Kim Min-jae of 'Dr. Romantic' strives to live with confidence

Television

Published: 21 Jun. 2023, 16:28 Updated: 21 Jun. 2023, 18:12

Kim Min-jae of 'Dr. Romantic' strives to live with confidence

Actor Kim Min-jae [YAM YAM ENTERTAINMENT]

We all strive to live with a little more romance in our lives, and for actor Kim Min-jae, that means living with confidence.

Kim recently wrapped up filming for the third season of “Dr. Romantic,” in which he has a supporting role as Park Eun-tak, a nurse who works at the hospital where the main events take place. Kim has played Eun-tak since the first season of “Dr. Romantic,” which aired in 2016.

“The title of our drama is ‘Dr. Romantic,’ and I thought a lot about what it is like to live romantically while filming this show,” said Kim during a group interview with local reporters at a café in Gangnam District on Monday. “I think to live romantically is to be brave and have faith in what you are doing every day. To look at the world with a little more kindness, and to not compromise on things that are wrong. Filming ‘Dr. Romantic’ has allowed me to reflect on these things.”

Main poster for the third season of ″Dr. Romantic″ [SBS]

As Kim has filmed the first, second, and third seasons of “Dr. Romantic” intermittently since 2016, he has had the time every three years to look back and reflect on whether he was living his life “romantically,” according to the actor.

“I would say I have tried my best to live out the message that our show delivers, but it’s hard at times,” said Kim. “But I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to look back at my life by filming ‘Dr. Romantic.’”

Although Kim showed his loyalty to the “Dr. Romantic” series by appearing in each season, those around him expressed concern that appearing in a supporting role at this point in his career could be detrimental, as Kim had built up a name as a leading man even before the series' first season.

Actor Kim Min-jae [YAM YAM ENTERTAINMENT]

“Lots of people around me were very worried that I was ‘going back’ to being a supporting character after I had managed to reach leading man status,” said Kim. “I had actually turned down a leading role in another series to film ‘Dr. Romantic.’ It was the right choice for me.”

It is unusual by any standards for an actor in his 20s to appear in a series across a period of seven years, as Kim has done with “Dr. Romantic.” Most dramas and series in Korea end after a 16-episode run, which is shot over a few months, and even when the work becomes a season-based series, supporting roles, in particular, get traded off to other actors.

Having had this unusual experience, Kim tried to portray his character in a more seasoned and mature manner.

Actor Kim Min-jae as Park Eun-tak in the third season of ″Dr. Romantic″ [SBS]

“In season three you see a lot of sides of my character Eun-tak that you have not seen before,” said Kim. “He looks different, for starters, from how he did in the previous seasons. We also reveal details about his past, where we see that Eun-tak had a turbulent past that contrasts with the composed manner he has now. I expressed this contrast and tried to highlight the changes he had gone through in this third season.”

“Dr. Romantic” is Kim's last drama before he begins the mandatory military service required of all able-bodied Korean men. The news was shared at the press conference for the third season of “Dr. Romantic” back in April, by Han Suk-kyu, who plays Boo Yong-joo, the titular Dr. Romantic.

Actor Kim Min-jae as Park Eun-tak in the third season of ″Dr. Romantic″ [SBS]

“I am not worried about serving,” said Kim. “I think it will be a good time for me to grow again so that I can reach the next level in my acting and also in my personal life, and I am rather looking forward to it. I was glad that Han took the initiative to break the news. After it went public everyone was treating me much more nicely and that was good (laughs).”

Regarding the possibility that “Dr. Romantic” will be extended once more to season four, Kim said nothing has been decided yet, but that it would be “an honor” to be invited back to another season of the drama series.

“I have learned so much from working with Han and working on this series,” said Kim. “I would gladly come back to shoot another season if it happens.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]