Actor Jung Woo plays Dong-ju in the SLL drama Miraculous Brothers. His character is a talented but unpublished novelist whose part-time income doesn’t quite pay the rent. Like many struggling writers Dong-ju is in debt and his mother is constantly getting in trouble, creating more financial problems for him.

Before he became known for his roles in dozens of Korean films and TV dramas such as Reply 1988, Reply 1994 and Mad For Each Other, Jung Woo faced his own struggles while pursuing his dream of becoming an actor. He also knows what it’s like to be a writer as he wrote the screenplay for the 2009 film Wish, which he starred in.

“I think it’s a rare and lucky opportunity for an actor to write a script and act at the same time,” said Jung Woo. “In hindsight, those experiences set a great foundation for my acting career.”

Jung Woo takes no credit for creating or even influencing the complex character of Dong-ju. “I would rather like to give more credit to the scriptwriter of this drama who has given the character abundant descriptions and powerful stories which helped me to act with a full range of emotions. I could feel the pain in every word of the script that the screenwriter might have gone through while writing this drama.”

Feeling the pain of others plays a central role in Miraculous Brothers. One day Dong-ju is driving home when a young man seems to fly through the air and hit his car. The young man dies in the emergency room and then mysteriously comes back to life, calling Dong-ju “brother” before lapsing into a coma. When Dong-ju examines the young man’s backpack, he finds a Rubik's cube, floppy discs, a copy of Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil and a manuscript titled God Is Dead. He’s even more intrigued when the manuscript seems like it could be a bestseller. Desperate for cash and professional validation, he pretends the manuscript is his and it becomes a bestseller. Dong-ju’s actions underlie the premise of Beyond Good and Evil. He isn’t good or evil. He’s a basically good guy who makes plenty of dubious moral decisions.

Kang San, played by Bae Hyun-sun, eventually wakes up from his coma and wonders about his backpack, putting Dong-ju in a difficult position. He also quickly displays some supernatural powers. Kang San can feel others’ pain and despair. Engulfed in their suffering he tries to help them with his supernatural abilities. Despite his noble intentions he also sometimes inflicts pain.

“Dong-ju worries about the power that Kang-san has and also finds himself included in chasing down the truth,” said Jung Woo. “And they become closer after finding Dong-ju has something to do with a person who holds the important key to solving the mystery.”

When Jung Woo took the role of Dong-ju he didn’t immediately feel he was similar to the character.

“At the beginning, I didn’t have a deeper thought on him,” said Jung Woo. “I rather focused more on the script that depicts Dong-joo in a delicate way. But, as I got to know him, it struck me that meeting Dong-joo was a destiny because we have something in common. In Miraculous Brothers, Dong-joo’s father ran a bookstore and spent time with Dong-joo. And he died when Dong-joo was young. Since I was three years old my father also ran a bookstore. He ran it for his whole life and he passed away when I was in high school. I thought it’s more than just coincidence, so I wondered if my life was reflected in the script deliberately. It turned out that it was sheer coincidence, but I guess the scriptwriter might have been surprised as well.”

He chose the role in Miraculous Brothers because it was refreshingly different from the other scripts he’d seen

“My previous projects tended to reflect real-life stories and episodes,” said Jung Woo. “Some of them like New Trial, which revolved around certain central events, were also based on true stories. However, Miraculous Brothers was a drama with a genre and plot device that I have never tried before. It was a fantasy drama revolving around time slip and murder. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of synergy I would have with a project like Miraculous Brothers.”

The roles he chooses have no common denominator. Generally, he just chooses roles that he likes, with some valuable input from his management.

“For example, I was lucky enough to encounter New Trial at the time when I was hoping to play a character that seems snobbish and goofy, yet really is genuine and righteous deep inside his heart. As for the movie The Himalayas, I could see myself in the character Park Moo-taek, while I was drawn to C'est Si Bon just because I was a fan of the music from that era. ”

Although Jung Woo has written one screenplay and since worked on another he does not really see himself as a screenwriter. He’s grateful for his acting career. “In a nutshell, being an actor is a dream and a profession for me and something that takes up a large portion of my life and keeps me alive.

The SLL drama, which also stars Park Yeo-rim, Oh Man-seok and Lee Ki-woo, airs on Viki.com in the US.