Mousie's Kdrama Man of the Week - Park Shi Hoo

[dangermousie]

I am going to try doing something new. Let me know if it's a good idea.

The reason I love kdramas so is, in large part, due to their awesome leading men. So I thought I'd do a weekly post highlighting a different one of my favorites.



And the honor of being the first one in the series goes to...ta-dum...Park Shi Hoo.



Why? Because he's currently owning my heart (and hormones) in two very different dramas - the currently airing period romance The Princess' Man and the awesome 2008/9 family drama Family Honor. And also, he's ridiculously hot and rather underrated. So, here's to you, Park Shi Hoo!

Who: Korean actor who recently achieved bona fide leading man status. About time!

Most Awesome Thing: Has managed the nearly impossible feat of being the secondary guy who was so awesome that the drama got re-written so he ends up with the heroine not once but twice: once in How To Meet Your Neighbor and once in Queen of Reversals. Maybe that is why they finally gave up on sticking him in secondary guy roles.

Stats: Born in 1978 thus is old enough for Mousie to crush on and be done with his military service. Hooray!

How I discovered him: I went into Iljimae for Lee Jun Ki (who played the titular character) and without any knowledge of who Park Shi Hoo was. I emerged being utterly bored with LJK but utterly obsessed with Park Shi Hoo, who played LJK's tormented and angsty half-brother. I also found myself fervently wishing he'd get the girl instead, thus clearly setting myself up for a pattern of future PSH roles. And then I saw him be the awesome leading man in the equally awesome Prosecutor Princess and was set in my crush for life.

What to Watch Him In:

How to Meet a Perfect Neighbor (2007)



PSH plays a recovering alcoholic rich boy with an angsty backstory who ends up falling for the spunky heroine played by Bae Doona. Despite the fact that the originally planned OTP for her was the 'perfect neighbor' of the title, played by Kim Seung Woo and PSH was supposed to be a secondary guy, his sheer awesomeness managed to overturn the laws of kdramaland and he actually got the girl! (Warning - there are some tropes in this that bothered some of my flisties. I, otoh, ate them up).

Iljimae (2008)



To say this take on a period Robin Hood story is wildly uneven would be an understatement. If you are looking for a good drama in this trope, you should check out Vigilantes in Masks, Return of Iljimae (not relation to Iljimae), and Hong Gil Dong. Still, despite this drama's flaws, Park Shi Hoo steals the show as a repressed bastard son of an aristocrat who is looked down on and believes he's in love with his half-sister (she is not). I spent the whole drama wishing it was about him.

Family Honor (2008/2009)



I am currently halfway through this monster (54 eps) of a drama. PSH plays a ruthless businessman from an upstart family who falls in love with a traditional, upper-class widow. This is a family drama with many storylines, but it is their love story that is both the selling point and the dominant narrative. Even if PSH wasn't in it, I'd recommend this drama because it's one of the best-written dramas out there. The angsty, dysfunctional, mature OTP at the center of it all is the icing on the already perfect cake.

Prosecutor Princess (2010)



PSH plays the charming, shady lawyer who shows an oddly intent interest in Kim So Yeon's title character. I always describe this drama as "Mawang goes romcom", and the comparison fits - this drama is a mix of a number of genres - procedural, revenge, romcom, and yet somehow it works brilliantly. PSH and KSY make an off-kilter yet unexpectedly adorable OTP.

Queen of Reversals (2010/2011)



PSH takes on yet another secondary guy role. Or does he? He plays a rebellious playboy who was supposed to be a short stop on the heroine's journey to end up reconciled with her husband. Only he used a little of that PSH magic and, yet again, ended up being the secondary guy who stole the girl! It's freakishly rare for that to happen once in kdrama land, but twice? Unless you are PSH, don't even bother :P

The Princess' Man (2011)



Clearly realizing that sticking him in as a secondary guy is a lost cause, he is the lead in this one. He and Moon Chae Won play doomed, star-crossed lovers in this period romance. This is currently airing and is my drama of the summer/fall.

Pictorial Fun:

Note: I don't think PSH is particularly photogenic. OTOH, when he's on screen...*fans self*

































































OK, that took a while :)

FWIW, I am taking requests - you can post in comment if you want someone specific next time.

Comments

[troisroyaumes]

Ahaha, I am trying v. hard not to drool over this post. ^^

[vi]

Here as troisroyaumes had linked to your first The Princess's Man picspam. ^^ I appreciate this post a lot -- first encountered Park Shi Hoo in Prosecutor Princess and loved him to bits, so I'm VERY interested in checking out some of his other roles!

[iheartkleenex.livejournal.com]

GREATEST IDEA EVER!

You just made me more obsessed with him. He owns my heart at the moment as well. He has the most perfect smile ever!

I NEED MORE OF HIS DRAMAS IN MY LIFE! Unfortunately, I have watched them all so far. :(

Why couldn't I have been born as a korean superstar and get him to marry me!? XD

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I know! He is so vvvv underrated. He needs to make more dramas asap.

[iheartkleenex.livejournal.com]

I think he's getting more recognition now. The Princess' Man is doing really good so maybe it's the drama he needs to solidify his status as top leading man. At least, I hope that will be the case, because I will be really pissed other wise.

How about Bae Young Jun next? He was my very first korean star crush. He's still amazing to me.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I hope so. He's too good to be underrated.

Ahhhhm Yonsama. Mmmmmm.

[(Anonymous)]

@iheartkleenex,

You speak my mind and heart.

But I dont want to be a Korean superstar. I just want him.

[valmylove.livejournal.com]

OMGEEEEZ!!! love love this post! super duper idea!

I did see him in all drama except Iljmae...I just can't get into it... what ep should I start first or when he comes in??

Out of all of them Family Honor is his best for me! I am watching FH again because of all your posts!!

I am 'borrowing' some of those smexy pics of PSH!! Love that lipstick mark on him, that peekaboo left breast and that jacuzzi? bath? over apt complex??

dies!!!

how about Eric? Kang Dong Wan (the one in Duelist)? can I also a non korean, Vic Zhou? keke

[valmylove.livejournal.com]

And the First Pic too!!! I totally dig that scene!!! : P

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Iljimae is a bad drama, honestly. Can't remember which ep he comes in, tbh - I wish there was a version just with his scenes.

I think FH is my fave too, but Princess' Man might replace it.

Vic is my first and biggest drama love :) Mmmm, Eric. I liked KDW in The Duelist but that was the only thing I saw him in.

[fma245.livejournal.com]

Can you do Man of the Week for jdramas and twdramas?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

If I combine them - I don't think there are enough jdrama guys who I both love and have seen a lot of their stuff.

[sisterjune.livejournal.com]

Queen of reversals sounds interesting but its SO LONG. boo. I am back at school now too so no time for it but maybe one day. oh do hyun bin next! or jang geun suk or ji sung or cha seong won lol.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OMG Hyun Bin! My greatest kdrama love! All the rest of them sound awesome too except for CSW because out of three dramas I've seen of his, I only liked one :P

[hanjae.livejournal.com]

I really need to force myself to finish Perfect Neighbour one of these days; it was interesting to begin with and I liked Bae Doo Na's character, but then it became a total OMGWEEPFEST and I was left wondering how the tough, sassy heroine got replaced by a water faucet.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I live for angst so I liked it :)

[sinclair-furie.livejournal.com]

You know, I've been scrolling through my friends list all day and each time I've gotten distracted by him...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

LOL

[jennyhime.livejournal.com]

I haven's started to wath TPM yet, too scared to start crying my eyes out.
But I loved him and Bae Doona, they were so adorable. And Bae Doona's character was super quirky in a good way.
I never watched Iljimae with him, watched the other version instead.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Other Iljimae is much better.

[algelic.livejournal.com]

I love this post!^

Hmmmm... I've never seen any of his dramas. I wonder where I should start... suggestions?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think Prosecutor Princess is best bet - it's 16 eps and is complete.

[spunspider.livejournal.com]

ack, he's so cute. i still haven't seen any of his shows. i keep meaning to watch prosecutor princess; months ago i watched the first 5 minutes and then clicked off. but, soon!

these kinds of posts are a cool idea. you're such a drama veteran though, i think occasionally you should do drama-specific posts too, like, shows that aren't very well-known or haven't been seen by many?

[algelic.livejournal.com]

That's the "top 10 underrated dramas" thing she did!

Check out "Someday"!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I had a number of those

http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/tag/ten%20most%20underrated%20dramas
http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/1740337.html
http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/2088858.html
http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/2051824.html
http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/2153671.html
http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/2032645.html
http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/2028404.html
http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/1988097.html

but I really should do more.

[spunspider.livejournal.com]

well i ended up in a great many places from these links of yours and now (or, soon) i will watch biscuit teacher star candy. c: \o/ gong yoo oppa!

[miss-magrat.livejournal.com]

I don't think PSH is particularly photogenic. OTOH, when he's on screen...*fans self*

Omg, I know! Not bad looking by any means, but he's not the first Korean actor I would pick from a random lineup going by looks alone. It's fine anyway, cause the man has enough charisma on the screen for something like that not to matter at all.

Queen of Reversals was my latest PSH drama (I loved how they spent so much of the additional episodes on the OTP stuff - best used drama extension ever :P) and I cannot wait for The Princess' Man to be finished so that I can marathon it and die of heartbreak.

Btw, what were the Perfect Neighbor tropes that bothered people? I keep meaning to check it out but I'd love to know what to expect.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

His mother threatened suicide plus harming Bae Doona if he married her (since his mom is a murderer, plausible threat) so he begged BDN to be his mistress instead (and he'd go and marry arranged evil girl). Obviously, that didn't happen or anything but the fact that he asked and she temporarily said yes before coming to her senses was a big turn off for some people.

[december-clouds.livejournal.com]

He's smoking hot. Thanks for this post and the pictures.

Just reminds me I need to re-start Prosecutor Princess.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

PP is so good :)

:)

[(Anonymous)]

Omgash, I totally agree with everything you said. After finishing the Princess' Man, I craved for more again lmao. He always have a way for making me wanting more of him. Although I have to say, his other characters that he has played can never outbeat his character in Family Honor. He's just too HOT in there like seriously good looking, lmao. He looked healthy and fresh and the clothing that they picked for him was just wonderful. You can go back and watch and still think that he's hot even though the drama is pretty old now. All his dramas that I've seen, I always compare it back to FH even Princess' Man can't compare to this, that's how good FH was to me. Sad, I have always noticed how hot he was even though he played small roles or was the second lead, but they never gave him a main lead before. I'm like, how can a guy like this be so hot and still play the second lead even though he manages to still the screen all the time. All the more reason for me to be so happy that he is finally climbing up in the acting industry, he's too hot to play the second lead, that's like downgrading him. The first time I noticed him was in What Star Are You From, haha I never finished this drama but I did notice Park Shi Hoo in there, he was dazzling hot, too bad he didn't get the girl. Then my sis told me to go watch Family Honor and without thinking I was looking at the MV's and I got hooked. I'm like dang this dude is hot, so I decided to watch Family Honor and thank god I did because I totally fell in love with him after that. I've watched all his dramas and even his old ones haha, that's how much I love him. I'm so happy that How to meet a perfect neighbor and QOR was adjusted to make him the main lead, totally worth it. Park Shi Hoo Hwaiting, I hope to see more of you in the future, please come out with more dramas. :)

Re: :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heee. Yes yes yes yes.

Re: :)

[(Anonymous)]

Ditto here... i am hooked on PSH after watching the first few episodes of The Princess' Man and ended up watching all his old shows except for Let's Marry which I can't get online. My current favorite is Princess Man but I love him best in Family Honor, the story and PSH is worth the time spent watching. When he smiles, he just brings out the joy and happy feeling in me. Watching other Kdramas are not so fun nowadays cos of him... can't wait to see him in more dramas as the main lead.