Four K-Drama Actors Who Lost Considerable Weight For A Role

How far would you go for a role? Would you lose 33 pounds? That's what actor Kim Rae Won did for his role in the film "Gangnam Blues." The actor felt he could look more like a thug if he were thinner. Then when he had to play a man dying of brain cancer in "Punch," he lost another ten pounds.

"That physique also seemed appropriate to portray Park in "Punch," so I didn't try to go back," said Kim in an interview with Korea's Joongang Daily. "Then as filming progressed, I became so thin that I tried to gain some weight. But for some reason I couldn't. I ate four to five meals a day, but my weight wouldn't go up."

Unfortunately the weight loss left him weak and he had to go to the emergency room several times while filming the drama. He said it was not serious and visiting the emergency room seemed appropriate for his character.

Kim Rae Won is not the only actor to lose weight for a role. Seo In Guk lost 22 pounds in three months for his role in "The Master's Sun."

He did it by working with a trainer and eating a healthy diet. It took him a while to find healthy ways to lose weight. After his first auditions when he was told he weighed too much, his initial attempts to lose weight resulted in bulimia.

Ji Chang Wook lost 22 pounds for his role in the drama "Five Fingers." He felt that his character In Ha was so anxious and miserable that he should look thin. The six-foot-tall actor dropped from an already slender 158 pounds to 138 pounds. Park Min Young lost weight before co-starring with him in "The Healer." She used dance as a way to lose pounds, wanting to look her best for the drama's intimate scenes.

Jo Jung Suk lost 17 pounds for his role as an elite army captain in the drama "The King 2 Hearts." He achieved his weight loss by working out and dieting. For that same drama, Ha Ji Won lost about eight pounds although it's hard to believe she ever has to make an effort with all the calorie-burning stunt work she does. But she was also playing an elite soldier and she felt she had to look the part.

Kim Bum lost 25 pounds to play the role of the seemingly anorexic angel in "Padam Padam." His character slept shirtless so his wings would be free to sprout when he needed them. But the shirtless and shower scenes made Kim want to shape up. He exercised and dieted on potatoes and bananas to achieve his "heavenly" slender look.