Korean Racing Model Turned Actress Opens Up About A Camera Director’s Inappropriate Behavior While Filming

Recently, actress Oh Yoon Ah revealed an inappropriate incident she experienced during her early days as a rookie.

Actress Oh Yoon Ah | @ya9579/Instagram

On an episode of MBC Every1‘s Men on Fire that aired on September 26, Oh Yoon Ah appeared as a guest to talk about her life and career. During the show, Oh Yoon Ah shared that she used to be anxious daily due to prejudice against her.

Before Oh Yoon Ah was an actress, she was a first-generation racing model recognized for her visuals.

Oh Yoon Ah when she was a racing model | HAEJUK Entertainment

Due to this, she was often associated with a sexy image, which led to uncomfortable situations while working as an actress. While filming a dancing scene, a camera director unnecessarily zoomed in on her chest.

I had a sexy image because I was a former racing girl. When I auditioned, the camera directors used to play tricks on me… I was filming a dancing scene but the camera suddenly zoomed into my chest. It was an unnecessary scene.

— Oh Yoon Ah

| MBC Every1

Things like this happened often, which made Oh Yoon Ah cry and even think about quitting.

After that, there were several incidents like this, and I even cried and told my manager, ‘I need to quit.’

Oh Yoon Ah stated that at the beginning of her acting career, she was offered roles with a lot of exposure because of her racing girl image. And because she was a rookie then, she couldn’t speak up about things that made her uncomfortable.

Everyone gets nervous when they go to their first filming. At that time, since I was a rookie, I couldn’t say anything. Back then, complaining about something was unheard of.

—  Oh Yoon Ah

Actor Gam Woo Sung (left) and Oh Yoon Ah (right) in the K-Drama “Alone in Love” | SBS

In the past, Oh Yoon Ah talked about other situations where the people she worked with tried to take her out to drink or cross the line because of her “sexy” image. These inappropriate situations led the actress to become self-conscious about what she wore. She shared that due to the prejudice against her, she dressed modestly. She even wore turtlenecks in the middle of summer.

In the middle of summer, I went out to have dinner with Lee Bo Young wearing a turtleneck. Lee Bo Young was surprised and asked, ‘Why are you wearing a turtleneck in the summer?’ I had neurosis, so I didn’t wear short skirts when meeting anyone. Now I can wear them, but back then, I couldn’t wear anything like that.

— Oh Yoon Ah

| @ya9579/Instagram

When asked what she would do if she faced an inappropriate situation like this now, she said she would push the cameras and get out of there.

| MBC Every1

Oh Yoon Ah was a racing model from 1999 to 2003, then began her acting career in 2004 with the K-Drama Into the Storm. Since then, she has appeared in multitudes of productions, such as Old Miss Diary (2004), Alone in Love (2006), Master of Study (2010), Band of Sisters (2017), Queen of Mask (2023), and more.