Lee Jun Ki Whispers To His Horses

Lee Jun Ki, who rode a motorcycle for his last drama "Two Weeks" and now mounts horses for "The Joseon Gunman" is famous for doing his own stunts.

He is so fearless that the production crews on his dramas often worry about his daring attitude.

In his current drama "The Joseon Gunman," he performs several scenes on horseback. Both his equestrian skills and his martial arts skills have earned him praise from the production crew. They report that he not only rides horses, he is kind and attentive to them when he's not riding. According to Lee Jun Ki, that is the secret of his ability to control his four-legged co-stars.

"I talk to the horses a lot," he said. And I pet them all the time. Riding skills are important but we also need to trust each other."

Part of the reason that he learned to ride was that he really likes action scenes. And historical dramas offer plenty of opportunities for action scenes if you can already ride. It's not the first time he demonstrated his horse riding skills as he also won praise for them in "Arang and the Magistrate."

Why is it so important for him to do his own stunts?

"If I use a stunt double, the audience may not find it interesting," said Lee Jun Ki said in an interview with TV Report. "My pride also tells me that I should do it myself.  I want to become a versatile actor who can do everything."

But there were scenes that made him second-guess that decision. He remembered one scene in "Two Weeks" when he almost died.

"There was a scene of me being swept away by the rapids. I could have died like this. It was a situation where even minimal safety equipment could not be used. The current was really very strong. Even though the scene could be done with a stunt double, I ended up doing it because I wanted to. I couldn't breathe for almost four to 50 seconds once I went into the current. Before I began filming the scene, I thought how could someone die being swept away by the water, then I realised that one could really die doing so. The staff naturally thought that I acted very well, so I could not bring myself to tell them that I had thought I was going to die. "

You can check out Lee Jun Ki's riding skills in "The Joseon Gunman" which airs Wednesday and Thursday nights.