In 2018, the romantic comedy film “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”, inspired by the book by Jenny Han, conquered a huge audience with the romance between Peter Kavinsky and Lara Jean. After all, who doesn’t love the pretend dating cliché that then ends up awakening real feelings?
But one character always stood out: the protagonist’s attitude-filled younger sister, Kitty. For this reason, on May 18, the spin-off “With Love, Kitty” was released by Netflix.
In the plot, the youngest of the Song Covey family makes a big decision: she will study in South Korea at the same school where her mother, who died when she was still very young, studied. Coincidentally, it’s the same boarding school that her long-distance boyfriend Dae attends.
The problem is, after flying across the planet to Seoul to surprise him, Kitty discovers that he is dating another girl. But not everything is what it seems, see? To understand what happened, you’ll have to play the series.
In this co-production between the United States and South Korea, a character caught the public’s attention: Min Ho, Dae’s friend who is not very receptive to the protagonist. The character is narcissistic, always worried about his skin care routine, but very loyal and protective of his friendships.
As much as the character’s attitudes are questionable at first, it’s impossible not to fall for Min Ho’s charms and his charisma. Especially when throughout the episodes he becomes more and more human and the cliché of “hate becomes love” seems to start showing signs of life.
The success of “Com Carinho, Kitty”, which came in 2nd place in the Top Series Global on Netflix and in 1st place in 90 countries, including Brazil, has already earned 3 million followers for actor Sang Heon Lee, the talent behind Min Ho.
In an interview with CNN Brazil, he talked about all the love and attention he has received. He also talked about his sister, Gia Kim, who is also in the cast of the series playing student Yuri – the production only found out that they were related in the first meeting with everyone!
Check out the chat:
Did you notice the Brazilian fans on your social networks? There are usually comments like “Please come to Brazil”.
Yes, I noticed comments like that. There are also words that I saw and I don’t know if it’s Brazilian, but it was “beautiful”. And lots of people with the Brazilian flag and everything. I saw many fans from Brazil.
“With Love, Kitty” premiered a few weeks ago. How has your life changed since then? Have you been recognized on the streets?
Well, it definitely changed my Instagram follower count. And, yes, I have been recognized on the street, which I didn’t expect. I went to a Korean coffee shop in Koreatown. I’m in Los Angeles at the moment and I went all the way to Koreatown to this coffee shop, and this kid with her mother recognized me, asked for a picture and everything. That’s when I realized things were happening.
“Love, Kitty” is an American show with an Asian lead, and we’re seeing more US shows with an Asian lead. We are also seeing the rise of South Korean dramas, K-pop, South Korean moviesyears. How do you feel seeing this movement happen?
I think it’s great. You know, nowadays, whatever they put “K” (k-food, k-pop, k-drama, k-films), people expect to love in a very positive way. In a way, I’m glad people see that now. And yes, I am grateful that they consider “Love, Kitty” to be a Hollywood k-drama/series, which it really is. It was a collaboration between k-drama and Hollywood.
It’s interesting that you were born in South Korea, grew up in Hong Kong and lived in England. How many languages do you speak and which one do you feel most comfortable speaking?
Well, I only speak two languages unfortunately. Yes, I lived in Hong Kong for about 10 years, but the reason I don’t speak another language like Chinese or Cantonese is because I tried it, but it didn’t really stick with me. It was very difficult to learn the language. Also, I went to Hong Kong to learn English and for that reason I only know Korean and English.
I guess I can say that English is more comfortable for me, but at the same time, there are times when Korean is more comfortable. It really depends on the people I’m with. Sometimes there are Korean words in my mind that I can’t say in English, and sometimes there are words in my mind that I know in English but can’t say in Korean. So in a way I can be good in both languages or bad in both languages.
What language do you usually speak with your sister, Gia Kim?
Usually with my sister, I think both. We use a mixture of English and Korean at the same time. For example, “Gia, Gia, we need to go to the convenience store to buy 물 (mul). 물 (Mul) means water. So instead of saying “water”, we use the word in Korean. Or we use English words in a Korean sentence. And it’s something very common in international kids, especially international Korean kids.
Speaking of Gia Kim, this whole story of brothers working together on the same series is very interesting. You said production didn’t know you were brothers, right? How was it when they found out?
They found out once the entire cast was cast, including myself and Gia. That’s when they got all of us together on a Zoom call and there were seven or eight of us. That’s when we revealed that we were actually brother and sister. And the reaction was positive. They were surprised, like “what’s going on?”. Like, “you guys are lying! This is a joke, right?” But in the end, they said, “Wait, the characters don’t have any romantic interest in each other, do they?”, and luckily they didn’t. So yes, in a way it was funny.
Why do you two have different last names?
Well, Gia and I have different last names because she is using her stage name, Gia Kim, and I am using my real name, which I was born with. She wanted to use a different name as an actress because she wanted people to pronounce the name correctly or easily. It’s easy to speak in both Korean and English, so she changed with that in mind.
But I kept my Korean name I was born with because as much as I have to constantly remind people how to pronounce my name, that’s fine. I don’t mind doing that and I don’t mind doing it again every time in the future. But I thought to myself, it would be really cool if I had my name the way it is in the credits or, like, “Character Min Ho played by Sang Heon Lee”. That image in my mind looked really cool. And it’s really cool, to be honest.
And a very cool thing in the first season of “Love, Kitty” is Ok Taecyeon’s special appearance. In Season 2, which K-pop idol would you love to see on the show?
Wow, good question! There were several songs in the first season and maybe it could be one of the people who participated in the soundtrack.
Maybe SEVENTEEN?
SEVENTEEN, or SOMI, or TWICE. I like TWICE. It would be cool if there was a TWICE member there. I would love to see them.
If there was the opportunity, would you want to do a k-drama?
K-drama, yeah sure, why not? But I think I’m more interested in Korean movies at the moment. It would be a great experience.
What kind of film do you dream of making?
Korean movies… I don’t know. I’m a big fan of romantic comedy series and movies, but I realized that Korean movies really perfected the Noir genre, which is really interesting. It has action, it has suspense, and it’s a little dark. It can sometimes add a dash of comedy and that’s something I think they’re great at doing. So I would love to participate in one of those Korean movies.
And also speaking a little about Min Ho, he is a character who stood out a lot in the series. People love him and his personality. What do you have in common with him and how are you totally different?
I would say what I have in common with him is… Maybe a love of cooking? Min Ho loves to cook. And I think maybe the thing that makes me different from him is that I think he’s confident. But at the same time, I think it’s because he’s young, so he has that confidence, that unspoken confidence and charisma. But for me, I think I try to act as confident as possible. And if I had to have one more thing in common I’d say it’s the way he gets romantic in a relationship. I think I’m like that in a relationship.
What is your love language? Just like him, is it acts of service?
My love language? I guess… I guess just good manners is my love language. Natural things I would do for her, to please her and make her smile. Anything that makes you smile is my love language. Giving flowers, cooking, spending time with her. You know, all of that.
And about your experience on the show, I think it’s interesting how the cast had a lot of foreigners spending time together. What was the biggest lesson this experience gave you?
It wasn’t so much a big lesson for me, but I’m grateful to have been involved in a co-production between South Korea and the United States and to see how a bridge between these two worlds can make for a great series. Out there are possibilities for other worlds to collaborate. It could be an Indian film or series, or a Brazilian series, with a Korean co-production. Everything is possible now. I think k-drama and Hollywood series coming together and the fact that I witnessed it, lived that experience, was a privilege. I’m very grateful that this happened.
By the way, are you Team Min Ho?
Well, I guess I’m Team Min Ho. Because, to be honest, Dae is my friend and he dated Kitty first. But, you know what? All things considered, Min Ho has been through a lot. He tried to be a good friend, he tried to be a good hooker. But it did not work. His friends dumped him in so many ways and when he thought he found love, it wasn’t love. It was just a little house. He tasted his own poison in this experience. But then he was betrayed by his friends when he was nothing but loyal to them, when he was very close to his friends. How do you say? “With my friends” [diz em português]. But his friends weren’t very welcoming to him. So I think he has every right to be selfish, to allow himself to go after love and how he truly feels about other people. So I choose to be Team Min Ho.
Can I be honest with you? There’s a slang term in Brazil for when someone hooks up with a friend’s ex. It’s “talaric”.
Honestly, when Min Ho did this [se declarou à Kitty], I thought, “You shouldn’t do that. Is he your friend and are you going to express your love to your friend’s ex? I am not sure”. He’s “talaric”, but he has every right to be superficial now because, again, if you look at the whole series, I’d say he was loyal all the time to his friends, until his friends accused him of things he did. he didn `t do. And he continued to hide his emotions, but the friends did not welcome him. So I guess he has a right to be selfish.
Sang Heon Min also learned one of Min Ho’s iconic lines in Portuguese. Check out the video interview:
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
