If you wondered why the actor playing fashion team member Lee Woo Young in "I Need Romance 3" looks so familiar, it's because Park Yoo Hwan looks like JYJ singer and actor Park Yoochun.
And there's a reason he looks like him. Park Yoochun is his older brother.
Park Yoo Hwan has been acting for about three years now and has already appeared in several dramas. He's doing a great job playing the only male member of Park So Yeon's "I Need Romance 3" brand team. His character has no compunctions about having a cute pajama-clad slumber party with female team members and discussing their boyfriends. Yet he's determined in his optimistic pursuit of the cute co-worker he loves. Lee Woo Young is such a cheerful upbeat character that viewers can't help but feel it is Park Yoo Hwan's own personality shining through.
Although there is a five-year age difference between the brothers, they are very close. The two became close when the family immigrated to America. When their parents divorced and the family faced serious financial problems, the brothers were there for each other. They relied on each other even more because they found it difficult to adjust to American school life.
Yoo Hwan has said that in those days his brother was like a father to him.
That relationship has remained strong throughout the years.
When Yoochun returned to Korea to debut with DBSK, the brothers spoke as often as possible on the phone. Those phone calls often ended in tears. Even after Yoochun began making dramas, if he cried on screen, it would prompt Yoo Hwan to start crying.
But his brother did more than inspire him to cry. It was his Yoochun's acting career that inspired Yoo Hwan to also try acting.
"My brother is the reason I am able to take the first step toward realizing my dream," he said.
When Yoochun was cast in "Sungkyunkwan Scandal," he took some acting lessons and Yoo Hwan tagged along.
"I ended up falling for acting as well," Yoo Hwan said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo.
Yoochun has said that acting helped his brother find a part of himself that was lost. Acting helped him become the happy cheerful person he once was. And that happiness shines through brightly in his new role.
In an interview with Elle magazine, he was asked if the two were competitive and Yoo Hwan said he had no desire to do better than his brother. He just wanted to make him proud.
To date Park Yoo Hwan has been in six dramas, wining a Baeksang Arts Award for best new TV actor for his appearance in "A Thousand Days Promise." Park Yoochun has had leading roles in several successful dramas. He recently worked on the film "Sea Fog" and can soon be seen in the drama "Three Days."
