As a member of the popular boy group Super Junior, and with several TV drama roles under his belt, Kim Ki-bum has already had his fair share of stardom.

He made his big-screen debut this summer in Attack Of The Pin-Up Boys, a mystery comedy in which he stars as a high school student tracking down the perpetrator of a series of terrorist attacks on pretty and popular boys. The film debuted in the top 10 when it was released last July.

'I was worried at first when they said we were making a Super Junior film with a comic premise,' says Kim. Other films banking on the popularity of boy bands had been received badly.

'But I figured, this is an experience too, and when else in our lives would we all have the opportunity to act together' I want to try on as many different kinds of roles as possible, so who cares if the film is a little over the top''

Reputed within his talent agency SM Entertainment for being an assiduously hard worker, the amiable 20-year-old was born in Korea. He grew up in Los Angeles from the ages of 10-15, and it was there he was spotted in the street by an SM Entertainment scout.

He came back to Korea and took acting, singing and dance training and his first gig was on the TV series A Kiss Of April in 2004, at which point he immersed himself in acting lessons five times a week, taking three classes a day.

'The greatest attraction acting has for me is that you can learn all sorts of things while doing it,' he explains. 'You inhabit someone else's life and start to realise
things you wouldn't otherwise.'

Directors he would most like to work with include Park Chan-wook, whose Old Boy Kim says is a favourite, and the award-winning TV director Hwang In-roi.

'I would like to be known as an actor who works hard and is recognised for his talent,' says Kim. 'If there is one thing I've always wanted, it's to get a newcomer's prize. I missed that chance in television, but maybe there's still hope for me in films''

JEAN NOH

CONTACT: SM ENTERTAINMENT, (82) 2 6240 9800

FILMOGRAPHY

Attack Of The Pin-Up Boys (2007)
Dir: Lee Kwon

UPCOMING PROJECTS
Kim is currently looking at scripts