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K-Star: Daniel Henney


From Korea Times
07.04.2005
By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter

classcenterDANIEL HENNEY—FROM MODEL TO NATIONAL HEARTTHROBclasscenterImageclassblockquote"I definitely want to keep Korea a part of my life, permanently."


It’s official. Daniel Henney has reached heartthrob status in Korea. The latest proof is a 40-line poem going around the Internet in rapturous praise of the Korean-American actor and model.

"A perfect combination of East and West,’’ the author writes. "Clean-cut features, a perfect body and innocent smile/ Even my biggest foe English seems friendly when spoken through his beautiful lips/ I wonder what his mother did for prenatal care.’’

What has brought on such words of devotion is Henney’s character in the wildly popular television drama "My Lovely Samsoon.’’ The MBC drama recorded a 41.7 percent viewership on Thursday, becoming the highest-rated soap opera this year, according to TNS Media Korea.

Henney plays Henry Kim, a doctor in the United States who treats Hee-jin, one of the main female characters, who is suffering from cancer. As Henry Kim speaks only English, his dialogue always comes with Korean subtitles.

However, the language barrier hasn’t stopped his fans from demanding he get a bigger role in the drama. His personal blog on Internet (www.cyworld.com/danhenney) gets more than 20,000 hits a day, crowded with his fans’ messages in English.

"Everything happened so quickly. It all happened in two-days time after the drama was aired. I just love it. I am really flattered,’’ Henney, 26, said during an interview last week in Chongdam-dong, Seoul.

Like his character in the drama, Henney comes from a multinational background. His mother is a Korean-American adoptee and his father British-American. Adopted before the age of 1, his mother speaks no Korean.
classfloat-right
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In the drama, it is implied that the mother of Henry Kim is also an adoptee.

"I just think that when you have an American person or someone who has a different cultural influence comes in it’s interesting for people to see,’’ Henney said. "Maybe I stand out because of it. Just the way I act in general, I think, is a bit different.’’

Henney describes his character in the drama as "really nice and really kind.’’ "I think it’s refreshing for people to see that. It gives, especially for women, something to look at.’’

In the drama Henry Kim is devoted to Hee-jin, played by Chung Yeo-won, even though she is in love with someone else. Instead of pressuring her to return his affections, Henry is always there to help her.

The actor said he could understand Henry’s actions. "It just depends how much you love someone. I definitely think it’s possible,’’ he said, adding that he himself was in a similar situation in the past.

Henney may be a newcomer to the Korean entertainment scene, but he is already a celebrity in other Asian countries. He has modeled in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan and has numerous fan clubs in those countries.

But before becoming a model, Henney said he was an introverted young man living in a small farming town in Michigan who loved basketball. His passion for the sport—and his height—led him to receive a basketball scholarship into the University of Illinois in Chicago. There, he received a degree in business communication and a minor in theater. "I used to be scared to speak in front of people so I decided to take communications as a major,’’ he said.

Henney’s modeling career started in the U.S. in the summer of 2002 by accident. An agent saw him in a parking lot, where he was in a car waiting for his friend to come out a model audition.

Since then he has been working as a model in the U.S. and various Asian countries and has participated in the Paris and Milan Fashion Collections. While modeling, Henney also studied acting at the Deena Levy Theater Studio, a renowned acting school in New York, where he also performed numerous off-Broadway plays.

After his debut in Korea last year with an advertisement for the men's cosmetics line Odyssey, he made commercials with actress Jun Ji-hyun for Olympus digital cameras and with actress Kim Tae-hee for Klasse air conditioners.

Henney was at the airport on his way back to the U.S. when Kim Yoon-chol, the producer of "My Lovely Samsoon,’’ called him. "After getting an offer, I went to the U.S. and sent my videotape showing my acting performances,’’ he said.

According to Henney, the hardest part about the drama is the late nights. "There’s one scene that I had with Kim Sun-a (who plays the main character Kim Sam-soon) in which she was speaking in French to me. We shot that at 4 o’clock in the morning. The next morning we came back and finished the scene. It is hard because sometimes you shoot something 2 o’clock in the morning and the very next morning at 7 or 8 you have to continue the same scene,’’ he said.

But while the work is hard, Henney says it’s also a lot of fun, giving the shooting of one recent argument scene as an example. "Yeo-won as Hee-jin had to get really mad in the scene. So she was picking up Kleenex box and was throwing it.

"But the cover-on was made of metal. The first time she hit me directly in the stomach. It hit me so hard and bad. So I said ‘Huk, Jamkkanmanyo (Wait a moment)’ and I just fell out of the camera. And the next time she hit me in the arm. So the next time I took a box cover, you know the piece of metal, to protect my pants (and) to protect myself.’’

Henney has been in Korea for just a little more than three months, but he says he "strangely feels at home’’ here.

"Because of my language, English, I was building myself in America, working all over the world, because I did not know I had a chance here,’’ he said. "Korea was the last Asian country that I came to. I think it was meant to be that way. Honestly, I needed to feel everything else and I wasn’t necessarily happy with other countries and finally came to Korea. Good fit. My mother is really happy too.’’

Although his mother can’t see the drama in the United States, Henney said he will send her DVDs.

"I am so proud that this is my heritage. It wouldn’t be the same if it was Japan or somewhere else,’’ he said. "I want to be true to both sides of my heritage. I definitely want to keep Korea a part of my life, permanently.’’

After the drama, he plans to pursue movies in both Korea and America. He has currently pending auditions with American moviemakers.

"I want to break through. It’s so hard for Asian actors to break through fully. But we are slowly making a way and I think it’s time. I have to have the right support behind me. I would also like to keep working here. Korean people are so amazing. The products, the movies that they make are such good quality. I would love to be the part of it,’’ he said.

He also said he wished to break stereotypes about models-turned-actors by continuing to challenge himself.

"There’s a lot of typecasts when you’re a model, someone who is supposed to be good-looking or whatever. (People assume) you are not going to be able to act and think that you’re always going to play the lover, and I don’t want to do that. I want to play many different roles and prove that I can do it,’’ he said.

As for the song in praise of him, Henney couldn’t contain his amazement. "I saw it on the Internet too. I can’t believe that someone actually took the time to do it.’’

Despite his basic Korean skills, he said that he had it translated for him to completely understand it.

"I can read Korean and understand it about 50 percent. But it’s really hard for me to speak and form sentences yet. Before I speak out, I like to make sure that I can do it properly, not to make a fool out of myself.’’ He added he spends most of his spare time studying Korean these days.

"Fans are so sweet. They run up to me and speak English to me. You know you don’t have to speak English to me cause I can understand Korean basically. It’s amazing that here in Korea, once they like someone, they are so dedicated to the person. And there are these people who write me and are just so enthusiastic about what I do. I am so thankful. I am just blown away by it. I would like to meet the girl who wrote the poem. I wish to meet everyone who write me if I could.’’
Well, it's truly refreshing to know he isn't just another pretty face....

Last edited by nchristi, 8/24/2005, 4:35 pm
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ccwf Profile
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From the story, it sounds like Daniel speaks more Korean than his mom, now.

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fairyan Profile
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ABC: Lost


This may be a bit off topic, but there are two Korean stars (Kim Daniel Dae & Kim Yun- jin) starring in an American ABC show called Lost.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/bios/index.html

Indeed, Asians are appearing on screen more often; I'm totally pyched. ImageImage

Btw, how long has he been learning Korean? I've been trying to learn for a month and a week but I'm hardly getting anywhere. Image What type of materials does he use to study? And where are they sold in Southern California? (Korean soap operas inspired me to learn. The fact that the subtitles are sometimes "bland" encourages me to learn more. emoticon)

Last edited by fairyan, 8/25/2005, 4:56 pm
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Re: K-Star: Daniel Henney


He's my role model. I'm like him in the language department except it's chinese.

I think cuz he knows korean but he hasn't spoken it so he forgot it but it'll be easier for him to pick up. Korean is easy to learn, I think. Go to korean school!! haha
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Re: K-Star: Daniel Henney


classblockquotelazibratt wrote:

He's my role model. I'm like him in the language department except it's chinese.

I think cuz he knows korean but he hasn't spoken it so he forgot it but it'll be easier for him to pick up. Korean is easy to learn, I think. Go to korean school!! haha
Hi lazibratt! If you're talking about Daniel Henney, I'll bet he wished he learned Korean as a child! His mother is Korean but was adopted by Americans before she was one year old, so she never learned to speak Korean at all, so couldn't pass it on to Daniel. Now, he speaks Korean and she doesn't!

Daniel was a successful model and up and coming actor in New York for a couple years, and had been studying Korean for some time before he made the Kim Sam Soon drama.

 But I'm all for going to Korean school! I'm getting tired of not understanding the dramas! emoticon
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Re: K-Star: Daniel Henney


I recently saw a video clip of a clothing exhibition in which Daniel Henney was one of the models on the catwalk. Frankly, I was surprised. He is probably the best male model I have ever watched. Really confident and smooth presentation of himself, without those exaggerated affectations so many models like to pose. He has a wonderfully easy, masculine air to his walk and posture. Total composition? I rate his modeling style a 9.975!
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Re: K-Star: Daniel Henney


I thought this article was interesting. It‛s from the regional newspaper in the Henney‛s hometown area.


Saturday, August 20, 2005
The Daily News
Serving Greenville, Belding and Montcalm County, Michigan since 1854.


Heartthrob's mom is mobbed during trip to South Korea
By Elisabeth Waldon - Daily News staff writer

CARSON CITY — A somber crowd at Tom Ford's ready-to-wear fall 2005 Gucci collection in South Korea erupted into cheers as 25-year-old Daniel Henney strode into the spotlight in a tight fitting, all-black outfit earlier this month.

The JoongAng Daily newspaper called it "a rare moment at Korean fashion shows."

According to the newspaper, "The appearance of Mr. Henney, the Eurasian model turned actor who stars in a Korean drama and many advertisements, was the highlight of the evening, even at the dance party led by a New York-based DJ, Ilya.

"Women gushed and sighed all night as they peered -- again and again -- into their digital cameras and mobile phones that captured the distant image of Daniel Henney in three impossibly sexy Gucci suits."

One of those crowd members was more excited than the others. Wearing a fashionable black outfit and carrying a Gucci purse, Christine Henney of Carson City was seated just one row from the stage. She had traveled more than 6,000 miles to visit her son in South Korea, where he just happened to be the man of the moment.

"When he came out, the cameras just went absolutely berserk," Christine said. "Everybody was just screaming."

The only child of Phillip and Christine Henney has quickly risen to fame thanks to an international modeling career and a starring role as a doctor in love with his patient in the South Korean television dramatic miniseries, "My Name Is Kim Sam-soon."

Daniel Henney is a 1998 graduate of Carson City-Crystal High School where he was a standout basketball player for the Eagles.

Christine, a registered nurse at Carson City Hospital, arrived in South Korea on July 27 and returned home late Monday night. While there, she saw "The Phantom of the Opera," toured Seoul in a limousine, visited the presidential grounds and attended interviews, photo shoots and autograph sessions with her son.

"It was unbelievable the things they asked him to sign -- shoes, clothing, pictures, ultrasounds of their babies..." she said.

Up to eight bodyguards accompanied Christine and her son just about everywhere they went.

"Every time we went anywhere there was a group of fans," she said. "As soon as you heard the gasping you would turn around and there they were. No matter what he wore, how he tried to camouflage himself, they would spot him."

A visit to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner was particularly exciting.

"There had to be at least 500 people there," Christine said. "We walked in and all of a sudden we just heard everybody scream, cameras going off. It's unbelievable the way everybody recognizes him. We almost got smothered and had to run out the back without eating."

A highlight of the trip for Christine was visiting an orphanage she had been adopted from by Americans in 1958. This was the first time Christine had been in Korea since she was an infant. She and her son visited the site of the former Isabelle Orphanage in Pusan, where her parents had left her on the doorstep.

The orphanage was torn down in 1962 and is now Isabelle Junior High/High School. Christine also visited Holt Children's Services in Seoul, where she stayed while waiting to be picked up by her new parents.

"I wanted to get the feeling of the sense of the orphanage and how the children were cared for and what they were like," she said. "It was quite emotional. When I got out of the car and saw the building that they had searched and found for me, I was just overwhelmed."

Daniel Henney is in the process of becoming a spokesman for adopting children of mixed races -- like himself -- in South Korea.

"The whole trip was a complete adventure," Christine said. "They treated me like I was the queen of Korea. Everything they did was so extravagant. When I got there everything was given to me, doors were opened, I didn't have to do anything. If I looked at an item they said, 'Oh, you want that?' I'd say, 'Oh no.' They'd buy it for me anyway.

"The whole trip was so amazingly great that I haven't gotten completely settled back into being a Michigan person," she said.

"To actually see him (Daniel) and have him meet me at the airport, he was so happy and so pleased that his mother could come back to Korea," Christine said. "He was just ecstatic. He just wanted everything to go so smoothly for me and wanted to help me learn everything about Korea.

"Not only just Korea, but all the Asian countries have taken Dan and made him a part of their family," she said. "They told me, 'Your son is a person with all of his thought process coming from his heart.'"

Staff writer Elisabeth Waldon can be reached at [email protected] or (616) 754-9303 ext. 3065.

A Stafford Communications Group project.
Copyright © 2005 The Daily News.

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Re: K-Star: Daniel Henney


Here are some professional momzzang photos of Daniel, and a few family photos graciously provided by Daniel‛s mother, Christine (an awesome individual in her own right).

Image
Momzzang!
Image
Daniel's family—Dad (Phillip), Mother (Christine), and Murphy!

Photos below: Home for a rest—September 2005 Image
Daniel & Parents

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Daniel practicing his guitar

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Sunrise at Lake Huron during family getaway
—photo by Christine Henney



Christine Henney‛s personal motto since the age of 15: Yesterday was an experience, Today is what I have learned, and tomorrow is a dream. Go toward your dreams and goals no matter how many obstacles.
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here's 2 pics of him and Lee Bo Young for a behind the scenes/interview of a recent CF of theirs...MBC Section TV aired it on 10-20-2005:

Image
Image

from the interview w/ MBC's Section TV Entertainment News, in this CF, Daniel takes on the role of a husband, so I'm assuming Lee Bo Young portrays his wife, and they're having hosting a barbecue.

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Currently a Clinical Laboratory Scientist at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center's Transfusion Medicine (Blood Bank) department
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OH MY GOSH!!!!!


OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!!!! BEFORE I WOKE UP TO GO TO SCHOOL I HAD A DREAM THAT DANIEL CALLED ME TO TELL ME THAT I WON A TRIP TO TAIWAN TO HANG OUT WITH HIM!! I WAS SO FREAKIN' SIIIIIIIKKKKKKED. I wonder what could have aroused that.. lol
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