Chun Woo-hee Recalls Criticism Over Her Appearance During Unknown Days, “I Became Determined To Show Myself”

Actress Chun Woo-hee, who recently gained attention with Netflix’s series “The 8 Show” and JTBC’s drama “The Atypical Family”, guested on the new episode of tvN’s “You Quiz on the Block”, which aired on June 5th. 

Chun Woo-hee is from Icheon where her mother ran a traditional meal restaurant for 30 years. Currently, her brother has taken over the business and operates it as a famous restaurant in Seoul.

Recalling when she joined auditions for acting opportunities, Chun Woo-hee said, “My people told me that I looked a little ugly to be an actress although my acting was good”, adding “Since I always failed in the final round, I felt discouraged, but it didn’t hurt me. I just wondered how better I should do next time”.

She shared, “When I searched for actors of my age, no one was similar to me. So I thought, ‘It’s all or nothing’, ‘I should show them what I have’, ‘I’ll show them my face as a good actor and I’ll do it with my face’”.

Chun Woo-hee emerged as a rising star in Chungmuro after showcasing her impressive acting skills in “Sunny” (2011) and “Han Gong-ju” (2014). With “Han Gong-ju”, she even won Best Leading Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Award. 

Revealing that she got close to Kim Hye-soo and Uhm Jung-hwa as they watched “Han Gong-ju” and contacted her, Chun Woo-hee said, “Every time we met, we would spend all day long together. We talk about all kinds of topics and it always feels great to be with them”.

Making another acting transformation in JTBC’s “Be Melodramatic” (2019), Chun Woo-hee confessed that she decided to appear in this drama because of advice from senior actor Han Seok-kyu. The actress shared, “Senior Han Seok-kyu must have thought I had a hard time after acting in projects that are too dramatic. He told me, ‘Woo-hee ah, love is the emotion we can express the most. Love can capture various aspects of a human. Try expressing the love you can experience at your age in your work, too’. That’s why I chose the drama”.

When asked to say something about herself 10 years later, Chun Woo-hee said, “I think I would be better than now. I want to go to unexplored places. I feel like I can do anything and have the responsibility to complete any given role when acting”.