Park Hyung-sik in a scene with co-star Park Shin-hye in his ongoing series “Doctor Slump.” Image: Instagram/@jtbcdrama
Dealing with life’s worst challenges can drive a person to the edge — just like Park Hyung-sik as prolific plastic surgeon Yeo Jeong-woo in the South Korean slice-of-life series “Doctor Slump.”
The romantic-comedy marks the reunion of Park with Hallyu superstar Park Shin-hye — who stars as the burnt-out anesthesiologist Nam Ha-neul — after 11 years. Both actors worked together in the hit drama “The Heirs,” but the ongoing series shows how their characters will “develop [their] friendship into love.”
“I think this is the drama that I relate myself to the most, and laughed too much while filming it,” Park said in a virtual press conference. While the series revolves around the topic of coming to terms with pain, the actor’s character — who’s dealing with his share of struggles as well — acts as the light at the end of the tunnel.
“‘Doctor Slump’ carries a message regarding people in a slump. In this busy and modern society, there are a lot of points that people can actually be comforted. These points portrayed the word ‘slump’ funnily and deeply,” he said.
“The role that I played in this project has a very positive personality. He deals with how he handles and conquers the kind of hardships he faces,” added Park.
On acting
Park, who’s set to meet his Filipino fans this month, took many roles throughout his career. He started as the main vocalist of the K-pop boy group ZE:A until he made a name for himself as an actor. Some of his biggest dramas include “Hwarang,” “Strong Girl Bong-Soon,” “Soundtrack #1,” and “Happiness,” just to name a few.
But if allowed to choose the character most similar to his real-life personality, he had to go with the cheeky and larger-than-life Ahn Min-hyuk in the 2017 drama “Strong Girl Bong-Soon.”
“Every character I acted in somehow portrays my character in parts,” he said. “But I guess the most relatable character that actually has my personality is Ahn Min-hyuk from ‘Strong Girl Bong-soon’ because the way he jokes around portrays me when I am with my friends.”
One of the highlights of the 2017 series was how Park pulled off Ahn’s extra personality — picture that scene where he dramatically spread his arms when he opens doors.
His pairing with Park Bo-young was such a huge hit that they reunited for a cameo appearance in its 2023 spinoff “Strong Girl Nam-soon.”
On making choices
The actor shared during the mediacon that he became a fan of the 2023 drama “Moving” and that he wondered what it would be like if he took on this kind of direction in the future.
“There are a lot of roles that I would like to try. But I recently watched a series called ‘Moving’ and while watching it, I thought it would be great if I could try to be a person with a superpower. I would like to try a different genre like noir as well,” he said.
Apart from acting, Park admitted that he has a “lot of [pieces of] advice” he kept to himself throughout his life. But the ones he holds close to his heart are the ones from his parents.
“I have a lot of [pieces of advice] that I am keeping to myself. I think the best one I can think of right now is the teachings from my parents. They are the largest influence [in] my values,” he said.
But when asked if he would change anything from his past, Park said there won’t be much of a “specific difference” if certain elements of his life are altered for the better.
“Since the choices I made in the past made me who I am right now, what I am thinking is, if I go back to the past, will there be a specific difference in my life? I think that would not be the case. Also, I consider that because of the projects that I have been doing, those became good materials for me to be myself at this point,” he said.