It’s a sad state of affairs that Kang Ji Hwan is in the States and so close yet still so far away because I’ve no time to go stalk him. Boo hoo to that. Since wrapping the weekend drama The Incarnation of Money in early Spring, Kang Ji Hwan took a short break and then quietly jetted to Los Angeles to start work on his next project, a road movie called Shoot for the Sun. Kang Ji Hwan is one of those actors that comfortably and predictably toggles between films and dramas with equal consistency and aplomb. Lately though, he’s been in the news more for agency contract disputes that makes me scratch my head. One agency contract dispute is pretty par for the course with most actors as they go from struggling unknown to established veteran, but for Kang Ji Hwan’s two disputes in three years, both of which landed him in some sort of black list, seems way too frequent. Hopefully it’s the last he’ll ever have to experience that since he started his own management company Choeun Entertainment (Cho for his real last name, and Eun for gratitude).

Being on that black list didn’t appear to harm his acting opportunities either, though the first time he did have to drop out of Faith which caused that drama to be sidelined until it was resurrected a year later with a completely different story and Lee Min Ho in the lead. His first project under his own management will be the aforementioned Shoot for the Stars, co-starring the always refreshing and down-to-earth Yoon Jin Seo (Return of Iljimae, Twelve Men in a Year). Not much is known about this movie other than its road theme and that Yoon Jin Seo plays a character described as a femme fatale. Directing is Kim Tae Sik of Tokyo Taxi and Red Vacation Black Wedding fame, and the location shoots will start in Las Vegas and end in LA. Kang Ji Hwan posted pictures on his twitter and agency website showing the cast and crew filming in the 43 degree Celsius heart of the Vegas desert. I love the shot of him sitting under the shade looking all exhausted with a fan in his lap. I would have been vastly disappointed if he was being catered to and had assistants fanning him. I like my stars self-sufficient and willing to rough and tumble it. If folks are in the environs of Vegas or LA, perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to chance upon the filming and gaze upon the always handsome Kang Ji Hwan in all his glory.