Kim Hyun-joo Considers Selling Fruit from a Delivery Truck During 3-Year Hiatus

Actress Kim Hyun-joo has revealed the reason why she halted her activities for three years in the past. After continuing filming and broadcasting without a break for nearly five years, she became completely exhausted in both mind and body, eventually even considering quitting acting altogether. During her hiatus, she gave an unexpected twist by revealing she even imagined a life traveling the country in a delivery truck to sell fruit.

On the 11th, Kim Hyun-joo, Lee Moo-saeng, and Jin Seon-kyu appeared on the YouTube channel 'Fairy Jae-hyung'. On this day, Kim Hyun-joo spoke honestly about the times she ran relentlessly as an actress and her feelings at the time when she had no choice but to choose a long hiatus.

Kim Hyun-joo recalled those times, saying, "Since I ran without resting for about five years, I wanted to escape." She said the filming schedule was so tight that if she fell asleep lying down, the makeup artist would cleanse her face and reapply makeup. While balancing not only drama filming but also activities as an MC for variety programs, it was difficult to find time for her body and mind to rest. She stated, "While balancing dramas and variety MC roles, my soul was completely exhausted," adding, "Thinking I wouldn't be able to live like this anymore, I spoke to my agency and suspended my activities."

In particular, after finishing the major drama 'The Land', the psychological burden was so great that she declared she would quit acting itself. Although she was recognized for her acting skills by receiving several awards at the time, Kim Hyun-joo herself could not escape the pressure regarding the work. She confessed, "It was an overwhelming work for me," and "I felt so sorry and even got goosebumps, thinking I had ruined a major production." Contrary to external evaluations, she had been suffering from self-reproach, feeling she had not performed the work properly.

Eventually, Kim Hyun-joo left for the United Kingdom around the age of 27. In the process of living alone for the first time and adapting to a new environment, she also realized that there were not as many things she could do independently as she thought. She said, "Living alone in the United Kingdom for the first time, I realized there was nothing I could do by myself." She also shared a moment that drew laughter, revealing that she attended a language academy but quit out of embarrassment upon encountering a Korean person.

During her hiatus, what Kim Hyun-joo contemplated was not simply a matter of taking a rest. She seriously considered the possibility of living with a different profession other than being an actor. She revealed, "While wondering what I could do if I didn't do this job, I even thought about buying a delivery truck and doing the fruit business." She added that she even made a specific plan to travel the country and sell the 'prettiest fruit in the world.' It is an imagination quite different from the image of actress Kim Hyun-joo familiar to the public.

However, it was not that her feelings for acting had completely disappeared. As time passed and she returned to South Korea, she missed the filming sets again. Just then, an opportunity to meet a good work arrived, and rather than forcing herself back to her former pace, Kim Hyun-joo decided to return with the mindset of 'doing only one work per year.' It was a choice to continue acting at her own pace, unlike her past of running without rest.

Was there no economic burden while resting for three years? When Jung Jae-hyung asked directly, Kim Hyun-joo replied, "I had a little bit saved up," and "I worked a lot when I was young and filmed many commercials, so I had money to spend." The career she had steadily built up through consistent activities since her youth became the foundation that allowed her to endure the long hiatus.

Even a glamorous life as an actress may need a pause in the face of endless schedules and pressures. For Kim Hyun-joo, the three-year hiatus was not simply a time of resting from work, but a period of reconsidering whether she could continue acting and what kind of life she would lead in the future. The process of her, who even imagined driving a delivery truck to sell fruit, eventually standing before the camera again, shows the fact that sometimes one must stop to finally find the path they desire.

Read the original (Korean)