Lee Jun Young is opening up about the difficult years he faced while promoting in Japan and making the transition into acting.
In a preview released July 6 for tvN’s You Quiz on the Block, Lee looked back on the early days after debuting with U-KISS in 2014 and beginning activities in Japan.
“I went there only knowing three Japanese phrases: ‘Konbanwa (good evening),’ ‘Konnichiwa (hello)’ and ‘Arigato gozaimasu (thank you),'” he said. “It was really brutal.”
Lee recalled one incident in which his agency dropped him off in the middle of Shibuya and told him to find his own way back to the dorm. “It was only 15 minutes away, but I couldn’t speak the language, and the company had taken my phone,” he said. “It took me four hours to get to the dorm.”
In another preview, Lee also opened up about the wounds he carried while trying to establish himself as an actor. Asked about the most hurtful thing he had heard, he grew emotional as he recalled being told, “Don’t cause trouble for the real actors.”
He also remembered secretly working part-time at a convenience store because of financial struggles, only to run into his manager on the job. “I was so embarrassed—I cried my eyes out,” he said.
After the preview was released, some online users speculated that the person behind the hurtful comment may have been So Jae Won, the writer of Goodbye to Goodbye, one of Lee’s early acting projects.
The writer strongly denied the claim on social media, writing, “I am absolutely not the person who said that to Lee Jun Young. I have never once hurt any actor with such vulgar comments,” he said, asking people to stop making assumptions and sending critical DMs.
So added that he had praised Lee’s effort and potential even after the drama ended, once saying, “Lee Jun Young will be remembered more as an actor than as a singer.”
He also said Lee or his agency was free to respond if his statement was untrue.
Lee Jun Young’s episode of You Quiz on the Block airs July 7 at 8:45 PM KST.
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