Park Ji Hyun Reveals Elite Background and Support from Doctor Father

On the 27th, actress Park Ji Hyun appeared as a guest on the tvN entertainment show 'You Quiz on the Block' and revealed details about her family background.

Park Ji Hyun shared that she had a TOEIC score of 900 during middle school. After graduating from the prestigious Chuncheon Girls' High School, she entered the Department of Spanish at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

She stated, "Originally, I wanted to major in Theater and Film. When I thought, 'What do I want to become?', I realized I wanted to be an actress. When I told my parents, they said, 'You have studied so much; going into Theater and Film now seems like an unreasonable move.' After entering university, I took classes only through the first semester of my freshman year and then immediately took a leave of absence."

She mentioned that she has attended countless auditions to become an actress, saying, "It might have been over 100 times. I usually don't go out much, so I stayed indoors constantly wondering, 'Is this the right path?' If there were a way to receive grades for my progress, I would have used that as motivation, but it was difficult because I couldn't measure my growth."

To portray a character living with a terminal illness in the Netflix production 'Eun-jung and Sang-yeon,' she even fasted for three weeks. She explained, "Sang-yeon was living a terminal life after being diagnosed with late-stage cancer. In thinking about how I could experience that pain even once, or how I could get as close to death as possible, I fasted. I lived for about three weeks consuming only water or coffee. I felt like my esophagus and stomach were sticking together. My body became thin, but my face was swollen. During filming, I would cry for about two hours before heading out to shoot."

She also sought advice from her father, a doctor who had undergone stomach cancer surgery. "My father was diagnosed with stomach cancer while 'Reborn Rich' was airing. We didn't know until he had surgery, and the whole family struggled. 'Eun-jung and Sang-yeon' is a work that reminded me of my father. By the time I received the script, my father was in a stable condition. I asked him, 'What kind of pain is it?' and 'What does it feel like?' He told me that if he hadn't had his family, he would have wanted to die. The moment I heard those words, I understood Sang-yeon's heart quite well," she said.