Introducing Andy Ryu (Ryu Sang Wook), The New Korean Actor Paired With Heart Evangelista In 'My Korean Jagiya' To Be Alexander Lee's Rival

ANDY RYU (Ryu Sang Wook), the new Korean leading man of Heart Evangelista in "My Korean Jagiya", is formally introduced to the press by GMA-7 and the consensus is that he is better looking than Alexander Lee. The eldest of three kids, his family is from Daegu, Korea, four hours away from the capital, Seoul. The eldest of three kids, he was born on March 4, 1985 but looks younger than his age. His two siblings now work in Seoul and L.A. Writers familiar with K drama say he's a lookalike of Song Joong Ki and he agrees. Speaking with an interpreter, he says he and Song attended the same acting school in Seoul.

"When I got there, they told me they already have an actor who looks like me and it's Song," he says. "When people see me in public, they sometimes mistake me for him."

How did he get the role of Alexander Lee's rival over Heart Evangelista in "My Korean Jagiya". "The manager of Alexander is a friend of my manager. He told my manager they're looking for a new actor in the show and he would like to recommend me. My manager told me about it. At first, I was nervous because I don't speak English well but I got excited because I already heard of 'My Korean Jagiya', so I said yes."



He's been in Manila for a week now and he likes it here because everyone is nice. Does he know Alexander in Korea? "Yes, I know him but just as an acquaintance. But since I arrived here, we get to see each other almost every day because we stay in the same hotel. He introduced me to halo-halo and we now eat it everyday."

How about Heart? "I researched about her so I know she's a big star here. At first, I'm quite nervous to work with her and it's also my first time to work overseas, but she turned out to be very friendly, approachable, charming, talented, full of energy and it's an honor to work with her."

He knows Heart is married to a senator. "I haven't met him but Alexander says he's very nice. Heart says she'll invite us to have dinner at their home soon."

He himself has a girlfriend, Kim Hye Jin, also an actress. It's good she allowed him to work in Manila. "She's very supportive of me. She'll visit me here if she'd find the time. This is the fourth time I'm in Manila. The first three are all for vacations, including Cebu. I never thought I'd get the chance to work here someday."

He just finished his required military service of almost two years in Korea. He is best known for two shows, the romancde "Cinderella Man" and the historical drama "Queen Seondok". He has done one movie and just before he left for Manila, he finished a new soap called 'Run Toward Tomorrow".

In "My Korean Jagiya", he plays a very popular Korean actor named Gong Woo. In the story, he used to be just a supporting actor to Alexander as Jun Ho, but when Xander retired and stayed in Manila, he inherited Xander's popularity. He just did a hit movie in Korea titled "Bus in Busan" and he comes to Manila to promote it. Their company hired Heart as Gia to be his interpreter in Manila and he falls for her, turning the show into a love triangle story with two Koreans fighting over Heart's attention.
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