TV
Kang Ki-young, he can be both a melodrama and a villain.
In the JTBC Wednesday-Thursday drama 'The Awesome Fixer' (written by Jeong Hee-sun/directed by Park Jin-seok/produced by How Pictures, Drama House, SLL), he is playing the role of 'Dong Ki-jun', a dogged lawyer who never lets go once bitten, and the former lover of Sarah Kim (Lee Ji-ah). Kang Ki-young is expanding his acting spectrum with his rich filmography.
Kang Ki-young, who debuted in the 2009 play 'Bad Magnet', attempted his first TV acting in the 2014 drama 'High School King', and appeared in the dramas 'Oh My Ghostess', 'What's Wrong with Secretary Kim', 'Terius Behind Me', and the movies ' He appeared in many works such as 'Your Wedding', 'Exit', and 'The Most Ordinary Romance' and made a mark with his licorice acting that brought the characters to life in a pleasant way. Later, in the 2019 drama 'Moment of Eighteen', he played the role of 'Oh Han-gyeol', the only adult of the children at Cheonbong High School, and although he was an inexperienced beginner teacher, he gave a heartwarming experience by depicting him growing up with the children.
For him, the drama 'Weird Lawyer Woo Young-woo', which aired in 2022, was a big turning point. In 'Weird Lawyer Woo Young-woo', Kang Ki-young played the role of 'Jung Myeong-seok', a senior lawyer at Hanbada Law Firm, and played the role of a reliable guide to Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin), showing such a perfect performance that it was called 'Kang Ki-young's rediscovery'. The cheerful yet serious charm of 'Jung Myeong-seok' portrayed by Kang Ki-young in the play caught the attention of viewers, and his ad-libs at the right time attracted attention and were loved so much that he was given the title 'sub dad'.
Next, Kang Ki-young took on a unique challenge by playing the role of the absolute evil 'Hwang Pil-gwang' in the 2023 drama 'Uncanny Rumors 2: Counter Punch'. As the main villain who leads the play through this work, even though it is a genre drama with fantasy elements, he perfectly implemented all elements of 'Hwang Pil-gwang', including his styling, eyes, tone of voice, and dialogue, sending shivers down the spine. In this way, the unfamiliar but fresh appearance that broke away from the existing image made us realize Kang Ki-young's wide acting spectrum.
Among these, Kang Ki-young is currently proving his limitless acting spectrum by playing the role of romanticist 'Dong Ki-jun' in 'Awesome Fixer', playing the first romantic male lead with excellent performance. He serves as the 'business partner' of Kim Sara, his former lover whom they reunited with after 9 years, and shows in detail the mature Dong-Jun Dong-Jun who silently stands by her side rather than forcing her to love him. In particular, Dong-Jun's style of flirting makes not only Sarah but also viewers' hearts flutter, while his honesty in actively revealing his feelings without being able to control his feelings for Sarah makes their relationship even more affectionate. In addition, Kang Ki-young's 'melodic eyes', which complete Dong-jun Dong-jun's pure love, are heating up the romance even more and stimulating excitement.
In this way, Kang Ki-young's filmography is expanding into 'transformation' and 'challenge'. Anticipation is growing as to what kind of filmography Kang Ki-young will fill, a 'character digestion' that allows one to encounter a variety of emotions through various genres such as romance, action, human, comedy, and fantasy.
Meanwhile, JTBC's Wednesday-Thursday drama 'Awesome Fixer' starring Kang Ki-young airs at 8:50 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Ryu Ye-ji, Ten Asia Reporter ryuperstar@tenasia.co.kr
