Song Kang could have taken a very different path before becoming one of Korea’s best-known actors.
During the August 26th episode of tvN’s You Quiz on the Block, the Sweet Home star revealed that he was once approached about becoming an idol while studying film at Konkuk University. Host Yoo Jae Suk immediately remarked that Song had the looks to be a boy band center.
Song, however, said there was a simple reason he turned the offer down.
“I can’t sing or dance,” he admitted.
Clips from his fan meetings, where the actor has shown a more awkward side while singing and dancing, were also featured on the show.
Song said acting wasn’t an obvious career choice at first either. His mom was initially skeptical, telling him, “Acting? You’re so introverted. Just learn a trade instead.”
His dad had a different response. “He told me that if it was something I liked, I should go for it,” Song recalled.
With his dad’s encouragement, Song enrolled in acting classes — though he quickly found himself questioning whether he belonged there.
“I had to act in front of the other students, but I was so embarrassed that I kept laughing,” he said. “Every time I went home, I’d wonder, ‘Should I really keep doing this?’ But I didn’t want to give up.”
That persistence eventually paid off. Three years after his debut, Song beat out roughly 900 other hopefuls for his breakout role in Netflix’s Love Alarm.
“I think I was just bold and confident back then,” he recalled of the audition. Song said he assumed another actor would get the part and was at a dermatologist’s office when the call came.
“When I heard I’d gotten it, my heart really started racing for the first time,” he said. “I was so happy on the way home.”
Before his acting career took off, Song supported himself with part-time jobs while in college, earning 5,000 won an hour. Even then, he said he used some of his earnings to buy gifts for his parents, including face masks for his mom, and thermal underwear for his dad.
After finding success with projects including the Sweet Home series, he was able to do something bigger.
“I bought my dad a car. It felt so good,” Song said, adding that he also began giving his parents spending money. “I thought, I need to become even more successful so I can do more for them.”
>> Song Kang Reveals How He Became Friends With BTS’ V During Military Service
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