Lee Byung-hun’s Severe Panic Disorder “Worried About Collapsing During Live Broadcasts”
On March 15, the YouTube channel “DdeunDdeun” uploaded a video featuring Lee Byung-hun.
During the episode, Lee Byung-hun candidly addressed his viral memes, admitting, “I was honestly embarrassed and ashamed at first, but then I decided to embrace it. I thought, ‘I’ll sublimate this. I’ll show you even more.’”
He also mentioned that directors have subtly incorporated dance moves into his films. He teased an unexpected scene in his upcoming project with director Park Chan-wook, “There’s a dance scene in the film. It’s something you’d never expect, and personally, I love it.”
Lee Byung-hun also shared the backstory of his appearance in PSY’s music video, “PSY had been asking me for years to be in his MV. I initially declined, telling him, ‘I’m out of touch with music videos. It might do more harm than good.’” However, PSY’s persistence finally wore him down, “A year or two later, he asked again. I dodged it successfully, but his determination was next level. At some point, I just thought, ‘Fine, I’m going to end up doing this eventually, so I might as well do it while I’m still young!’”
Lee Byung-hun added, “That kind of persistence is why he’s so successful.”
Lee Byung-hun also explained how Shin Dong-yup convinced him to appear on “SNL Korea”, “Shin Dong-yup’s persistence is on another level. He literally stayed over at my house for three nights.”
Recalling the moment, he said, “One day, he just showed up at my place with four bottles of wine. By the time he opened the third bottle, I knew something was up, so I told him to stop. Sure enough, he immediately brought up ‘SNL Korea’.”
Despite his close friendship with Shin Dong-yup, Lee Byung-hun confessed he was hesitant due to his struggle with panic disorder, “I have anxiety when it comes to being on stage or live broadcasts. It makes me feel exposed. I kept thinking, ‘What if I suddenly have a panic attack on air?’”
He shared, “As an actor, I’m comfortable playing a role. But the moment I introduce myself as ‘Lee Byung-hun’, I start feeling short of breath.” Shin Dong-yup’s relentless persuasion continued. “He came over again the next night, stayed until 2 AM, and I still refused. Then, the next day, he rang my doorbell. Since I usually stay home when I’m not filming, he knew I’d be there.”
Eventually, Lee Byung-hun gave in. He revealed, “I realized there was no escaping it, so I just said, ‘Fine, I’ll do it.’” Reflecting on his decision, he added, “Because I couldn’t say no, now I’ve become a living meme factory.”
Lee Byung-hun also shared a heartwarming story about his son, “Last year, I decided to show my son my movies for the first time. There was even a special exhibition where they screened one of my films each day for a week.” He chose to show him “Masquerade” first. He caused laughter by saying, “Until then, he probably just thought I was a YouTube meme star.”
Lee Byung-hun was deeply moved when his son started crying while watching the film, “His eyes were swollen from crying so much. I thought, ‘Wow, he really got immersed in it.’” However, when Lee Byung-hun asked what part made him cry, his son unexpectedly answered, “It wasn’t any of your scenes, Dad. It was when Captain Do died.”