Han Ji-eun’s Costly K-Drama Failure Led to a Priceless Connection with Lee Min-ho: “He Reached Out First”
On the June 11 episode of MBC’s variety show Radio Star, actress Han Ji-eun appeared alongside Do Ji-won, Kim Geum-soon, and Cha Chung-hwa for the “Actors’ World” special. During the show, she shared behind-the-scenes stories from her recent work.
Reflecting on filming When the Stars Gossip with Lee Min-ho, she revealed that she was initially intimidated by his striking visuals. “Min-ho has such strong features, I thought it would be hard to approach him or become friends,” she admitted. “But he turned out to be so down-to-earth.”
Han continued, “After the first script reading, we had a cast dinner. He broke the ice by saying, ‘We’re the same age, let’s be friends.’ He made it really easy to connect, and we got close quickly on set.”
She praised Lee Min-ho further, sharing that he frequently organized informal gatherings even when there were no official wrap parties. “He would book restaurants and invite everyone after shoots — really thoughtful,” she said.
Han Ji-eun starred in When the Stars Gossip alongside Lee Min-ho and Gong Hyo-jin. Despite its massive production budget of 50 billion KRW (~$37 million USD), the drama failed to meet expectations, drawing in ratings of just 1–2%. Its peak was 3.9%, with the finale closing at only 2.6%.
While the show may not have hit ratings gold, for Han Ji-eun, it provided a lasting personal gain: “Even though the drama didn’t do well, I got a top star friend out of it.”
