Ji Chang Wook Feels Awkward When People Compliment Him

Playing more than one character in a k-drama seems to be a trend these days, with Hyun Bin playing two roles "Hyde, Jekyll and I" and Ji Sung playing seven in "Kill Me, Heal Me."

Ji Chang Wook also played two roles in the recent drama "Healer."

He played the mysterious anti-social messenger "Healer" and his alter ego, the less accomplished Seo Jung Hoo.

When he was recently interviewed by InStyle magazine, he was asked about the difficulty of playing two characters in one drama. He had to admit that he had to think hard about how to approach the alternate roles.

"It wasn't that I was playing a double," he said. "It was a character I'm playing acting as if he's someone else.] The most difficult thing I needed to figure out was how much change I needed to show in the second character compared to the original."

That portrayal won him praise but hearing his acting praised makes him feel really uncomfortable.

"I get really shy whenever I hear something like that," he told an interviewer at Ilgan Sports. "I just don't know how to react. I get more awkward if I hear compliments."

He's done quite a few different kinds of roles, including playing a young emperor in the historical drama "Empress Ki" with Ha Ji Won and a villain in the weekend drama "Five Fingers." He had to train with a martial arts expert for the action scenes in "Healer."

He wasn't specifically trying to take different kinds of roles. It just happened that way.

"Looking back, I think what I did, doing things step by step, was really what I needed. I'm proud of what I have done."

Ji Chang Wook began his acting career by auditioning for roles in musical theater. He first appeared onscreen in 2006 when he had a role in the film 'Days" and he also had a minor role in the drama "I Like You." He first attracted serious notice playing Seo Jin in the 2008 film "Sleeping Beauty."

His career has steadily progressed but after he appeared in the drama "Smile Again," hje began to doubt his own acting skills.

"The drama was going really well but I wasn't satisfied with my acting," he said in the InStyle interview. "I kept wondering whether I was talented enough and whether I should stop doing this. Then I got a piece of advice. There is no actor who is naturally talented. It all depends on how well you show your charm and how much you study to do your best."

The pictorial spread of the actor can be seen in the March issue of InStyle.