Lee Sun-bin Reveals How She Deceived Agency to Appear on I Can See Your Voice

Lee Sun-bin has revealed that she secured an appearance on Mnet’s I Can See Your Voice by arranging auditions herself and asking production staff to make it look as though they had formally invited her, keeping her agency unaware of the plan.

Sharing the story 10 years later on SBS’s Master Hang-jun, which aired on the 15th, Lee Sun-bin said she visited the broadcaster three times to audition before earning the opportunity. The appearance, widely understood to have come through an invitation, was a strategy she devised to raise her profile as a newcomer.

Lee Sun-bin and Yoo Jae-myung, the lead actors in the film Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng, appeared as the first actors to participate in auditions on Master Hang-jun. Both discussed their audition experiences and their paths into acting.

“I haven’t counted how many times, but I was an audition machine,” Yoo Jae-myung said. Lee Sun-bin recalled pursuing opportunities across singing, idol groups, musical theater, advertising modeling and minor acting roles.

The OCN drama Squad 38 marked a turning point in Lee Sun-bin’s acting career, bringing her to public attention. Although the drama was receiving a good response, she felt she needed another opportunity to become better known and began pursuing I Can See Your Voice.

“People think I was simply invited to I Can See Your Voice and that’s how it happened. Actually, I had devised a plan for that, too,” Lee Sun-bin said.

At the time, no celebrities had appeared on I Can See Your Voice, and participation required a separate audition, Lee Sun-bin explained. Her agency, however, said it would be difficult to approve an appearance unless a formal invitation arrived.

Lee Sun-bin approached the production team and writers directly. She proposed going alone to Sangam to audition and asked them, if they decided she had passed, to help make it appear to her agency that they had approached her with an invitation.

Lee Sun-bin said she went to the broadcaster for three auditions. The writers agreed to her request and continued to keep the arrangement secret over the following years.

“Even now, the people at the agency back then probably don’t know about this,” Lee Sun-bin said with a laugh.

The appearance also coincided with a prominent moment for her drama character. “The week I Can See Your Voice became a talking point, an episode of Squad 38 centered on me also aired,” Lee Sun-bin said. She explained that the overlapping exposure drew a good response and added that other celebrities were subsequently able to appear on I Can See Your Voice.

That effort to create an opening followed years of seeking work herself. While working as an extra, Lee Sun-bin visited advertising agencies and handed out profiles she had made, including selfies taken on her mobile phone. Many advertising agencies were concentrated around Seoul’s Garosu-gil, but with little experience or information, she found it difficult even to work out how to introduce herself.

Lee Sun-bin traced her enthusiasm for singing and acting to childhood. In her first year of high school, she passed an audition after preparing for just five days and landed the lead in a children’s play staged by Hakjeon. She also traveled with the production on tour.

Performing increasingly kept Lee Sun-bin away from school. In her second year, she received notice that she might have to repeat the year because of her absences. Unwilling to give up her ambition, she decided she needed to achieve something before turning 21, the age she then regarded as her deadline for success.

Lee Sun-bin left home to attend auditions, taking money saved from part-time jobs and leaving a letter behind. Concerned that her location might be tracked, she borrowed a friend’s mobile phone. She slept in public bathhouse saunas or spent nights near audition venues while seeking an opportunity, contacting her mother only after being accepted by a newly established idol agency.

The broadcast also explored Lee Sun-bin’s singing and social life. Yoo Jae-myung recalled visiting a karaoke room with her during location filming in Muju and praised her singing, saying she sang extremely well, befitting her musical theater background.

Lee Sun-bin said she does not drink alcohol but enjoys the atmosphere of drinking gatherings and can stay out with friends until 4:30 a.m. People sometimes assume she has already been drinking despite her having had no alcohol, she said.

“I thought she was crazy. She was having so much fun,” Yoo Jae-myung joked, drawing laughter.

The program also described Lee Sun-bin’s willingness to transform herself for a role, including deliberately changing her appearance to create an unfashionable look for her character. Her recollections linked those choices with a career shaped by actively seeking opportunities, from leaving home for auditions as a student to planning the television appearance she kept secret for a decade.

Read the original (Korean)