An Actor At Work

If playing fictional roles is all one has ever known, perhaps it might be easier to glue oneself in a constant act of pretence.

- Manfred Lu

With acting, much of the process in the work is reliant on metamorphosing: the job might call for one to adopt different personalities even if they are far from their personal experiences a heartbroken ex-lover while at the same time, a perturbed student facing the realities of life. Thus, it is not abstract to assume that the self they share on social media is easier to see as simply another role they play on the screen.

But not for South Korean actor Kim Young Dae. For the 27-year-old actor, any time spent away from acting is an opportunity to sit with an honest version of himself. His Instagram is full of social wit, with numerous posts unabashedly down-to-earth and inherently true to what one would expect of a young adult around his age - his vacation snapshots and photo booth selcas (selfies) with co-star Pyo Ye-jin proves no presence of a risk-averse, manufactured feed.