Alex Hafner was in Italy when he got the script for the Korean drama When The Stars Gossip. Hafner was born in Vienna then lived in Madrid and Singapore before attending school in the U.S. so he’s fluent in German, Spanish, English and French. He did not, however, speak Korean. Although the script was difficult to decipher he decided to audition anyway.

“The translation I had was not an official translation, so it was kind of wacky,” said Hafner. “All I knew was that it was a space thing in Korea. I auditioned for it, they liked it. And then a week later I was in Korea. It just happened so fast and then I didn't really know I was going to be there for so long. Originally, it was supposed to be six months and then it ended up being about a year.”

Hafner received the script a week or two before finishing his part in Vampire Academy, an American fantasy horror series, shot in Spain, where he currently lives. His character in When The Stars Gossip is Santiago Gonzalez Garcia, an astronaut from IOU Space Center, who is present in a significant part of the storyline. Non-Korean actors rarely have ongoing roles in Korean dramas. Sometimes non-Korean actors will be called on to shake hands during a fictional presentation or to sign a contract on a fictional international deal. They might return a few times to seal the deal. But Santiago aka Santi is a series regular.

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