[Sportschosun Kim Soo-hyun] Actor Lee Jun-young candidly opened up about the difficult period he went through as he tried to establish himself as an actor amid prejudice against idol-turned-actors.
On the August 8 episode of tvN's variety show "You Quiz on the Block," Lee Jun-young appeared and spoke honestly about the trial-and-error he experienced early in his acting career, as well as his passion for acting.
That day, Yoo Jae-suk said, "I heard that you got scripts on your own, studied by yourself, and kept going with the mindset that 'if I give up, I'll become a loser,' even after failing more than 100 auditions."
Lee Jun-young laughed and replied, "That's right. I kept going with the thought, 'I'm going to keep going until it works. I'm going to do it.'" Yoo Jae-suk agreed, saying, "You can't just worry when things don't go the way you want. You have to keep moving forward."
But when he first began working as an actor, he had to face considerable prejudice simply because he came from an idol background.
Lee Jun-young recalled, "Back then, the bias against idol-turned-actors was much stronger than it is now. Things have changed a lot, but the prejudice was intense at the time."
He added, "The most hurtful thing I heard was, 'Don't cause trouble and go back.'" He continued, "Whenever I went to the set, it felt like the day started with a sigh and ended with a sigh."
He said, "The day before filming, I would even think, 'How am I supposed to go to the set tomorrow?' I worried a lot about whether I should start by saying, 'I'm sorry' or 'I'll work hard.'"
"I went to the set with the mindset that I would endure whatever anyone said," he said. "In the end, I thought the only way for the comments to stop was for me to do better."
He also shared an episode that showed his strong sense of responsibility on set. Lee Jun-young said, "Once, I slipped and fell during filming and injured the cartilage in my knee." He added, "The director suggested using a stand-in, but I asked, 'After today's shoot, I may never get another chance to stand on this set. I'll do my best, so please let me do it one more time.'"
He ultimately finished the shoot and said, "After filming ended, I went to the emergency room and got a pain-relief injection."
Lee Jun-young added, "I thought I had to go that far to be recognized. I kept my ears open, my mouth shut, and worked quietly and steadily."
Meanwhile, Lee Jun-young, who debuted as a member of the idol group U-KISS before turning to acting, has been steadily building his reputation through a range of projects, including "Deserter Pursuit (D.P.)," "Mask Girl," "Weak Hero Class 2," and "When Life Gives You Tangerines."
shyun@sportschosun.com
