Korean soccer player cast as lead in Spanish film

Yang Jae-woo has been cast as the male lead in the upcoming Spanish film "Sigue Mi Voz (Follow My Voice)," marking the first time a Korean actor has taken a leading role in a Spanish feature film, industry officials confirmed Wednesday.

Yang, 24, a soccer player and actor, will play Kang, a radio host and singer, in the romance film scheduled for release on Sept. 12. The film is based on Venezuelan writer Ariana Godoy's web novel, which has garnered 36.8 million views on Wattpad, a platform owned by Korean tech giant Naver.

Godoy's previous work "Through My Window," originally posted on Wattpad from 2016 to 2018, was adapted into a Netflix hit in 2022 and topped charts in 22 regions.

"Sigue Mi Voz" follows Klara (Berta Castane), who's spent months holed up at home after a mental health crisis, listening to nothing but her favorite radio show. She falls for the voice of Kang, a late-night show host she has never met, and slowly finds her way back into the world. The film is produced by Webtoon Production, a Webtoon Entertainment affiliate, along with Spain's Zeta Studios and Beta Fiction Spain.

The producers stuck to the original story's setup, where Kang is explicitly described as Korean. To match the original character's profiles, they held open auditions specifically seeking a Korean actor fluent in Spanish who could play the guitar and soccer, according to director Ines Pintor, who spoke to Vogue Spain in June.

Yang moved to Spain at 11 years old in 2012 to join Villarreal CF's youth team. He currently plays for Mostoles CF, based in an autonomous community of Madrid, and coaches the team's youth squad.