HISTORY OF BAE YONG JOON .

HISTORY OF BAE YONG JOON ..  

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"To have him wear a pair of glasses as he looked too aristocratic....."

One day in the middle of October 1994, Mr. Ki Sang Jeon, a Producing Director at KBS, 

met Mr. Yong Jun Bae for the first time on the third floor of the KBS annex. At the time, Mr. Jeon had just finished producing the immensely popular 'Tomorrow, Love', a youth drama series. 

About to start a new project in 2 days, he was unable to find an actor to play the main character.He could not find an appropriate actor as he searched for a face with a gentle and simple image. In fact, he tested 3 candidates for the role, including a student from Seoul National University. Nobody had enough charisma to draw attention as a main character. 

One morning,he received a call from a nearby acting school, requesting him to test someone who might fit the description.Mr. Jeon remembers his first meeting with Yong Jun Bae: "As soon as I saw him, I felt right away that this was the very person I wanted." This encounter began the legend of Ki Sang Jeon. 

While Yong Jun says that he think upon Mr. Jeon as his father, it is Mr. Jeon who has created what Yong Jun has become today. Even as Yong Jun became a star overnight after his debut drama 'Salut d'Amour', Ki Sang Jeon, PD also created a solid reputation for himself as a 'star maker' with this drama. Mr. Jeon had created Yong Jun's gentle image and enhanced his bright smile. "He was really good looking. He was tall and looked aristocratic. But it was a fault that he looked too aristocratic. As he looked to be too rich, I had him wear a pair of plastic glasses." The plastic glasses thus became a trademark of Yong Jun Bae.Mr. Jeon had Yong Jun wear well-coordinated and well-designed but modestly priced costumes to create the impression of intellect as well as sensitivity. He also paid special attention to the background music for the scenes in which yong Jun appeared.Additionally, he commercialized Yong Jun's bright smile, which was his most attractive point. "I was attracted to his smile when he entered my office. I decided to cast him because I liked his bright smile so much", said Mr. Jeon.Yong Jun Bae became a teen idol following his first drama.Many people, however, frequently mistook him for the younger brother of a comedian named Yong Man Bae. The epic drama, which made him a household name was 'A Sunny Place of the Young', a weekend drama, which aired at the end of 1995. In that drama, he played Suk Ju, an heir to a rich family. Mr. Jeon also pulled strings for him to land the role by recommending him strongly to his colleague, Mr. San Jeon, PD.With the great success of this drama, Yong Jun's fame skyrocketed.He was flooded with numerous offers for dramas and commercials. YONG Jun made every decision only after a sincere consultation with Mr. Jeon. Mr. Jeon advised Yong Jun and he followed his words faithfully: "You'd better choose the commercials which fit your image, regardless of money." Yong Jun also showed his faith in Mr. Jeon's judgment, only appearing in Mr. Jeon's production or the dramas he recommended.After the sensational success of 'A Sunny Place of the Young', Mr. Jeon felt that Yong Jun needed to change his image. He had Yong Jun play a psychiatrist in the drama game 'The Six Steps Toward a Separation' to try a serious acting. 'A gentle sharp and intellectual man', an image which has been always associated with Yong Jun Bae, was completed by the drama 'Papa'. also directed by Mr. Jeon. Mr. Jeon said he felt sorry that he had limited Yong Jun's image so he gave yong Jun a chance to display his inherent manliness and toughness in his next production, 'RPG', which was to star Hee Sun Kim.How does Mr. Jeon assess Yong Jun Bae? "Yong Jun is a very brilliant actor.He knows very well how to show his strong side. He always shows the very expression I want from him in every close-up scene.""Mr., Soo Chul Lee, manager, who assumes a protective role for Yong Jun Bae....."There is an another major player in Yong Jun's success story. Mr. Soo Chul Lee, Yong Jun's manager and guard, played a role only second in importance to that of Mr. Jeon, PD in creating Yong Jun's image. Mr. Lee is 2 years older that Yong Jun. After they happened to meet at the production site for 'A Sunny Place of the Young', in November 1995, the befriended each other as they lived in the same area (Myungil-Dong, Kwangdong-Ku) and as they shared the same circle of friends.At the time, Yong Jun was going through a lot of trouble with his manager, Mr. Tack Ki Shin, who lacked managerial experience andmade conflicting schedules for him. When Yong Jun offered Mr. Lee a managerial job, he readily accepted it. As they were close in age, they maintained good communication. The fact that they both were crazy about snowboarding drew them closer.After making daily rounds to broadcasting stations, newspaper companies, and Choongmoo-Ro* (*Korean equivalent of Hollywood), in order to gather information about the entertainment world, Mr. Lee would visit Yong Jun at his production locations and share the information with him. He was a sort of 'gatekeeper', providing information about the entertainment world to Yong Jun, including the latest news on new movies and dramas being planned.In addition to being Yong Jun's informant, Mr. Lee also assumes an unpleasant role as he needs to reject 90% of the offers, which Yong Jun receives daily. People frequently say harsh words to him. The best way is to reject them without hurting their feelings. 

"If both the manager and the actor try to stay alive, both will die. A manager has to sacrifice himself to keep an actor on top."Yong Jun Bae maintains dominance in their relationship. While Mr. Lee gives in to Yong Jun's choices of roles in movies and dramas, his opinion tends to prevail when it comes to choosing CF appearances. Mr. Lee shares his management strategies: "you cannot reveal everything yong Jun has. You should show a small portion of his assets, keeping the audience curious about the actor's other facets. That's why Yong Jun refuses to appear in shows and talk shows in which his true nature is exposed."When asked how he has been managing Yong Jun's attractive points, he replied that "Yong Jun's attraction is the fact that he has '1000 faces'. 

His fans are only familiar with a very tiny aspect of him. My duty is to hide the rest of his faces.""Aristocratic Star, Yong Jun Bae. However, his past is full of bad luck and tears.. "Yong Jun Bae, who enjoys the greatest popularity in the entertainment world, commented for the first time about his extreme hardship prior to his debut.He made public for the first time that he spent many days full of ill fortune and tears in his past, difficult to imagine from his outer appearance.He said that the turning point in becoming who he is now was his father's (Mr. Young Jin Bae) business failure when yong Jun was in 11th grade. He had to make dramatic changes in his life after his father failed in the cattle business.Even though he wanted to pass the bar examination and become a government administrator when he was attending Hanyoung High School, his family's new economic hardship forced him to give up college and get a job.As he had such outstanding looks, he found work at a movie production company. However, he only had trivial positions as an extra or as a minor production assistant. Although he aspired to be the "Woody Allen of Korea", he had to content himself in the periphery of the entertainment world.

Thanks to his attractive looks, he was very popular amongst the ladies. He was particularly attracted to one woman, a coordinator, who rejected him because he wasn't famous enough. Under pressure to become a popular actor, Yong Jun separated from that woman. Afterwards he made sure not to have any more girlfriends and even thought about leaving the entertainment field.Mr. Shin, his ex-manager, saved him. He absolutely believed that Yong Jun would be a top star one day and he got him a role on 'Salut d'Amour' on KBS-2 TV, which became Yong Jun's first step to becoming the star.Yong Jun Bae recalls: 

"As I was the only son, I felt a great responsibility for my family." He went on to say that, "Although I came through a difficult time after my father's business failure, I think I made an excellent choice to enter the entertainment industry." It still breaks his heart that he lost his beloved girlfriend due to lack of fame.He is said to be a severe miser. He never keeps more than 30,000 Won in his wallet and does not carry credit cards. He did, however, present his parent with the gift of an apartment.

"If you try very hard to live an honest life, good fortune will come." says Yong Jun as he assures himself that 1997 will be a brighter year of his own.