Rising Actor Won TaeMin Tells Us All About His Career, Why He Changed His Stage Name, & More | Exclusive Interview (Part 1)

When we think about new Korean actors that need even more recognition for their talents, the name of Won TaeMin comes to mind! Those familiar with the actor, you would agree about this.

Won TaeMin, formerly active under his real name Won HyungHoon, has melted fans’ hearts on screen with his charismatic on-screen presence, towering height of 187cm, and one of the most adorable smiles.

Korean BL’s fans fell in love with him through his main roles in “You Make Me Dance” (2021) as the debt collector Jin HongSeok and in the recent “Unintentional Love Story” (2023) as the part-timer and neighborhood troublemaker Go HoTae. His love line with Kim DongHee (played by Han DoWoo) sparked considerable interest among viewers.

“Unintentional Love Story” gathered popularity for its good story and good acting of the four leads. Despite being a recent release, the drama is often mentioned by global fans as one of their favorite BLs. It ranked number 6 out of all the Korean BLs produced until now in our recent survey. In Korea as well, the drama received a lot of attention and was one of the most talked about shows in April.

With “Unintentional Love Story”, Won TaeMin gained a significant amount of spotlight and new fans. But he also showcased his acting skills in non-BL dramas, appearing in supporting and guest roles in several popular dramas in recent years such as “Rookie Cops” (2022), “Why Her?” (2022), “Adamas” (2022), “Mental Coach Jengal” (2022) and “Queenmaker” (2023). He is also currently filming the drama “I, a Gangster, Became a High Schooler” with Yoon ChanYoung, Golden Child’s Bong JaeHyun, and Lee SeoJin, with the release date yet to be announced.

In addition to his acting career, he has also experience in theater and musicals. As a person, he is known for liking sports and travel (more about this later!). Furthermore, he is multi-talented as he even knows how to play piano, sing, and do Taekwondo.

As we know that the interest in Won TaeMin grows among global fans, Kpopmap reached out to him for an interview. We had the honor to meet him for an interview. During our conversation, we learned more fascinating facts about him so make sure to read the interview until the end.

It was on a hot Spring day that we met the actor. The bright sun was an auspicious sign that set the tone for our meeting with Won TaeMin. He arrived dressed in dark jeans and a blue and white striped shirt, which accentuated his tall, model-like figure. His charming fashion gave off an attractive vibe, you know the boyfriend material vibes (more about this here) which we all love.

Since we had the opportunity to take some great shots, we decided to create a few phone wallpapers for our readers to enjoy. These wallpapers feature stunning images of Won TaeMin that are sure to brighten up your phone’s home screen. Make sure to download them.

They say that you know when someone is a gentleman if they open the door for you … we can tell you that Won TaeMin did it! We could get that he was polite from the first moment of the meeting. When we interviewed him, he effortlessly created a friendly atmosphere, making it easy to ask questions.

To break the ice, why did you decide to order this strawberry smoothie? Is this one of your favorites?

I like strawberries the most out of fruits so I like drinks that have strawberries. Usually, when I go to the coffee shop, I order Ice Americano with Hazelnut Syrup or a drink with strawberry.

 

About Won TaeMin, a rising actor

In the last couple of years, you’ve been steadily receiving more popularity amongst K-Drama fans and that overseas as well. We are sure it is very meaningful for you. Actually, some fans might have been your fans from the time you were called Won HyungHoon (원형훈), like since “You Make Me Dance”. Since you are now not using your real name but your stage name Won TaeMin (원태민). Can we ask the reason behind this change? A lot of fans were curious about this change.

I like my real name, Won HyungHoon. But the pronunciation is difficult of the double syllables starting with [ㅎ] (the Korean equivalent of ‘h’). Like just now or with overseas fans, it is difficult to pronounce or some people remember me as YoungHoon. So since my name is a bit difficult, so I wanted to choose a name that is easier to approach and remember so I chose the name of TaeMin. I also wanted to keep using my family name. So I decided to go for the stage name: Won TaeMin.

As a rising actor, we can rightly assume you receive more acting offers. When picking a script or role, what are the deciding factors that make you choose a particular role?

When I receive the script, I read it from the beginning to the end right away. I think I pay a lot of attention to the flow of the script. Because if I read it with fun, I think I can show it nicely to the viewers. Also, I check if I can show this character nicely. If I can express it well with my charms.

 

About Won TaeMin, BL actor, and his projects

As a BL actor, do you have any favorite BL dramas (Korean or not)?

Since I should love the projects I was in (laugh), I would like to mention “Unintentional Love Story” and “You Make Me Dance”.

Your most recent work “Unintentional Love Story” is your 2nd BL drama. However, many fans may also know that you’ve played supporting roles in non-BL dramas as well. In comparison with your non-BL roles, is there any specific thing you do to prepare for your BL roles?

I feel there is no difference. I prepare very hard for both. BL is just a different genre so there is nothing specifically different in preparation. I feel I am preparing the same as an actor.

You have starred in various genres of dramas so far, including action, melodrama, rom-com, and thriller. In your filmography, you’ve played very different roles, including: a moneylender (“You Make Me Dance”), an athlete (“Mental Coach Jegal”), a rookie cop (“Rookie Cops”), a special agent (“Adamas”), a villain (“Why Her?”), a part-timer (“Unintentional Love Story”), and younger man (“Queenmaker”). What kind of roles would you like to play in the future? Which genre do you think suits your charms the best?

I would like to try a melodrama or a romantic comedy. I have been doing a lot of strong characters. So I want to do a softer character. Maybe something like a bright and youthful university student in a campus romance. I would like to act in ordinary roles such as in the movies, “On Your Wedding Day” (Korean movie) and “One Day” (non-Korean movie). Until now, I have only done characters with specific jobs or villains.

Speaking again on your BL roles. The chaotic banter between Go HoTae and Kim DongHee was one of the factors that made the drama “Unintentional Love Story” very entertaining. Some watchers even mentioned they prefer the 2nd couple over the lead. The four characters were amazing such as the chemistry between each of you. How did you get close with the other cast? Can you share some memorable moments you had while shooting “Unintentional Love Story”?

We meet really often, even before the drama started. Maybe like 10 times. I don’t think I’ve done it like this before. The four of us really met a lot. Our personality really matches well. So we practiced on our own and even hung out together. We are still meeting. Actually, we are even meeting tonight after the interview. The three of us because [Cha] SeoWon-Hyung enlisted for his mandatory military service.
We filmed a part of the drama in the city of Jeonju and once we were done with the filming, we all four went to a pretty place where you could see the night view. We walked there, had some beer, shared some deep thoughts, and talked about the difficulties of filming this drama like how we could improve ourselves. This is a memorable memory for me.

Go HoTae learned a bit of Spanish to appeal to Kim DongHee. So, you have a few sentences in the drama in Spanish. A lot of fans thought it was super cute. Did you learn Spanish before? How did you prepare for this?

I have never learned Spanish before. I actually traveled to Spain before and I love the country. I felt it was charming. For the drama, I practiced the pronunciation with the translating app Papago. I thought I should not look like I was a good Spanish speaker because HoTae is new to Spanish. So I tried to make it less perfect than a real native person, making him look like he was struggling a bit.

More about Won TaeMin’s travel to Spain in Part 2.

 

About Won TaeMin, as a person (part 1)

If you were to pick one of the characters in your filmography that shared some similarities with you in real life, who would it be?

I have a lot of similarities with HoTae (“Unintentional Love Story”) for his sincerity and with WooKyung (“Andante”) because I feel he is showing my student life. Also, most of my other characters were villains or strong characters so …

Go HoTae had quite a few tattoos, are you interested in them by any chance and if yes what would you like to do?

I did not really think about it before. Because I am an actor, I might have to show on screen some part of my body or it might show while doing an action scene. I feel like my body should be ready for these. So for now, I am not sure about it.

 

Spoiler for part 2!

One more gift for readers. Here is an exclusive picture of Won TaeMin’s daily life. It is a picture taken on the day he took his profile pictures for his agency.

Make sure to read the second part of our interview to learn about his travel overseas, his taste in foods, his future plans, special voice messages in English and Spanish, and much more!

 

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