One reason Lee Min Ho says he chose to appear in the film "Gangnam Blues" is that he wanted to increase the number of his male fans.
In a recent interview with the Korean news outlet joins.com, the interviewer pointed out that his film role seemed to have attracted more male viewers.
"That's my target," he said. "I don't have many male fans. The dramas I've done so far are not really for guys. I think most men would enjoy "Gangnam Blues."
If it weren't for his drama roles, however, he never would have been cast in the film.
The film's director Yoo Ha said he did not want Lee Min Ho to appear in his film but his wife insisted.
"I had a very hard time at home being brainwashed and pressured to use Lee Min Ho," he told the Korean news outlet eNews. "My wife is a huge fan of Lee Min Ho. After two years I just accepted that working with Lee Min Ho is my fate."
He thought the actor was a bit "cheesy" after watching him play the spoiled heir Gu Jun Pyo "Boys Over Flowers."
He thought the actor was so handsome that he looked like a comic book character.
" Our movie starts out with a junk dealer," said Yoo Ha. "I wondered if a comic book character could pull off being a junk dealer."
In this film his junk-dealer character wears raggedy clothes and lives a rough-and-tumble life.
"I worried that the audience might not relate," said Lee. "I made sure my get-up wasn't too funny but sincere enough. As a a member of the audience, I might not be able to see if that's a junk-dealer or not but the fact that Lee Min Ho did something different is what I think should be the point here."
His first film is also his first adult-rated film.
"I chose something that was meaningful to me and it turned out to be adult-rated," he said. "I have been offered scenarios for movies even when I was in dramas but I kept pushing them back, thinking I will do them when I am at an age where I can be responsible for them. I also wanted to star in a movie that had a message. I am in my late 20s now and I figured Yoo Ha's movie would generate a good message."
But as much as he liked appearing in the film he is not about to give up on movies.
"We are currently living in the Golden Age of Korean drama and being one of the faces that represent it, I have to work harder."
