Actor Ahn Jae-wook Accepts Mature Roles, Both On and Off Screen

The heavy workload was starting to show on actor Ahn Jae-wook during a recent shoot on the set of the TV soap "Five Children".

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"We shoot six days a week for this 50-episode series. Then when I go home, my 2-month-old daughter keeps me busy", said a weary-looking Ahn.

As one of the first Korean stars to earn fame across Asia, Ahn's popularity predates the rise of the Korean Wave phenomenon in the mid-1990s.

Now, he said, his main worry is putting on weight, as he simply doesn't have time to exercise. In "Five Children", Ahn's first TV series in four years, he plays a single dad with two children.

Best known for roles in melodramas, Ahn confessed that he initially balked at the role of a married middle-aged man. "But naturally I accepted it, along with the changes in my life -- getting married and having a child".

Ahn, who also pursues a musical career as seriously as he does acting, underwent an operation to treat a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage after collapsing while in the U.S. three years ago. Last year he married a musical actress who paired with him in a musical and the couple welcomed their first child, a baby girl, early this year. "After the operation, I was angry and resentful. But now I think perhaps I've been given a second chance at a happy life", Ahn said.

"I don't handle constant public attention very well. That's why I take long breaks between projects and wait until fans start to wonder what I've been up to", Ahn said. "I want to be a mentor to younger actors, and continue to build my long-term acting career".