A Famous K-Drama Villain Almost Debuted In An SM Entertainment Boy Group Instead

Actor Kim Ji Hoon made a name for himself with romantic comedies but recently stepped into the spotlight for his villain roles in Flower of Evil, Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area, and Death’s Game. However, the famous K-Drama villain almost had an entirely different career.

Kim Ji Hoon told the host of Don’t Forget Your Breakfast he’d been an SM Entertainment trainee at the same time as the members of Super Junior.

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The actor trained hard enough to make it into the lineup of a five-member boy group, at least until everything fell through for the trainees.

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When Jang Sung Kyu asked the actor why the group didn’t work out, Kim Ji Hoon was brutally honest. He said, “I wasn’t a good singer.”

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Even though “everyone did lip-syncing” back then, Kim Ji Hoon imagined how embarrassing it was to find excuses not to sing live. That’s when he knew being a K-Pop idol wasn’t for him.

I was relying on that when I said I wanted to be a singer. But when imagining a scenario where I have to make an excuse that I can’t sing…when someone asks me to sing… It wasn’t pretty. It’s absurd.

I realized that I shouldn’t be a singer. I made a decision to leave and looked into other fields.

— Kim Ji Hoon

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Since Kim Ji Hoon is now praised for playing the most convincing K-Drama villains, ending his idol career worked in his favor.