A Korean actress looked back on the difficult times she faced, from a miscasting controversy to struggling with facial nerve palsy.
On September 13th, a video uploaded on the YouTube channel Fairy Jae Hyung featured actress Ahn Eun Jin.
Ahn Eun Jin, who sparked a syndromic level of popularity with MBC’s My Dearest, faced turmoil early on due to a miscasting controversy. Viewers questioned whether she was suited for the lead role.
She confessed, “Looking back, it’s clear that it was tough. At the time, I tried to power through somehow, but now that I think about it, I realize how hard it really was.”
Ahn Eun Jin also talked about the time when she has facial paralysis during filming. She revealed, “I face hardships with every project. When I was shooting The Good Bad Mother, it was tough because I became ill midway. I caught a chill and developed facial nerve palsy. On the day of shooting, while washing my face and brushing my teeth, water leaked from one side of my mouth. I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t even realize it was facial nerve palsy at first. As the day went on, things seemed off, so I told the director and went to the hospital. They told me it was facial paralysis. Since I didn’t know about the condition, I thought a few days of rest would fix it, but it only got worse. I was very depressed and sad at that time.”
She continued, “I wrapped up filming the scenes for my character that day and then had to stop everything. Because of the delayed movement on one side of my face, we only filmed the profile shots. I went to both Western and traditional medicine, received acupuncture, and was given strong steroids. That bought me a month. Since there was no improvement day by day and I kept getting worse, I was depressed. The steroid side effects caused swelling—my face would puff up even after a walk, and my knees swelled too. It was hard to stay positive then. So gradually, the swelling worsened and that’s how the drama ended. I had to keep filming, so there was no choice,” she revealed.
Ahn Eun Jin also shared, “I felt very insecure and scared. Could I act well on set? I agonized over it a lot but ultimately thought the best approach is always straightforward. I believed the only answer was to expose myself completely and honestly face it. So I told the director, ‘Director, I can’t act well unless I’m loved on set. If I’m not loved, my self-esteem won’t grow. Please help me.’ The director then personally made me study the script extensively and had me do many readings.” This surprised Jae Hyung as well.