[The Past ReVisited] 24-7KPOP Interviews Hangeng

24-7KPOP was a site with a different name before June 2012, but we have found a few goodies from before our name change, and this is definitely one of our favorite moments.

In 2011, 24-7KPOP Correspondents Jay O. and Jennie K. met up with Asian superstar actor, singer, and model, Hangeng, to cover his debut at the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) for movie, My Kingdom. After the ceremonies, Jay got a chance to sit down with Hangeng for dinner and an interview.

[We have attached a transcript below the video, as it is hard to hear the dialogue at some points because of the surrounding noises.]

[embedded content]

TRANSCRIPT FROM JAY
[FYI: I'm paraphrasing most of my questions and using the translator's responses as my HG lines. Native speakers who know the exact words of Hangeng are encouraged to email us at MEDIA@24-7KPOP.com]

{Intro: The video starts right after introductions, and Han Geng is laughing because he just promised Jay an awesome cell phone cover, and she just promised to treat him to pizza and a meal at a fancy NYC restaurant when next he is in NY.}

Me: …And I should say American fans [love you in Chinese]
(Smart guy. He totally didn’t take my bait to say “I love you” – but still a sweet answer…)
HG: I will say the same to American fans.

(Now I notice he was spying at my notes… Awww… I guess he was curious about what was coming next.)
Me: What inspires you to work so hard?
HG: When I decide to do something, I’ll work very hard to achieve my goal. It’s in my character. No matter what I do, I focus 100%.

Me: GengFans want to know, do you consider yourself an actor first and then a singer, or a singer first and then an actor?
(He smiled when I called him a good singer. Adorable. You could see he totally understood this question even before the translator spoke.)
HG: I started as a singer, but my dream is to become an actor. So this is my debut film [My Kingdom] right now. And it is sort of like a realization of my dream.

Me: And you mentioned that you will have a concert in the U.S. next year?
HG: I’ll be promoting my movie this year, and all year doing a lot of publicity for my film. Next year, I intend to launch my second album, and I will do a tour. An Asia tour. I want to add New York and Los Angeles to the tour.

Me: We’re so excited!
(He smiles)
HG: I hope to add those cities to the tour, but it will depend on the concert promoters whether it will happen

HG: And if I do a tour here, I invite you to come.
(Mental me: OF COURSE, I’M COMING! *Total fangirl meltdown!* I tell myself to change the topic and put the attention back on HG.)

Me: I heard that you were going to sing tonight…
HG: Because of some issues, I couldn’t sing tonight. But I was very much looking forward to singing, but I couldn’t on this occasion because something happened.
(I heard earlier that there were some issues with the track. Only gossip, but I heard the venue’s sound folks couldn’t make it work properly…)

Me: Can you sing a little, for your fans?
(Mental me: Pweasseeee!)
HG: *Laughs* I’m afraid that it’s too noisy. But I was singing at the movie theater, and you were there.
(Mental me: *Embarrassed* He noticed me! Well considering we yelled loudly twice in terrible Mandarin during the Q&A, I’m not surprised he remembered. And he responded to us both times! Even saying “Thank you…I love you” in English!!)
HG: *Laughing*
(Mental me: Touche Hangeng… I see your teasing! And I see you’re really enjoying teasing me. Let the teasing games begin!)

Me: *While laughing* But I wanted you to sing again. It was so good.
(Mental me: Wow, Jay. That is some serious aegyo! All you needed was to add “ahng” to the end…)
HG: *Laughs*
(Mental me: Just try one more time. He said he wants to sing…)

Me: It’s okay. Just sing for me.
HG: *Singing*
(Mental me: Moment, please don’t end quickly.)

Me: *Claps*
HG: *Totally embarrassed and shyly laughing* Thank you (in English very softly)

Me: One last question. You look really nice. Who designed what you’re wearing today?
(I noticed the detail on his pants. He was wearing all black but it was very intricate. The jacket had slashes through it. The pants had pieces of fabric sewed into it.)
HG: I have my own designer. He makes clothes specifically for me. He is a Korean fashion professor.

Me: Very nice. You look very nice all the time.
(Mental me: Aigoo Jay. Teasing him is so much fun!)
HG: *Laughs and looks down*
(Mental me: I think he’s embarrassed when he gets compliments. He’s so sweet and humble! No wonder we love him.)

Jay: If you don’t mind, could you take a picture with me and my camera person? She’s a huge fan.
HG: *Looks directly at Jennie behind the camera with a huge smile*

Jay: She’s so nervous.
HG: *Smiling*
(Mental me: #Winning)

Both Jennie and Jay are Team members of 24-7KPOP. Hopefully, they will be interviewing Hangeng once more as he gears up to promote his films, including his just-announced casting for Transformers 4.

Jay with Hangeng and his cousin

Jay with Hangeng

Jennie with Hangeng