Kim Bum recently attended the press conference for the drama "The Micro Era of Love," which has been called the Chinese version of Gossip Girl.
In that drama he plays the confident owner of a premium restaurant. His perfectionist tendencies help to make the restaurant a success but they interfere with his relationships.
While Kim Sang Bum may not be a perfectionist in real life, he could be called a high achiever. Even in school he excelled in sports, got the best grades and became class president. Here are some more facts you may not know about the actor.
1. Kim Bum was determined to become a star. He wanted to be an actor so badly that he joined "Survival Star Audition and placed sixth among hundreds of contestants. As he was only 17, he could not proceed, but it did land him acting roles. Not satisfied with stardom, he also attends Chung Ang University where he majors in film and theater.
2. He decided to take the role of the genius potter in "Boys Over Flowers" because he noticed how popular the Taiwanese version of the drama was. "Meteor Garden" made stars out of the four actors who played F4.
3. He lost a significant amount of weight for his role as an angel in "Padam Padam."
To lose the weight he worked out every day while shooting the drama and some days only ate a banana, half a sweet potato and a cup of coffee with milk. The American actor Christian Bale, who gains and loses weight frequently for roles, was Kim's inspiration.
He concentrated so hard on perfecting the role that he started to believe he was an angel.
"When I first met the character, I thought that he would be difficult to portray. There were no characters like him before him, so I had nothing to refer to. I talked with the director and writer and started building an angel character, and I started to believe that I really was an angel."
4. He is a good friend. Kim Bum is close to two of his former co-stars, Lee Min Ho, whom he worked with in "Boys Over Flowers" and Jung Il Woo," whom he co-starred with in "Unstoppable High Kick." Jung Il Woo has called Kim Bum his brother.
"When I was having rough times, he was there for me, and when he had troubles, I was there for him," said Jung. "We've known each other for five years now. He's a really dear friend."
5. Around the time he played the younger boyfriend in "The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry," Kim Bum said that he preferred older women. He said he was not attracted to girls his own age but preferred girls with established careers.
Last year the public learned that the 24-year-old actor was dating his "Goddess of Fire" co-star, 27-year-old Moon Geun Young. The couple went public with their relationship before taking a backpacking trip around Europe.
Kim Bum and Moon Geun Young broke up after seven months but remain friends.
Now that his Chinese drama is completed fans hope that he will appear in a new k-drama soon.
