Korean actor Song Kang, star of the dramas “Sweet Home,” “Nevertheless,” “Love Alarm” and “Forecasting Love and Weather,” met Filipino fans on March 5 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Song Kang held his “Fun Meet in Manila” as an endorser of Deoproce, the skin care and cosmetics brand from Korea.
Korean actor Song Kang in Manila on March 5 (Jonathan Hicap)
Korean actor Song Kang in Manila on March 5 (Jonathan Hicap)
Korean actor Song Kang in Manila on March 5 (Jonathan Hicap)
Korean actor Song Kang in Manila on March 5 (Jonathan Hicap)
Korean actor Song Kang in Manila on March 5 (Jonathan Hicap)
The 28-year-old star was in tears at the fan meeting after a video containing messages of support and love from Filipino fans was shown.
“I did not really think I was going to cry at this fan meeting. I am surprised at that as well. I’m always thankful for all the support. I gained so much energy from all of you to be able to work. I’m so honored and grateful,” he said.
Hours before the fan meeting, Song Kang met the Philippine media during a press conference at the Marco Polo Ortigas Manila hotel.
At the press conference, he answered questions about his current projects, career, skin care, Manila and the fan meeting.
Song Kang has very good and clear skin, and he revealed how he takes care of his face.
“Right now, my routine when I wake in the morning is I will first cleanse and then apply a toner. Then I will apply a moisturizer followed with a sun cream. I think, of course, that skin care is very important but cleansing is also very important. So I make sure I put a lot of attention and detail into my cleansing routine,” he said.
Through Deoproce, Song Kang was given the chance to meet Filipino fans.
“I feel like I have been receiving so much love but I have not been able to give back. Because of the situation lately, I have not been able to come and see Filipino fans. Finally to be here and able to do that, I am very happy, I am a little nervous. I am very much looking forward to it and all of this is because of Deoproce. So thank you very much for making this possible,” he said.
Visit to the Philippines
Song Kang arrived in Manila on March 4 and tried Filipino dishes.
“I arrived at noon yesterday (March 4) and the first thing I wanted to do was to see the streets of Manila and I actually went out to get Jollibee,” he said, adding that he tried halo-halo, kare-kare and bulalo.
He added, “I think the streets of Manila are beautiful. I love the weather. This is the kind of weather that I like. It’s breezy and pretty cool. I like dried mango and I tried that. When I come back, if I have time to go places, I would love to go to Boracay and eat a lot of seafood and have a healing experience.”
Korean actor Song Kang at his fan meeting in Manila (Deoproce/Wilbros Live)
Korean actor Song Kang at his fan meeting in Manila (Deoproce/Wilbros Live)
Korean actor Song Kang at his fan meeting in Manila (Deoproce/Wilbros Live)
Career
Song Kang made his acting debut in the Korean drama “The Liar and His Lover” in 2017 and boosted his popularity when he starred in the Netflix horror series “Sweet Home” in 2020.
Netflix renewed “Sweet Home” for two more seasons and Song Kang revealed that he is now shooting the series.
In “Sweet Home” season 1, he played the role of Cha Hyun-soo, a high school student who moved into an apartment complex where monsters started appearing and the residents tried to survive.
Song Kang said his role in “Sweet Home” is currently his favorite.
“Right now I’m shooting ‘Sweet Home.’ In this show, we are shooting a storyline that is detached from reality. It is a character that I’m pouring a lot of time right now and a lot of energy. So right now the character that is closest to me is Hyun-soo in ‘Sweet Home,’” he said.
He did not reveal the details of seasons 2 and 3 but said “Sweet Home” season 2 will be on a “much bigger scale. If season 1 was the story of how these different people grew and matured, seasons 2 and 3 would be the story of these people who have grown and matured in the first season.”
His numerous appearances in Netflix projects led to Song Kang being called the “son of Netflix” and said he is grateful.
“Regarding the nickname ‘son of Netflix,’ I think this is fascinating. I am very grateful. It is like family because they have been with me since the beginning of my career. So everytime I go to Netflix to shoot for whatever projects that are ongoing, I am always enjoying my work with people who are very familiar to me. So I’m very grateful to this platform and that I get to work with Netflix so often,” he said.
He said whenever he watches a movie or drama, he always learns something from the characters.
“Whatever movie or drama I watch, there is always more than one thing that I learn from that kind of work. When I watch other movies or dramas, I always look how these actors communicate with one another, act going back and forth with each other, how they express their emotions. I always try to learn from what I see in other works that I watch,” he said.
Song Kang’s last drama project was “Forecasting Love and Weather,” which aired last year.
He said when he studies a role, “Overall what I think of is if this is me, what would I do?”
“Lately what I do is I try to record the lines of the other actors because I think about that interaction, the other actors’ actions, and how I would react to something like that. I would try to record the lines of the other actors and listen to it. I look at the scene before and after the one I will shoot so I can get a really good grasp of the emotions that I should be expressing at the time,” he said.
He does not have any specific role that he wants to portray in future projects but said his choice boils down to characters that he will enjoy portraying. </span>
“It is not so much a certain specific character that I would like to play but characters I can enjoy playing is my priority,” he said.
Song Kang has had success in many of his acting projects including “Sweet Home” and “Navillera” and said it happened because of the popularity of Korean dramas.
“I don’t think it is really anything that I did but because Korean dramas as a genre have been so popular and I kinda rode with that popularity. I think Korean dramas usually feature relatable topics so my shows like ‘Love Alarm,’ ‘Nevertheless,’ all of these are relatable shows. I’m grateful that I am able to be acting at a time like this,” he said.
With his good looks, Song Kang could easily debut as a K-pop idol.
During his fan meeting in Seoul last month, Song Kang danced to K-pop girl group NewJeans’ “Hype Boy.”
However, Song Kang said he does not have any dream of being a K-pop idol.
“No idol. I actually realized this when I was dancing to ‘Hype Boy.’ No, I cannot be an idol. I would have loved to, don’t get me wrong, but I’m incapable,” he said.
During his fan meeting in Manila, he danced again to “Hype Boy” to the delight of the audience.
Stars often face difficult times and Song Kang is no exception. Song Kang chose Kim Jong-do, the president of his agency, Namoo Actors, as the person he would talk to if he faced difficulty.
“It would probably be the president of his agency (the company that manages him). I feel like the people in the industry, they go through similar experiences, the people who can be outside in. The people in my agency, especially the president, who have observed me through the years and have watched my journey in my career,” he said.
Song Kang listed the things that make him smile amid hard situations.
“Number one would be the encouragement of the fans that puts a smile on my face no matter how things get difficult. The other thing I never forget what it was like when I was starting out [in my career]. I always go back to that foundation that I had. So I go back to my diary entries when I was starting out. And reading books that are related to these kind of subjects. That is how I keep myself happy,” he said.
The “Song Kang Fun Meet in Manila’ was presented by Deoproce and promoted by Wilbros Live.