Actor “Cancelled” For Drunk Driving Continues To Fail Making His Return To Stage

How long before a “cancelled” celebrity can move past their scandal and make a return to the stage? It seems, for actor Kwak Do Won, three years is not enough.

News1 reported that a theater troupe Toetmaru confirmed on September 4, 2025 (KST) that Kwak Do Won will not be appearing in the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, scheduled for October 9-10 at the Daloreum Theater of the National Theater of Korea in Seoul.

Though the troupe representative noted it is “due to various circumstances” that Kwak Do Won will no longer be a part of the cast, News1 hinted that the decision to exclude him from the production might have stemmed from public backlash.

Kwak Do Won was initially cast to play Stanley but has since been replaced by  Lee Se Chang and Kang Eun Tak. It was in September 2022 that he halted all activities after being caught drunk driving in Jeju. News reports shared he drove about 7 miles (11 kilometers) under the influence before falling asleep behind the wheel while waiting at a traffic signal. Residents reported him and he was later issued a summary order of a ₩10.0 million KRW (about $7,180 USD) fine.

In 2024, Kwak Do Won made a semi-return with the K-Movie, The Firefighters. It was filmed in 2020, before his drunk driving incident, and the movie director, Kwak Kyung Taek, eventually opted not to eliminate Kwak Do Won’s character from the movie’s belated release.

Read more about the director’s thoughts on Kwak Do Won’s scandal here:

Korean Movie Director’s Raw Honest Response To Lead Actor’s DUI That Jeopardized The Release