According to Newsen, in the video introducing the new episode of the variety show Jeon Hyun Moo Plan 2, actor Jung Sung Il appeared as a guest and frankly shared his journey to become an actor.
According to Jung Sung Il, he is always passionate about acting. After dropping out of college in his first year, at the age of 21, he packed his luggage and moved to Seoul to start his acting career. Jung Sung Il has spent 5 years working in the theater industry at Daehak-ro.
The actor admitted that for a long time he was just an unknown face, immersed in forgetting things that were really difficult to forget.
Jung Sung Il recalled that he had to do "nearly all part-time jobs" to make a living. In which, most of the work is related to on-demand driving and parking services.
At times, he has to park his car for a coffee shop during the day and work at a bar in the evening.
Although it is not uncommon for actors to do such jobs, Jung Sung Il shocked everyone by revealing that he still works part-time even after the drama The Glory ended.
The Glory is a Netflix original series, with 2 parts, airing in late 2022 and early 2023.
The psychological drama, revenge starring Song Hye Kyo, Lee Do Hyun, Lim Ji Yeon has achieved resounding results, becoming the most successful Korean drama in 2023, and also winning the Best Drama award at the Baeksang Arts Awards 2023.
In The Glory, Jung Sung Il plays a supporting role in Ha Do Yeong, the rich husband of villain Yeon Jin (Lim Ji Yeon) - a member of the bullying club for female lead Moon Dong Eun (Song Hye Kyo) in high school.
Although he only played a supporting role, Jung Sung Il impressed with his acting, charisma and attracted a large number of audiences. In fact, Jung Sung Il's character was "shipped" with the female lead played by Song Hye Kyo, replacing Lee Do Hyun's character.
After The Glory, Jung Sung Il received the main role in Disney+s Unmasked, co-starring Kim Hye Soo and Joo Jong Hyuk, which will air in early 2025.
Jung Sung Il will soon appear as the lead in the movie Murderer Report with Cho Yeo Jeong in early September.
The 45-year-old actor's confession that he still has to work part-time despite a successful film has caused controversy among audiences.
Many opinions say that a successful project is not necessarily for all the cast to benefit from, but the main benefits belong to the main actors. The main actor's salary alone has accounted for the majority of the production cost and has caused controversy for a long time.
According to the media, top Korean actors receive a salary of hundreds of millions of won for a drama, even some actors are paid billions of won per episode (like Lee Jung Jae in Squid Game).
Throughout his career of more than 20 years, Jung Sung Il has mainly played supporting roles and small roles, so it is possible that he will have financial difficulties and not be able to make ends meet through acting.
