Actress Kim Hye Yoon Admits To Being Mistreated On Set

Amid a wave of recent exposés revealing abuses of power, the dark realities of the entertainment industry are once again being brought to light. Actress Kim Hye Yoon has also drawn attention after opening up about the mistreatment she endured during her years as an unknown actress.

On the January 14 broadcast of tvN’s variety program You Quiz on the Block, Kim Hye Yoon appeared as a guest and candidly spoke about the difficult period early in her career.

Kim Hye Yoon began pursuing acting seriously after enrolling in an acting academy while she was in high school, and made her debut just nine months later as a child actress in the drama TV Novel: Samsaengi. However, she then went through a long period of obscurity that lasted about seven years.

She revealed that at the time, she worked without an agency while juggling acting practice and filming.

“If it was an early-morning shoot or filming in the mountains, my father would drive me, or I would ride in a vehicle with the supporting actors. I attended more than 100 auditions but was rejected each time, so I ended up going to auditions thinking, ‘I’ll probably be rejected again today.'”

Kim Hye Yoon also shared that she was frequently subjected to verbal abuse on set. She added that whenever something upsetting happened, she would cry alone in the car.

“There were many things said that can’t even be aired. I heard so much profanity on set.”

During winter shoots, staff members would offer her a heater, but she said she felt like she didn’t deserve to use it and habitually replied, “I’m okay.” She went on to shock viewers by revealing that she suffered frostbite on her fingers during her high school years, causing severe swelling and even the loss of her fingernails.

Throughout her years of obscurity, Kim Hye Yoon appeared in more than 50 minor roles while continuing her studies. She shared that she endured by setting personal rules for herself, such as watching one movie a day and exercising for an hour daily.

Meanwhile, following the recent controversy surrounding allegations of abuse of power involving Park Na Rae’s manager, singer Brian has also sparked controversy by revealing that he was verbally abused and physically assaulted by a camera director during a music show shoot when he was a rookie.

These successive confessions by stars are once again drawing attention to the structural problems faced by those placed in subordinate positions in the entertainment industry, and highlighting the urgent need for reform of entrenched power-based abuse practices on set.