Han So Hee Discloses Her Pre-Debut Struggle, Recalls Working At A Pub To Save Up For College

Han So Hee’s beauty, acting skills, and kind character have turned her into one of the biggest actors in South Korea right now. But she had a very humble start in this career, and even before, she had spent her life struggling to make her dreams come true.

Han So Hee | @xeesoxee/Instagram

On January 13, KST, the actress appeared in a video on Channel Fullmoon, the YouTube channel of famous TV producer Na Yeong Suk (Na PD). In the video, Han So Hee was joined by her Gyeongseong Creature co-star, Park Seo Joon, for a laid-back conversation with Na PD.

Park Seo Jun (left) with Han So Hee | | @15ya.fullmoon/YouTube

While talking about the Netflix show, Han So Hee said that since she debuted a bit late, at 25 years old, she had a lot of time to enjoy her early 20s, working part-time jobs, spending time with friends, and roaming around the city by herself.

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She also mentioned that during that time, she almost went to college. When asked why she couldn’t make it to college in the end, the actress explained that she was accepted into a French university but needed to have ₩60.0 million KRW (about $45,700 USD) in her account to attain the visa.

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But as an ordinary young girl coming from a difficult background, she obviously didn’t have that money. So, she started working at a pub to earn and save for college. However, Han So Hee said that even if she worked for 12 hours a day all month, she could make only ₩1.80 million KRW (about $1,370 USD) at the job. Whereas, working as a model, she earned ₩3.00 million KRW (about $2,290 USD) in just two hours!

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Han So Hee joked that the money lured her into doing more modeling jobs. While she was working with a clothing app called Musinsa, she received an offer to shoot an ad for the popular snack brand Ritz. The offer came with a shocking compensation of ₩20.0 million KRW (about $15,200 USD)! Since the actress didn’t have an agency back then, she could keep 100% of the fee and decided she would film three ads and find her way to France.

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Though she did progress in her modeling career, Han So Hee never made it to college. After watching her Ritz commercial, her current agency’s CEO kept persuading her to try out acting despite her flat-out rejections. In the end, though higher education in France didn’t happen, she became one of the biggest stars in the Korean entertainment industry instead.

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While Han So Hee’s grit and hard work are well-known among fans, it is fascinating to hear about her journey to stardom and realize the little things that guided her to her calling!