Fresh from his recent success as the Grim Reaper in the popular kdrama series - Goblin: The Lonely and Great God, Lee Dong Wook was back in town for a fan-meeting after his last visit 6 years ago, incidentally to promote his then "return" from military service to kdrama with "Scent of a Woman".
True to the title "For My Dear" implies, Lee states that he tries to give a unique experience for every Asian city that he holds his fan meet in this tour. As an experienced actor who has participated in many kdramas since 1999, including a handful of movies, Lee does have an impressive resume to boot. Like most fan meets, the 2-hour show is packed with different segments to allow fans to get a better knowledge of the artiste:
Segment 1: My Moment
This segment features a series of Lee's photos, mostly taken from filming sets for the star to share his memorable moments with the fans. Surprisingly, the veteran claims that he does not like taking photos and is not good at taking selca, hence he hardly posts his images online.
The first photo showed the Grim Reaper at work, in his full gear. Lee mentions that the script only indicated black coat and hat as the "uniform", however after he further discussed with the stylist, they improvised and added a beaded crown brooch to the ensemble to create a distinctive look.
Photos were also shown of Lee with the 3 younger children of Lee Dong Gook, a South Korean professional soccer player who are featured, together with his children in the popular, "The Return of Superman" series. Lee had previously appeared as a babysitter for the children in the show, where the youngest boy, Daebak expressed a huge liking for Lee. When prompted by the emcee of the night, fans chose Lee as the winner for the cutest between Lee and Daebak. Lee was evidently surprised when he exclaimed "I'm 37 year old and Daebak is 3, how can I be cuter than a 3 year old!"
Looking at his close interactions with the kids, Lee further informed that when he becomes a father, he will like to bring his children out to play, but at the same time, he is worried if they will be recognised due to him, deciding that this dilemma can only be solved when he finally becomes a dad.
It was revealed through his photos that Lee hosts a radio program on the 12th of every month. As a radio DJ, Lee wants to host the program as though he is a friend of the listener, one whom the listener is comfortable to share his views with.
Fans had earlier been asked to choose their top 3 best scene of the Grim Reaper:
#3 - reincarnated Grim Reaper kissing Sunny (Yoo In-Na)
Lee discloses that the original script did not have any kiss scene, but since the Grim Reaper and Sunny only had crying and separation scenes throughout the drama, Lee suggested for a brighter scene to the director. The outcome was the ad-lib kiss scene where the actors did 2 kisses - the first being Lee initiating the kiss, and the second kiss, Lee claims that if fans watch the scene carefully, it can easily be seen that "my eyes grew bigger (to show my surprise) after she pulled me to kiss her". In fact, the kiss scene was shot at 5am after an all-nighter for the actors, hence it was a tough scene as they had to act smiley and laughing sweetly even though they were both very tired, resulting in many NGs for that scene.
#2 - Grim Reaper growing fond of Goblin (Gong Yoo), not wanting him to die
With the many scenes that both Lee and Gong share on the set, they both agree that the time spent discussing and shooting the scenes, had definitely built their friendship further.
#1 - Grim Reaper's first meeting with Sunny at the "ring stall"
The scene was shot outdoors during the cold weather, "both Yoo and I had red noses, due to the cold". The original script needed the Grim Reaper to cry heavily when he saw the ring, being one of the first few scene shot, without knowing much about the script yet, Lee had to depend on his personal memory of all the his memory of hard times he had, in order to cry for the scene. He replayed the scene when his own puppy went to heaven and how his mum used to scold him, in order to dampen his mood.
When asked for his personal favourite scene, Lee chose the first scene when Grim Reaper appeared in front of his "customer" who had just been involved in an accident with a wild boar. Lee felt that it showed the serious and professional side of the Grim Reaper, who later in the drama, will show some contrast in his character.
Some scenes from Lee's previous drama also surfaced during the fan-meet. During the 2 years when Lee was serving the country, he was constantly worried if viewers will remember him after his military stint. He was grateful to the drama "Scent of a Woman" which brought him back to the limelight upon is completion of the service. In that drama, he similarly had crying scenes especially when the female lead rejected his role's advances. When questioned if Lee will cry if he gets rejected in real life, his calmly replies that he does not cry unless it is for a scene in a drama or film.
"Bubble Gum" was the drama Lee participated in, just before shooting "Goblin". There was a scene where he had to act "aegyo" (cute) for the actress, the stylist suggested the flower pose, which Lee felt repulsed to. However, as the production team had pushed for it, he had no choice but to proceed with that pose, which won the hearts of many female viewers of the drama. Lee stoically told the audience "this shows that I have no clues when it comes to woman" bringing laughter to the 1,000 strong crowd.
Segment 2: My Fans
After a short break, Lee entered through the back door of the theatre, walking through the aisle of occupied seats to walk towards the stage, before making a u-turn to walk the other aisle, bringing loud cheers from his fans who get to take close up photos or touch him when he passed by their seats.
As the name suggested, this segment is dedicated to fulfilling the requests from some of his fans, which range from
a) recording a wake-up call on her phone
b) taking a photo with him with a heart-shaped pose
c) staring game
d) palm pushing game
More games were played with fans who were picked from the audience. His fans were really spontaneous, having a great time with Lee on stage, while at the same time, bringing much fun and laughter to the audience.
Segment 3: My Awards
This segment showcased 3 videos that parodied scenes from "Goblin" that were pre-shot and submitted by Lee's fans. Lee's task was to pick the winner who will then have a chance for an onstage "date" with him over a cup of tea.
The winner was a student of the Hangul language, hence making the "date" easier for Lee as both conversed comfortably in Korean. Despite Lee "encouraging" the fan to ask him more questions during their short "date", the fan had been too overwhelmed and only managed to ask him simple questions such as what type of food he likes etc.
To create a memorable finish for his dears, Lee sang the OST "My Time Towards You" from his previous drama "Bubble Gum", before showing off a short dance move from the song "TT" from popular girl group TWICE, to the ardent requests from his fans. He constantly reminded his fans "I'm too old for this" while doing his cute dance, before leaving the stage to engage in the hi-five session for the audience on their way out of the theatre.
Special thanks to IME Productions Singapore and Three Angles Production for inviting KpopStarz.com to cover 2017 Lee Dong Wook Asia Tour In Singapore 'For My Dear'.
Writer: Wang | Photo Credits: Ong Melin
