Handsomeness alone is not enough! — Kang Hyung-seok needed to gain 5kg to get his role in the film AJOOMMA

South Korean actor Kang Hyung-seok deliciously enjoyed eating and successfully gained 5kg for the filming of the Singapore-South Korea movie, AJOOMMA. 

In a press conference recently held for the movie, He Shuming – the director – said that he originally pictured the role of the tour guide – played by Kang Hyung-soek – with a different appearance. However, when he saw the actor, he first thought of how handsome he is and asked if he was willing to gain weight for the film. 

The 30-year-old admitted that he had no prior experience of needing to gain weight for a project back then. 

“In fact, my idea at that time was ‘Great’, because I could eat the delicious food I wanted and drink beer without hesitation,” he said. 

Kang Hyung-seok successfully gained weight of about 5kg and was able to act as one of the AJOOMMA casts. However, he needs to get rid of the additional body fat as soon as possible for his next shoot. 

Aside from the weight gain, the actor also exhibited his skills in speaking Mandarin. He mentioned that he practised the language a lot with his teacher before filming began, but since he has not spoken Mandarin for so long, he made mistakes most of the time. 

When asked when he will continue to learn to speak Chinese, he stated: “This film has also become an opportunity for me to learn this language again. When I studied while shooting, I also had new ideas. I hope I can continue to try different characters, movies and plays in Mandarin” 

AJOOMMA has four nominations at the 2022 Golden Horse Awards: Best New Director and Best Original Screenplay for Singaporean director He Shuming, and Best Supporting Actor for Korean star Jung Dong-Hwan. The awarding ceremony of winners will be happening on Nov 19, 2022. 

More so, the film is also Singapore’s pick and entry to the 95th Academy Awards (Oscars) in 2023 under the category of Best International Film. The final nomination announcement will be on Jan 24, 2023, and the main Oscars ceremony event will occur on March 12, 2023. 

AJOOMMA is a Singaporean-South Korean movie about a widow who tries to find her life’s meaning on a solo trip to South Korea. It premiered at the 27th Busan International Film Festival and was the third Singaporean movie to be played at the festival – following Eric Khoo’s ‘Mee Pok Man’ in 1995 and Royston Tan’s ‘15’ in 2003. 

In Singapore, AJOOMMA was released in cinemas last Oct 27, 2022, through Golden Village Pictures.