K-drama star Kim Jisoo joins cast of Philippines film ‘Mujigae’
MANILA, Philippines — After appearing in the GMA action drama “Black Rider,” South Korean star Kim Jisoo has been cast in another Filipino project, “Mujigae,” the comeback film of Unitel Straight Shooters (UXS).
Formerly known as Unitel Pictures, UXS is the same entertainment company that produced “Crying Ladies,” “Santa Santita,” “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank,” among others.
In “Mujigae,” Jisoo plays Ji Sung, the biological father of the titular Fil-Korean character Mujigae (played by child star Ryrie Turingan). Aside from Ryrie, the film also stars Alexa Ilacad, Rufa Mae Quinto, Lito Pimentel, Donna Cariaga, Kate Alejandrino, Cai Cortez, Peewee O’Hara, Lui Manansala, Rolando Inocencio and Scarlet Alaba. They have yet to cast the Filipina mom Rainalyn. The movie is written by Mark Raywin Tome and directed by Randolph Longjas.
During the storycon and table reading for the film held yesterday, Jisoo’s character is described as the one that will “fill the missing arc for Mujigae — to (make her) feel that she was not abandoned and that she can be loved by her real father.”
“His presence will demonstrate the family’s capacity to forgive and unite for the child’s welfare and happiness,” the production further said.
During a brief interview on the sidelines of the storycon, Jisoo shared what attracted him to the project.
“I think it’s a unique movie… When you go to the cinemas, there’s a lot of funny movies, action movies, but when I read the script (for this one), I just thought, oh this is a unique script. These days, I have recently been watching family drama movies. I just want to try that kind of movie. A movie that can touch hearts. This movie is like that,” he said.
Jisoo also spoke about his co-stars, especially Ryrie. “They’re really good. I heard they’re good actors and actresses. I haven’t watched their scenes yet but I know, especially the main character, Mujigae, she’s the most important role in the movie, and I think she’s perfect. I’m very excited.”
The 30-year-old actor is looking forward to filming “Mujigae” this month. “For now, I just want to do challenging movies or series. This is also a kind of new challenge (for me) because I never tried acting as a dad before. Here, it’s my first time to be a dad. So maybe it’s kind of challenging, yeah.”
As preparation, he said he’s been watching films with similar themes. “I’ve been reading the script, and building my character… developing it with the writer and director. We have a lot of conversations on how to develop character-(related) things,” he added.
Jisoo said he’s been enjoying his acting experiences in Philippine productions because he also loves to travel. With “Black Rider” for one, he recalled taping in Antipolo. He noted that the “nature in the Philippines” is different from South Korea. At the same time, he said the country is already a “familiar” place to him because he previously had a fan meeting here. His first foreign friend is actually Filipino and the very first time he came to the Philippines was when he was 20 years old.
Jisoo’s acting career in the Philippines is being managed by Universal Records Philippines’ managing director Kathleen Dy-Go. In a previous e-mail interview with The STAR, the music label executive said, “With the help of Tatang Robin (Geong Seong Han, whose company founded P-pop group SB19) and his company SHOW Co. Ltd., we managed to see an opportunity for Kim Jisoo to showcase his skills and reinvent himself here in the Philippines while honing his English.”
Jisoo is expected to fly back and forth to the Philippines on a per project basis. “Now he’s with us (on this project). I’m sure he’ll have fun. I’m sure he’s gonna have other projects (in the Philippines),” said Maria Madonna Tarrayo, president and CEO of Unitel Straight Shooters.
Communication on set doesn’t appear to be a problem as Tarrayo said that the actor is “studying English, yun ang maganda, he’s also studying a bit of Tagalog also.”
Interestingly, one of the Tagalog words Jisoo has been repeatedly hearing — or at least on the set of “Black Rider,” which is coming to an explosive finale this week — is “Kinikilig.” His character is the Filipino-Korean fighter Adrian Park.
Earlier, this paper was told that the K-drama star, best known for roles in “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo” and “Strong Girl Bong-Soon, was a “crush ng bayan” among production staff and that GMA Public Affairs was “very open” to working with him again.
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