Lee Joon Hyuk is pulling back the curtain on the darker side of his early days in the entertainment industry.
In a candid interview uploaded Friday to the YouTube channel Una Beck’s Give and Take, titled “Lee Joon Hyuk: [Love Scout] [Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard],” the actor opened up about his journey into acting, the harsh treatment he faced early on, and the passion that keeps him going.
A longtime cinephile with dreams of becoming a director, Lee Joon Hyuk reflected on his first foray into filmmaking. “At first, I ambitiously tried to direct a short film. I just dove right in,” he said. “I was supposed to guide the actors, but even with my academy training, I felt lost. Looking back, I’m honestly embarrassed.”
That humbling experience pushed him to take acting more seriously, but it came with its own set of challenges.
“Back then, film sets were brutal,” he recalled. “We’d work all night, get yelled at constantly, and were often treated as less than human.” One incident still sticks with him: “They’d say, ‘Actors need to drink,’ and make us drink the night before. Then the next morning, we’d show up and they’d yell, ‘How could an actor show up drunk?'” He added, “Now that I look back, there were so many rude and unreasonable things. I used to wonder, Why am I only ever this kind of person? But pushing through those moments gave me strength.”
Lee Joon Hyuk also spoke about his deep curiosity and hunger to improve. “I had a burning need to understand what I didn’t know,” he said. “Some senior actors could figure out scene blocking after one read, and it infuriated me that I couldn’t. That feeling stayed with me for years, and honestly, it still does.”
His words offered a glimpse into the relentless passion that has shaped his career.
Lee Joon Hyuk made his screen debut in 2007, appearing in the music video for Typhoon’s “I’ll Wait.” He quickly gained recognition through his roles in SBS dramas, including First Wives’ Club, City Hunter, and Secret Garden. In 2012, he took on his first villainous role in the KBS drama “Man from the Equator.” Since then, he’s earned critical acclaim for his performances in tvN’s Stranger and Designated Survivor: 60 Days, as well as in box office hits like Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds and The Roundup: No Way Out.
