Jo Kwon, NU’EST‘s Ren, ASTRO‘s MJ and actor Shin Joo Hyup had been cast as the main lead of the hit musical, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
The story tells about a high school boy’s journey to fulfilling his dream of becoming a drag queen while under the pressure of bullies who taunt him for being homosexual and “abnormal”.
Although four very different stars are playing Jamie, Jo Kwon revealed that they each have their own rendition of the character.
Since this is a replica performance, I thought we’d be very similar but it’s fun seeing how we each express Jamie differently.
We’re all similar in some ways but also have different charms. I think that’s why we have audiences who come to see multiple shows.
— Jo Kwon
When asked how each of the other actors portrayed Jamie, Jo Kwon started off by praising Joo Hyup for his strong foundations in the musical business and his portrayal of the genderless Jamie.
Joo Hyup has a strong foundation from his career as a musical actor, and he’s got good strength. He also highlights the character’s genderless trait well.
— Jo Kwon
Jo Kwon revealed that MJ was perfect for the role as he himself was very boyish. MJ was able to fit into the Jamie’s role and really bring out the character’s boyish charms.
MJ’s overall image is like a boy. Portraying Jamie who’s 17-years-old, MJ really brings out his naive and immature side well. He has a cutesy charm about him.
— Jo Kwon
On the other hand, Jo Kwon was surprised by how much wit and spunk Ren had kept to himself! He was glad that Ren was able to let go and allow a completely new side of him to come out.
I was very surprised by Ren. He brought forth his inner persona and showcased his hidden charms to the fullest. He has a lot of charm, so I knew he wasn’t a ‘normal kid’.
— Jo Kwon
Considering how it was MJ and Ren’s first musical performance ever, Jo Kwon gave them one key advice: enjoy it!
You guys were blessed for your first musical. Our team’s atmosphere is great, and when else would you get the chance to showcase your charms as much as you want?
— Jo Kwon
When asked how it was to work with the Jamie cast all together, Jo Kwon had nothing but praise for his colleagues. They all worked so hard to research for the role and helped each other find their own “Jamies”!
While researching about the character, Ren and MJ asked me a lot about the attitude and script dialogue. Joo Hyup also hit a wall on his research and asked me for advice too.
That’s why I watched a lot of videos about drag queens and shared with them the attitudes that I’ve seen through my own experiences. All four of us researched a lot for Jamie.
As soon as we took a step on the practice room floor, we spent most of the time with our attitudes changed to Jamie and it helped a lot.
— Jo Kwon
No one could’ve asked for a better cast team than these four treasured musical actors!
