[Interview] Kim Hyun Joong Talks About Facing Drama Competition with Kim Soo Hyun

Kim Hyun Joong revealed his thoughts on having competed with Kim Soo Hyun through the dramas airing on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

In an interview that took place in a café near Samcheong-dong, Kim Hyun Joong confessed how he felt when he compared the viewership ratings of KBS 2TV’s The Age of Feeling and SBS’s You Who Came From the Stars.

About acting as ‘Shin Jung Tae’ in The Age of Feeling, he said, “I did everything that I could. I poured my everything in to the point that I wouldn’t have made it to 25th episode.”

Despite Kim Hyun Joong’s enthusiastic performance, The Age of Feeling recorded a relatively low viewership rating, because it faced You Who Came From the Stars, which reached 30% ratings. 

You Who Came From the Stars began airing earlier and already had a set amount of viewers when The Age of Feeling started.

The reporters asked Kim Hyun Joong if he watched You Who Came From the Stars starring Kim Soo Hyun, who is in the same agency.

He answered, “I watched You Who Came From the Stars. I also watched Three Days with Park Yoo Chun. I watch them even if they are competing dramas.”

He continued, “I don’t know why, but the competition wouldn’t have been so fierce if they were two movies. Movies are seen separately but dramas that air at the same time are so competitive with one another. I felt like viewership rating almost causes conflicts. I don’t know how exactly the viewership ratings are generated but I don’t put much meaning to it. Sometimes I didn’t understand why viewership rating is used as an indicator for success.” 

“I don’t put much emphasis on viewership ratings. I’ve received a 3% rating for Playful Kiss and being aware of the ratings didn’t help me at all to focus on acting. So I decided to put everything down for this drama. I honestly told them that we can’t beat You Who Came From the Stars and it would be good to just maintain the viewership rating. Once I put things down, I was able to love my character more. I only thought of my character and nothing else,” said Kim Hyun Joong.

Meanwhile, The Age of Feeling aired on March 5 recorded a viewership rating of 12%, ranking number one out of all dramas airing at that time, after You Who Came From the Stars ended. 

Photo credit: Newsen