Celebrity

Lee Junho on his uneasy journey before becoming a popular actor, his hardships during 2PM promotions, and more 

Lee Junho once blamed himself for being “useless”. 

Lee Junho is undoubtedly one of the most popular and successful young actors at the moment. After winning the Popularity Award and Best Actor in the TV drama category at the 2022 Baeksang Arts Awards, he has become the most sought-after star. Rumors in the industry that ‘all drama scripts go to Lee Junho’ are not groundless at all. But before making it big, Lee Junho also underwent a long period of hardship. To be fair, the presence of 2PM’s Junho as a singer used to be ambiguous.

Lee Junho

2PM has been loved by the public since their debut. The JYP boy group rose to the top within just a month. Since there were so many outstanding members in 2PM, Junho’s presence was somewhat reduced. His role was limited to performances on stage. However, if he continued to stay there and be frustrated with his situation, wouldn’t there be no current Lee Junho? 

Lee Junho guested in the latest episode of tvN’s “You Quiz on the Block” which aired on June 29th. He candidly told his stories, which have become a comfort to many viewers who are going through a hard time. Lee Junho also proved his huge popularity by revealing that he has received about 100 drama scripts since MBC’s “The Red Sleeve”. His childhood dream of “going global to Hollywood, Oscar, and Cannes” is no longer far-fetched. 

2pm

Lee Junho said, “When I have a goal like that, I work hard to achieve it. That’s the foundation for my development, so I tend to dream big.” 

Lee Junho entered his 10th year of acting this year. He made his debut as an actor through the movie “Cold Eyes”. Since then, he has been building up his filmography step by step by appearing in various dramas such as KBS2’s “Good Manager”, JTBC’s “Wok Of Love”, tvN’s “Confession”. His most successful drama is without doubt MBC’s “The Red Sleeve”, which recorded the highest nationwide viewership rating of 17.4%. 

“I stayed at the dorm a lot during 2PM, and it was really lonely.”

the red sleeve

Lee Junho’s career has not been smooth since the start. On the show, Lee Junho talked about the difficulties he faced as a singer. 2PM rose to the top of the music industry as soon as they debuted, and the other members who were very popular started acting around the same time. Lee Junho recalled that he himself had always dreamed of acting, but he never thought of asking the company about it. At the time, acting was just a dream he had alone.

“I stayed at the dorm a lot. At that time. I had a lot of thoughts and felt really lonely. It wasn’t about jealousy at all. I just thought, ‘When will I be able to fully show what I have to people?’”

2pm-junho

As other members’ individual activities increased, Lee Junho had more time alone at the dorm. He could have lost his confidence and fallen into a sense of self-doubt. Lee Junho said that he thought a lot about ‘when will people recognize me’. In that situation, Junho focused on what he could do best, which was doing acrobats on stage. However, he got seriously injured during practice.

While looking at the hospital ceiling, the thought that was in Lee Junho’s head the most was, ‘Wow, I’m useless’. He couldn’t undergo a surgery right away because he was in the middle of promotions. He took a pain reliever and went on stage with his teeth clenched. So he endured the pain for a few years and eventually had surgery. An unexpected opportunity came when he was in bed for a week. It was an audition for the movie “Cold Eyes”.

Lee Jun Ho

Lee Junho said, “I went to the audition even when I had a cast and was in a situation where I had yet to recover. My face was very swollen. I was so desperate. I don’t know if the director recognized my enthusiasm, but he gave me a good opportunity and that’s when I started my acting career.” 

The desperation and determination of Lee Junho, who attended the audition with a sick body, paid off. He passed the audition for “Cold Eyes” and delivered an impressive performance. His passion and sincerity as shown in his acting are astonishing. When he starred in “Wok Of Love”, Lee Junho rented a studio to immerse himself in the character and closed the curtains even during the day. He did not see the sunlight for five months. He also lost 16kg during the filming of “The Red Sleeve”. 

Lee Jun Ho

When Yoo Jaesuk asked why he put in such harsh efforts, Lee Junho said with humility that he wanted to work especially harder to fill in his shortcomings as an actor. It was phenomenal to see him immerse himself in his characters, even when what it took was giving himself a tough time.    

When asked about his future goals, Lee Junho said, “I want to keep my mentality as it is right now. It’s not shaken. I’m not struggling. I think I’ve improved over the past 15 years. I’m neither too happy nor too sad. But still, there are times when it’s very lonely to keep it under control like that…”

Lee Jun Ho

After 15 years in the entertainment industry, Lee Junho seems to have reached a point where he has a mindset that is neither too happy nor too sad. But because of this, he can feel empty and lonely sometimes. 

Yoo Jaesuk then advised Lee Junho, who is careful in expressing his emotions and everything he does, saying, “Sometimes you need to listen to your feelings and be honest. As long as the other person doesn’t feel uncomfortable, we should be honest with our feelings.”  

Lee Junho

Lee Junho rose to the top of the music industry with 2PM, but in a way, those days were not entirely the heyday for Junho. It was a time when he was rather ‘hungry‘ for more, because he had a dream of acting.  Nevertheless, he did his best in his role and looked for opportunities. Thankfully, his sincerity did not betray him, and it was his enthusiasm that gave him success.

You may get frustrated because your current job isn’t working out, or when you suffer from unexpected injuries or are in a slump. You may find ourselves useless at times and feel like giving up on everything. These are the feelings that we all encounter in life. Perhaps these words said by Lee Junho when he was 21 years old during his appearance in SBS’s variety show “Strong Heart” will bring you comfort.

Lee Jun Ho

“I think that each of us will get attention at different times as the four seasons pass. I believe that my season will only come a little later” – Lee Junho. 

Source: daum

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