Actor Lee Kwang-soo faces dilemma of playing same roles
SEOUL: After starring in the hit TV show ‘ Running Man’, actor Lee Kwang- soo, 31, has been typecast as a gung-ho fitness freak.
Only similar roles are coming his way.
His image on Running Man as the fun-lovng guy who is unafraid to take on ridiculous challenges is so strong that producers have cast him in roles with a similar character in dramas.
In the last few months alone, he has played an aspiring cartoonist in the web seriesturned-TV sitcom Sound of Your Heart, a B-list actor in the tvN series Entourage, and the protagonist‘s best friend in the period drama Hwarang.
While these roles have helped him further raise his profile, it is now much harder for him to break out of his typecast. We see him as the “guy next door,” who is funny and has a good heart, but in his case, is also awkward with unconventional looks and a lanky frame, at 190 cm tall.
“All three dramas were prefilmed, so we didn‘ t know when they would air. Somehow they all ended up airing around the same time, which kind of baffled us, too,” said Lee Jin- sung, CEO of the actor’s management agency KINGKONG Entertainment.
In another unexpected development, the cast and producers of Running Man agreed last week to end the show in February after a casting controversy triggered backlash from viewers. The decision was no small matter to the actor because as the CEO put it, the Lee Kwang- soo we know today was “made by” the hit programme.
“We‘re sad to see this happen because ‘Running Man’ was so well loved,” the CEO said. “But for ( Lee’s) acting career, we‘ve been thinking about when would be a good time to leave the show.”