Look! Bela Padilla And Janeena Chan With "Record Of Youth" Cast Member Kim Gun-Woo And "Start-Up" Actor Cho Tae-Kwan
Bela and Kim Gun-woo star together in upcoming Filipino-Korean rom-com movie "Ultimate Oppa"
Start-Up and Record of Youth are two of the most talked-about K-dramas recently. But before these shows were released and gushed about by K-drama fans, our very own Bela Padilla actually had the opportunity to work with two cast members from these dramas: Kim Gun-woo from the recently-concluded Record of Youth and Cho Tae-kwan from ongoing series Start-Up.
The project they worked on together is the upcoming Korean rom-com movie Ultimate Oppa! (read more about that here), which was filmed in both South Korea and the Philippines.
In case you missed the big news, Bela actually traveled to South Korea in 2019 to film Korean rom-com movie Ultimate Oppa, and the experience solidified her admiration for Korean dramas and films as well as the people who work on them. According to Bela, her Ultimate Oppa co-star Kim Gun-woo's professionalism redefined what it meant for her to be immersed in a role, while her director, Hwang In-roe (the same director behind one of her favorite K-dramas, Princess Hours) inspired her to level up her acting game. Professionally speaking, Bela Padilla starring alongside Kim Gun-woo in Ultimate Oppa will forever be a lifelong highlight!
Even better, while in Korea, Bela also met Cho Tae-kwan (or Jasper Cho), who plays the role of Alex Kwon in ongoing series Start-Up. Last August, the Korean-Canadian actor posted a series of throwback photos from their Ultimate Oppa shoot, to immortalize the memory. The IG post shows him with Kim Gun-woo, Bela, and Filipino host and fashion/beauty influencer Janeena Chan out at the YongPyong Ski Resort in Balwangsan Mountain.
Ultimate Oppa finished filming in March this year—a week before Metro Manila went on lockdown due to COVID-19, no less!
Bela has yet to reveal all the local filming locations that she and Kim Gun-woo visited, but their last day on set shows them at a familiar landmark in Quezon City, not too far from the ABS-CBN compound itself.
Both actors and their agencies have yet to release updates on the film's post-production and release date, but no matter how long it takes, we're sure their fans will keep waiting on the edge of their seats.
Bela isn't a stranger to filming abroad; the actress, who's definitely a globetrotter, previously traveled to Switzerland for Meet Me in St. Gallen. Since making her big screen debut in 2007, Bela has starred in 21 films including the local remake of Korean hit Miracle in Cell No.7. The actress has starred in even more TV shows, and her primetime series Sino Ang May Sala? even earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 2020 Seoul International Drama Award.
On the other hand, Kim Gun-woo is an up-and-coming leading man in the K-Drama scene. He made his acting debut in 2017's Fight for My Way. He has starred in four more dramas since then, the latest of which is tvN's Record of Youth. The 28-year-old has yet to land a film role. Ultimate Oppa marks his first experience of working on a movie, giving us more reason to anticipate the joint Korean-Filipino project.
Cho Tae-kwan so far has four K-dramas (Descendants of the Sun, Man Who Dies to Live, My Secret Terrius, and Start-Up) and one film (Divine Fury) featured in his filmography. Last year, he won the Best Newcomer Award - Men in Acting at the Asia Model Awards.
Start-Up and Record of Youth are both available on Netflix.
Photos from @jasperrrrr