Actor Yang Back in New Drama

By April Choi
Korea Times Intern

Starring in a new TV drama called "I Am Sam", Yang Dong-geun, 28, faces a new challenge: How to successfully pull off a part that he himself calls "difficult and awkward".

The actor returns to television after a hiatus that included a stint directing a rap musical titled "Offending the Audience".

In the new drama, which premieres Aug. 6, airing Monday and Tuesday nights on KBS 2TV, Yang plays an incompetent high school teacher who becomes the resident tutor for the only daughter of a gangster leader. The drama also focuses on the problems that high school students face. Yang Dong-geun's role in this drama is that of the timid and indolent Korean literature teacher, Jang I-san. This is an opportunity for the actor-musician to shed his usual image and show off his comic talents, according to Yonhap News. Up to now, the actor musician has been in mostly serious roles that displayed his subtle but powerful charisma.

At a press conference held at the Imperial Palace Hotel Monday, the veteran actor reflected that "unlike my other roles, the character requires me to be bumbling and chaotic at times. So this role was strenuous and awkward. To date, I have rarely talked while filming because I need to concentrate, but this time I try to cheer up the atmosphere. I haven't prepared for this role in any special fashion but I am striving to do my best".

Another change for Yang Dong-geun is that he is now among the most experienced actors' on the set, with the exception of actor Park Jeon-gyoo. The other people in the love triangle, Son Tae-yeong and Park Min-yeong along with Ryan - Joo Jong-hyeok of the pop group Paran, and Choi Seung-hyeon or T.O.P of the group Big Bang are new to acting. He said that working with new people puts him in a new frame of mind. "I don't know if it's because I turned 29 but I've been working with people of my age or older and now almost everyone is younger. It's a new experience".