How the world fell in love with Jung Hae-in, K-drama romance actor and star of A Piece of Your Mind

After two romance dramas and a nostalgic film, Jung Hae-in is back with another spring offering, A Piece of Your Mind, in which he plays Ha Won, a kind-hearted artificial intelligence (AI) programmer. Describing his role to Esquire Korea, Jung describes Ha Won as “calm and poised”, someone who doesn’t express much emotion, having spent years pining over an unrequited love.

“I think that the drama is trying to show the loneliness, solitude and emptiness of modern people who are living in this generation, but also the healing that occurs in person-to-person interaction,” Jung explained. He stars opposite Chae Soo-bin, who plays his love interest Hae Seo-woo, a classical music recording engineer.

Because of his breakthrough role in the 2018 hit Something in the Rain (Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food), the 31-year-old star noted that his subsequent roles, including Ha Won, seem to be connected. Jung got a lot of attention in the past for playing romantic roles in mellow, slow-paced dramas that resonated with viewers.

‘Second-lead syndrome’

Following cameos in top-rated dramas such as Reply 1988 in 2015, and Goblin in 2016, Jung gained popularity for his role in While You Were Sleeping. Alongside Bae Suzy as journalist Nam Hong-joo and Lee Jong-suk as prosecutor Jung Jae-chan, Jung’s character Han Woo-tak was the second lead that the nation fell in love with.

A competent police officer who looks dashing in his uniform, Woo-tak is colour blind (a no-no for policemen) – and is secretly attracted to Hong-joo, too. However, he doesn’t act on his feelings, as Hong-joo and Jae-chan are in love.

Jung’s portrayal of a selfless second lead made him the most searched item on Korean portal site Naver, as viewers wanted to know more about the good-looking Woo-tak.

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