swallow the Sun’s end

javabeans — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:33:15 +0000

Swallow the Sun was never on my radar — I tried really hard to understand what was going on, but Episode 1 made my head hurt — but it has performed well throughout its run. (The story went all over the place (Vegas, Africa, Jeju Island), but I suppose it must have worked, Episode 1 notwithstanding.) It didn’t break 20%, and I’m not sure the blockbuster-action-melodrama lived up to the hype of being “All In 2,” but it did cap off with a series high this week with a finale episode at 18.8%.

The drama allowed SBS to claim Wednesdays and Thursdays this summer, but it may have been more of a benefit to its stars than the station; the three leads credit the drama for taking them another step further in their careers. Ji Sung, Lee Wan, and Sung Yuri have raised their profiles another notch, and spoke about their feelings as the drama wrapped.

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Read the rest of Stars weigh in on Swallow the Sun’s end (673 words)

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Post tags: Ji Sung, Lee Wan, Sung Yuri, Swallow the Sun

Filming to resume for Swallow the Sun

javabeans — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:51:12 +0000

The drama’s lead, Ji Sung

The production of the new drama Swallow the Sun, which had recently been shut down after staffers came down with swine flu, is ready to get back to work: shooting resumes on July 11.

However, this will occur with one concession, which is an extension of the quarantine for the drama’s original crew members. According to instructions by the Center for Disease Control, staffers were to remain isolated at home until nighttime on the 11th. However, because of a relapse of the illness, the production has decided, in accordance with requests from those in Jeju Island and from the CDC, to extend its delay until the 13th. To work around this, new staffers will be brought in from Seoul to start filming on the afternoon of the 11th.

I agree with comments that the swine flu scare has generally been blown out of proportion, but I think the extended quarantine speaks to the public’s worries more than fears of actual contagion. As one production rep explained, “The team currently sequestered in Jeju Island will for the time being continue to be sequestered so as not to cause misunderstandings with the country’s citizens and Jeju residents.”

A pre-show special for Swallow the Sun aired this Wednesday, followed by Episode 1 on Thursday. I haven’t seen it yet (it’s downloaded, ready to be watched, though) but it pulled in a pretty decent first showing with a 14.8% rating, which beat out both Partner and Triple. But first episode numbers are often misleading, so we’ll see the real competition heat up next week.

Via Star News

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Post tags: Ji Sung, Lee Wan, Sung Yuri, Swallow the Sun

Swine flu interrupts production for Swallow the Sun

javabeans — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:45:06 +0000

Eep! The team working on SBS’s new big-budget Wednesday-Thursday drama Swallow the Sun has been hit by swine flu as four crew members have tested positive for the illness.

With only a day (and a half) left before its July 8 premiere, the production has been advised by health officials to prioritize the health of the public at large over its shooting schedule, and has decided to cut its planned July 7 production press conference.

The cast and crew had left for Las Vegas on June 14 for overseas shoots and returned to Korea on July 2. Among the staff, one member had been suffering from a cold and body aches before leaving on the trip, and still suffered from fever upon return. After being tested for swine flu, the results came back positive and the staffer is currently quarantined in Incheon.

Furthermore, the team that had traveled to film in Jeju Island last month reconvened with the team returning from the States to continue filming. After the first staffer tested positive, the rest of the crew submitted themselves for tests at a health clinic in Jeju and carefully resumed filming, accompanied by several medical professionals. However, results came back on July 6 confirming that three more crew members had tested positive for swine flu and filming has now completely stopped. Those three are receiving medical treatment in Jeju. The Swallow the Sun team is following the instructions set forth by the Center for Disease Control, particularly with regard to keeping separate from the general populace, and are confining themselves to their homes to keep worries at bay.

Meanwhile, the actors (which include Ji Sung, Sung Yuri, Lee Wan, Yoo Oh-sung) expressed some concerns over the production delay but said, “The drama is important, but more important is to put the people’s health first, so even if it hinders our production we’ve had to shut down.”

The producers are taking an optimistic line, saying, “We have shot parts already that can air, so the broadcast will proceed without problems. We plan to resume filming after this situation has passed, so don’t worry too much.”

Swallow the Sun will not hold its July 7 pre-show press conference, and will air a special on the 8th, followed by the first episode on the 9th.

Via TV Report

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Post tags: Ji Sung, Lee Wan, Sung Yuri, Swallow the Sun, Yoo Oh-sung

Swallow the Sun heads to Las Vegas

javabeans — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:37:26 +0000

Ji Sung and Sung Yuri are heading to Las Vegas for the latest shoots of their upcoming SBS drama Swallow the Sun [태양을 삼켜라] (aka the All In sequel).

The actors and crew left Korea for the States on June 16, and plan to shoot there for approximately two weeks. This is the drama’s second overseas location shoot, following their end-of-March trip to Johannesburg, South Africa.

In the drama, Sung Yuri plays a successful international concert/event planner, whose first job comes as part of the planning team at Vegas’ Cirque Du Soleil show. Co-stars Yoo Oh-sung and Lee Wan also traveled to the Vegas shoot, where all four characters meet and begin their “intertwining fates.”

Swallow the Sun is planning for 24 episodes and follows City Hall on Wednesdays and Thursdays in July.

Via Newsen

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Post tags: Ji Sung, Lee Wan, Sung Yuri, Swallow the Sun, Yoo Oh-sung

Swallow the Sun preps for July premiere

javabeans — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:16:28 +0000

Yoo Oh-sung

Swallow the Sun [태양을 삼켜라] has something of a puzzling name (imo), although I suppose it’s more evocative than the “All In 2″ it’s been dubbed (due to the reuniting of the PD and scriptwriter from the original All In). It’s also another of the highly anticipated summer dramas (although not so much for me), and will air on Wednesdays and Thursdays on SBS.

The drama features a pretty extensive cast list (see below), headed by Ji Sung (New Heart), Lee Wan (Insoon Is Pretty), and Yoo Oh-sung (Invisible Man Choi Jang-soo), who play close friends since their UDT (underwater demolition) training days. The ladies include Sung Yuri and Go Doo-shim.

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Read the rest of Swallow the Sun preps for July premiere (247 words)

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Post tags: Ji Sung, Jin Gu, Lee Wan, Sohn Hyun-joo, Sung Yuri, Swallow the Sun, Yoo Oh-sung

Happy endings: An adoption story

javabeans — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:22:31 +0000

Adoptee Soo-hoon (Sonny) with actor Lee Wan

Mea culpa.

I admit I’ve looked upon celebrity involvement in charity promotion and public campaigns with a skeptical eye, as I did in the original post featuring Lee Wan, above, who participated (along with Kim Rae-won and Lee Junki) in a campaign to raise awareness for the adoption of disabled children.

Well, I got an email this morning informing me that Soo-hoon, aka Sonny, pictured above with Lee Wan, was recently adopted into a loving family last month. The 13-year-old Sonny has Down Syndrome and grew up under the care of Holt International, and is now a happy resident in Iowa. Jake Krob, Sonny’s proud adoptive father, wrote up his adoption experience for an Iowa paper, which gives a moving account of the way Sonny came to be a member of the family. (If you don’t tear up, you can’t have a heart!)

When we’re talking stars who promote charitable organizations, you’ll inevitably get a segment of people scoffing that it’s all for self-promotion and image-conscious career calculation — like netizens backlashing against “donation angel” Moon Geun-young, or criticizing Choi Kang-hee‘s bone marrow donation as a PR stunt. But you know what? If a raised profile — no matter the motive — in any way helps to complete a happy family as in Sonny’s case, well, the rest of the bad stuff just falls away.

So, yes: snark reflex has been duly checked and noted.

Also: Anyone have a shortcut to Lee Wan’s management or PR team? I was able to pass along the general contact info for his management company (Logos Film), but if anyone’s got a better way to get in touch, please let me (and Jake) know!

Via Mt. Vernon Lisbon Sun

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Siblings team to sell Paris Baguettes

javabeans — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:22:15 +0000

Kim Tae-hee (Venus and Mars, Love Story in Harvard) is a current brand model for food company Paris Baguette, and she’s calling in family ties to get little bro Lee Wan (Boys Don’t Cry) involved for the new Christmas CF.

Both siblings expressed minor nervousness that they would come off awkward together, but were able to strike a relaxed atmosphere once filming began. The CF will start airing on television mid-month.

Via Asia Today

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News bites: October 20, 2008

javabeans — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:37:11 +0000

Actor Lee Wan (Insoon is Pretty) revealed on a Yashimmanman episode taped on October 20 that Kim Tae-hee (above) doesn’t look so hot when at home and that she’s prettier onscreen than in person. Spoken like a true kid brother out to annoy big sis.
East of Eden is killing in the ratings, with its latest episode on the 20th bringing in a hefty 29.7%. We’ll see if it can hold up against The World They Live In‘s premiere next week.
Unfortunately, Eden star Lee Yeon-hee (below) can’t catch a break. She’s been repeatedly criticized for poor acting, and now that extends to her pansori (traditional singing) skills. The 17th episode showed Lee’s character giving a pansori performance to the famous “Arirang” song, after which the drama’s homepage was flooded with scorn for her “embarrassing” and “inadequate” performance.
Newlywed Kwon Sang-woo has been picked as the second favorite in a Top 10 list of Asia’s young actors as chosen by Japanese female fans (part of Asahi TV program SmaSTATION). He came in behind Taiwan’s F4, stars of the Hana Yori Dango adaptation Meteor Garden. (3rd: Jay Chou, 4th: Song Seung-heon, 5th: Jaycee Chan, 6th: Lee Junki, and Rain in 10th.)
Moon Geun-young is back in action on the Painter of the Wind set after fracturing her nose during filming.
Speaking of which, Painter of the Wind is set to pick up more fans throughout Asia to add to its already lavish praise as a “perfect drama.” It has already made contracts exporting the drama to Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and now also Thailand.
“Kimchi western” film The Good The Bad The Weird won double awards at the Hawaii International Film Festival, taking home the Achievement in Acting award for Jung Woo-sung (who played “the good” to Lee Byeong-heon’s “bad” and Song Kang-ho’s “weird”), as well as the Maverick Award (ugh, that word gives me twitches) for director Kim Ji-woon.

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Post tags: East of Eden, Jung Woo-sung, Kim Tae-hee, Kwon Sang-woo, Lee Wan, Lee Yeon-hee, Moon Geun-young, news bites, The Painter of Wind

Press day for Boys Don’t Cry

javabeans — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:10:28 +0000

Lee Wan (Insoon is Pretty) and Song Chang-eui (Golden Bride) promoted their new film, Boys Don’t Cry, on October 14 at a somewhat unusual location for movie press conferences: an indoor pojangmacha (streetside food tents) in Seoul’s Cheongdam-dong neighborhood.

The film takes place in 1953 following the Korean War and two youths who lose everything and grow up quickly to survive in postwar conditions. Director Bae Hyung-joon perhaps didn’t seem the most obvious choice for the harsh realism of a wartime film — his previous film was the romantic comedy Don’t Believe Her — but he explained, “I enjoy coming-of-age films as much as I do the romantic comedy genre. Even if recent films depict adolescents in a dark, brooding way, they don’t compare to those who survived the war.”

However, he doesn’t describe his film as a re-creation of the war, but rather, “I aimed to take a look at people in adversity facing extreme conditions.”

Because of the subject of the film, the director needed his actors’ appearances to correspond to the poverty of the times, and actor Lee Wan thus slimmed down 6 kg for the role, even losing much of his muscle tone. Song Chang-eui likewise dropped 6 kg.

Boys Don’t Cry opens on November 6.

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Post tags: Lee Wan, press conferences, Song Chang-eui