What Kyline Alcantara learned about acting from K-dramas

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) recently presented its new honorary ambassador, Kyline Alcantara, as part of its Ganda Korea campaign to celebrate the 10th year of its presence in the country.

KTO Manila director Hyung Joon Kim said they chose Kyline, who will serve as celebrity ambassador for two years, because firstly, she is interested in Korean culture and heritage.

“Another reason is that she has a wide range of charms and talents — she’s an actress, a singer and a performer,” added Kim.

“Lastly, Kyline is one of the Philippines’ most promising and influential young actresses and is active in a lot of SNS (social media) platforms, with over 19 million followers across her accounts. We believe that through her good image and influence, she can help us to reach and encourage more Filipinos to be potential supporters of Korea tourism like herself.”

In a separate statement, the 19-year-old felt very honored and grateful for the chance to be the face of Korean tourism efforts in the country, a position previously held by fellow actresses Jessy Mendiola and Sue Ramirez.

“As a fan of Korean food, dramas, music, it is a wonderful opportunity for me to learn more of not only K-dramas or K-pop but also Korean culture and what it has to offer to us Filipinos. I am very much excited as it will be my first time traveling to Korea,” she said.

In a one-on-one interview with The STAR, Kyline shared how much she has been influenced by K-culture.

She revealed that she actually learned certain acting techniques from a K-drama. “(The interest in K-dramas) started with my best friend when she introduced me to one show and the name was Scarlet Heart,” she said, citing the 2016 period drama Scarlet Heart Ryeo that became one of the commercially and critically successful K-dramas that year alongside Descendants of the Sun.

“(It was my) first time and parang ang hirap pagsabayin yung nanonood ka tapos binabasa mo yung subtitles. But then out of nowhere, I just fell in love with their acting, and the actors and actresses also. The rest is history.”

Kyline was around 13 years old when she first watched Scarlet Heart and there were certain “acting combinations” in the series that she eventually got to apply in her own dramas for GMA.

“Actually, naalala ko po ulit siya nung 15 years old ako because it’s really a heavy series and there were acting combinations there that I applied somehow in Kambal Karibal (in 2017),” she said, referring to her first primetime drama with GMA, which became one of the network’s most-watched shows at that time. It also earned her an acting nomination at the Asian Academy Creative Awards.

Kyline added that she also drew some Scarlet Heart inspiration for her subsequent series such as Inagaw na Bituin (2019) and Bilangan ang Bituin sa Langit (2020) with screen legend Nora Aunor.

“Especially with the confrontations. There was this scene na ang ganda talaga ng transition ng face ng actor from galit (angry) to loving to galit again,” she added of the series starring Lee Joon Gi and IU.

Her rom-com favorites, on the other hand, are Two Worlds Apart and Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo. She’s a fan of the former’s leading man Lee Jong Suk, whom she wishes to meet like how past ambassadors also encountered Korean stars, and Weightlifting’s Lee Sung Kyung because of her acting. “She’s so cute, she can be sassy and have this fierce face. She can be sexy also and fashionable,” gushed Kyline.

What she plans to watch next is the high-society-themed soap opera Penthouse so as, again, to find some nuggets of inspiration to help her improve her craft.

“Personally, I love challenging myself when it comes to my roles and with me watching the series, I’m challenging myself to figure out kung ano ba talaga pinagdadaanan ng actor or actress or character na yun — why they do the things that they do,” she explained. “Kasi for sure, for me, para ma-consider niyo po sarili niyo na magaling actress or marunong umarte, yung magagawan mo ng kulay yung character mo. Kumbaga ikaw na mismo gagawa ng background mo. And I’m just studying every time I watch a drama. Ang pinaka nagugustuhan ko po sa kanila ay subtle lang yung facial reactions nila pero tagos sa puso.”

Meanwhile, as part of her duty as the new ambassador, Kyline is expected to visit Korea and share her experiences during these trips via her social media pages. On KTO’s YouTube channel, she will be doing K-missions such as Kimbap or Dalgona candy making ala Squid Game.

She will also promote Korea at various events, arranged by KTO and other Korean government agencies. She officially started last April 30 for KTO’s first offline event in 2022 titled, Ganda Korea DIY Travel Seminar, to promote and educate Filipino travelers of how accessible and safe Korea is for individual travel. For the latest updates on traveling to South Korea, contact KTO Manila Office at (02)7358-0856 or via ktomanila@knto.or.kr.

During the launch, Kyline was teased by the press as to who she would like to tag along as travel buddy to her first visit to Korea.

She was quick to name Mavy Legaspi, her love team partner. “For sure, it’s Mavy because we both super love the fashion in Korea and parehas kami mahilig kumain.”

When pressed to spill their real score following some posts together on Instagram, Kyline laughingly explained, “What’s happening to the both of us or between us right now — it’s our own. No one else can ever understand it. I cannot call (our relationship as) bestfriends… (Is it more than that?) I really also can’t explain because kami lang dalawa talaga ang nakakaintindi.” She also said she’s not in a rush as she’s still young.

Nevertheless, Kyline already has an itinerary in mind when she finally goes to Korea once restrictions are further lifted and borders are opened.

She told The STAR, “I want to do a heritage tour and a food trip. I’ll have samgyupsal there. I want to go to famous places seen in Korean dramas like Coffee Prince or that Goblin passageway. I really want to do the mainstream (stuff), but at the same time, I also want to know the culture (through the off-beaten track). I want to feel like a local when I’m there. Every time I visit a country, gusto ko maramdaman na I’m like a local, not a tourist,” she said.