My Name Is... Julien Kang

Actor Julien Kang, appearing as Choi Daniel in MBC sitcom "High Kick 2", poses during an interview with 10Asia [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

My name is Julien Kang. They usually call me En Kang on set. I like the nickname.When shooting TV series "Dream", the producer's nickname was S Kang. He is bald, his eyes a bit big and he looks similar to my brother (Dennis Kang). So everyone calls him Producer S Kang. I should tell my brother about this too.Born on April 11, 1982 I'm 28-year-old in Korean age. Born in the year of the dog. Before I came to Korea, I knew all 12 animals which represent each year on the Chinese lunar calendar. It's sort of like the Chinese form of a horoscope, right?France is where I was born. My whole family lived in Spain when I was five and we all soon moved to Canada and have lived in Vancouver ever since.With my family I mostly talk to them over the phone or chat with them. My dad's younger brother and other relatives live in Busan so I wanted to go over the Chuseok thanksgiving holidays but didn't get to because I had to go into shoot.Because I lived in several countries I speak English, French, Portugese and Korean. It doesn't take me too long to learn a new language. I think I've found the easy way to. But I sometimes mix Korean with Portugese. Oh, I think it's because I know too many words.My brothers speak Korean not too well. My mother does not know Korean either but she has been learning the language recently. I send her all of my work and I think she's always watching those too. Anyway, I speak Korean the best out of my family!When I was young, an athlete was what I wanted to become when I grow up. I had wanted to be a soccer player but they don't play the sport that much in Canada so I couldn't.Sports is something I still enjoy doing. I go to the gym often and do martial arts and swimming almost everyday. I stay up all night often when I'm on shoots. And I was sick with a cold for about two days recently. So I try to eat good food everyday. Healthy food like vegetables and fruits.In Korea, when I don't speak, people think I'm just a foreigner. But my dad is Korean so I think I'm Korean. When I go overseas, they know I'm of mixed blood.Korean people have good personalities. They're warmhearted. They're a bit shy in the beginning but they'll treat you like family once you know them for a long time. I've also learned to respect my elders more.Actress Kim Ja-ok from "High Kick 2" is so kind. Her personality is like that of a mother. I sometimes make mistakes in speaking Korean to her because I get confused with the polite terms but she understands. Actor Lee Soon-jae helps me a lot too. He's a great actor so he may seem a bit scary but he truly treats me very well.Gwang-soo, Choi Daniel and Joon-hyuk are all very close. We hang out together a lot backstage and they teach me how to pronounce certain words in Korean. I practice on my intonation the most. I have to watch out for it because the intonation is weaker with Korean than English. Oh, and Jung-eum is funny. She sometimes has lines in English and she'll come to me and ask "Julien, how do I say this!"Shin-ae is so cute. I'm usually very good with kids. Shin-ae is very sweet and so funny that I'm always making jokes with her in between shoots. We understand each other and we sometimes talk in English too. When her mother came, she asked me to help Shin-ae practice her English. But her English... she needs to study a bit more.In November, my brother will go to England for a match. I want to go but it's too far and I will be shooting so I'll probably call him to cheer for him. I'm going to tell him which techniques to use. Michael Bisping looks scary? Don't worry, he's not. His punch won't be that strong. I'm stronger than Bisping.I met with fighter Remy Bonjasky while shooting "Dream" and we got to talk a lot. We're good friends now. I know a lot of K-1 athletes. Jerome Le Banner is close with our family and I root for him because he's French. Me and my dad had dinner with him when he came to Korea two weeks ago.The athlete I personally like is Lyoto Machida because like me, he is of mixed blood of Japanese and Brazilian. He's a great champion.The three most important things in my life are family, honesty and modesty. No matter how famous you are, you have to be modest. I hate people who are arrogant. It's great meeting celebrities who are modest. I really get to respect them. Some people say I've become famous too but that's not true. People just recognize me because I appear on TV. I act because it's fun. It's sort of like art and I like showing. The emotions and stories.Reporter : Yoon Hee-Seong nine@10asia.co.krPhotographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@10asia.co.krEditor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr, Jang Kyung-Jin three@10asia.co.kr<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>