Written by: withJS Philippines
Why 14 and not 15 to be exact in counting? What’s with the number 14? What makes September 14 special among the other days?
Most of you will ask the importance of that certain date. As a Korean drama fan, and happened to watch Pinocchio, W-Two Worlds, or While You Were Sleeping, you already met one of the best faces in K-Drama land, and his name is Lee Jong Suk who was born 31 years ago (32 years in Korean age).
To join his worldwide fandom in celebration of his birthday, we listed 14 things you need to know more about Lee Jong Suk. Fourteen reasons why you have to stick and wait for him until his release on his military service.
JS FACT #1: He was part of Korean male model—turned—actor
He started in the entertainment industry as a model at the age of 15. Lee Jong Suk was the youngest male model of the Seoul Collection program who worked with several top Korean designers for 6 years.
JS FACT #2: He was once a K-pop trainee
He is a former SM Entertainment trainee. He trained for 3 months as a rapper for an idol group called ‘Real’, but then he quit after the agency broke its promise to debut him as an actor.
Moreover, he debuted as an actor in the 2010 SBS drama titled Prosecutor Princess. After that, his acting career started to build a sturdy success that made him one of the well-known actors in this generation.
JS FACT #3: Eldest in the family
He has a younger brother (2 years younger than him) and a younger sister (4 years younger than him). His younger brother joined him in managing his businesses such as Café 89Mansion and AMan Project, and was left as top honcho when he enlisted last march 2019.
JS FACT #4: He already visited Philippines
One of his movies, No Breathing, was filmed on the now closed Marco Polo in Davao City (so it’s his 2nd time to visit the Philippines during his 2018 Manila Crank Up Fanmeet). Unfortunately, Marco Polo closed its doors last June 2020 due to pandemic.
JS FACT #5: Rain and Kang Dong Wan as his role model
One of his inspirations to become an actor was Jung Ji Hoon also known as Rain, who is one of the very first Oppa we knew. They acted together on the 2012 movie, R2B: Return to Base. He was inspired to act by watching Rain performed in Full House.
Lee Jong Suk also considered Kang Dong Wan in Temptation of Wolf as his role model. He made up his mind to become an actor after he saw Kang Dong Won smiling in the said movie. So, he registered to a company, only to get started into modeling instead.
JS FACT #6: Graduated with flying colors
Lee Jong Suk attended Konkuk University and studied Bachelor of Arts in Cinematography and Graduate School of Art and Design. He was a top student, and one of the 2,220 students out of 21,268 who passed the entrance examination.
JS FACT #7: A coffee person
He is a bad drinker (he can’t handle alcohol). Lee Jong Suk prefers to hang out at a coffee shop having a good chat with his friends, that’s why he started his business, Café 89Mansion.
However, due to the pandemic, he was forced to stop the operations of his café. It will be permanently closed on September 14.
JS FACT #8: His ideal girl
Lee Jong Suk’s ideal type: “If I had to pick among celebrities, Lee Na Young is the closest to my ideal woman. I chose her previously and she still is my ideal type.”
When asked why, he stated, “I really like Lee Na Young’s distinctive talking style. It’s very charming.” So, it’s a dream come true acting with her on his last drama, Romance Is A Bonus Book, before he enlisted in the military.
JS FACT #9: He’s friends with Dara
He appeared in 2NE1’S 2009 music video, I Don’t Care playing as Dara’s boyfriend. His gorgeous profile is also highlighted in the music video of Love Is by Davichi.
According to Davichi, “We were listening to this song we thought it would be good for a male lead to feature in the music video. He fit so well with the image so we asked him. We asked him to start with just listening to the song, but the minute he heard the song he said okay to our request.”
JS FACT #10: LJS and KWB: Best friends thru thick and thin
One of his closest friends in the industry is Kim Woo Bin. Both of them modelled and pursued acting. They acted together in School 2013 which catapulted their acting careers. In this drama, we were invested in the bromance arc of the show, and was thoroughly addicted to their story.
Fun Fact, the role of Lee Jong Suk in Pinocchio as Dal Po was initially offered to Kim Woo Bin, but he had to turn it down due to the conflict of schedule.
JS FACT #11: Self-doubting once in a while
He was a little bit jealous of Park Hae Jin, his co-star in 2014 medical drama, Doctor Stranger. He shared, “I was awed by his good looks and taste in fashion… Watching the recordings for each scene made me realize that Park Hae Jin was way too good looking. It made me feel inferior.”
JS FACT #12: Variety man
He embraced his shyness in front of the people by working as an emcee with IU on a variety show titled Inkigayo. He was also featured together with Kim Woo Bin on the Running Man (you may want to see his sweet escapade with Song Ji Hyo).
The funniest variety episode he starred in, is Hwasin/Incarnation Episode 16 with Lee Bo Young and Yoong Sang Hyun. In this variety show, you can see his bucket of sweats when it was focused on him.
JS FACT #13: Afraid of attention
He suffers from Scopophobia, which means fear of getting attention. The moment people gather in large numbers and pay attention to him, the actor becomes nervous.
In fact, whenever he attends press conferences, he is seen wiping off his sweat. He looks all fine when he arrives for an event including press conferences, but as soon as he sees the number of people increasing around him, he instantly gets nervous and tries to evade the camera as he wipes off his sweat.
JS FACT #14: Multi-awarded actor
Year 2013 made him one of the celebrated Korean Drama Actor with a total of 9 awards, which includes Drama Actor Award, Best Couple Award, Style Icon Award, Cultural Arts Award to name a few.
He was also named as one of the four big Hallyu stars along with Kim Soo Hyun, Lee Min Ho, and Kim Woo Bin. Because of the Hallyu stars banned in China, he still has an un-released Chinese Drama, Jade Lovers.
These 14 facts are not enough to show how wonderful this guy is. Amidst all the facts about Jong Suk, the first thing that comes into our mind is that Lee Jong Suk is just like us.
There are things that make him a celebrity and there are also things that make him just an ordinary person. He got a lovely soft quality that makes us think he’d be lovely and warm as a person.
He’s interesting, talented, and sometimes unique in his own way. With 10 years in the industry, he shows how talented and dedicated he is on his craft. Going back on his 31 years of existence, all in all, Lee Jong Suk is a pretty special kind of guy, isn’t he?
Here’s to a happy 31st birthday, Happy Birthday Lee Jong Suk! 생일 축하 이종석, cheers!