Kim Tae-ri worked in a supermarket, Kim Min-seok worked as a chef before becoming famous

Before Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden and Descendants of the Sun, Kim Tae-ri and Kim Min-seok did ordinary jobs - and Min-seok has been showing off his sashimi skills ever since.

When we see famous Korean actors on screen, they seem to be born to be stars. So the jobs they have before their debut can be surprising: they range from flight attendants to supermarket clerks and even chefs. Perhaps these actors drew on this rich experience to realistically portray their characters?

Read on to learn more about the exciting jobs these talented stars had before achieving success in showbiz.

Kim Tae-ri: supermarket salesman

South Korean actress Kim Tae-ri is known for her role in The Handmaiden. Photo: @ management_mmm / Instagram

One thing is for sure: Kim Tae-ri is a hard worker. Before the star gained global recognition for her roles in Twenty-Five Twenty-One and Mr. Sunshine, Kim also worked many part-time jobs to make ends meet before trying to become an actress.

Kim Tae-ri has worked at convenience stores and fast food chains, and has also modeled in TV commercials and music videos, according to Soompi.

Kim Tae-ri in a still photo from Twenty-Five Twenty-One. Photo: tvN

In an interview with E-news Exclusive, she shared that she even worked as a clerk at a supermarket that sold soy milk and was recruited to work at a cafe. It seems like she stands out in many ways, as she also landed a role in Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden having gone through another 1,500 auditions and becoming famous, according to The Smart Local.

Go Min-si: wedding planner

Go Min-si initially chose to plan the wedding because it was a more "realistic" profession. Photo: @gominsi / Instagram

Go Min-si, star of Youth Of May, Sweet Home, Love Alarm had a different career path before becoming an actor. After graduating from high school and studying cosmetology, she worked as a wedding planner. Talking to Sports Kyunghyang, she revealed that, although her childhood dream was to become an actress, she thought a more realistic career would be to organize weddings, after reading an article about it. How will the wedding industry explode in the future?

Go Min-si won the Best New Actress award at the SBS Drama Awards. Photo: @gominsi / Instagram

Finally, after working for three years, she quit and followed her passion because she was not satisfied with her early career, according to her interview with Sports Khan. With this decision, she continued to debut in the web drama 72 Seconds in 2016.

Pyo Ye-jin: flight attendant

Pyo Ye-jin is the youngest flight attendant working at Korean Air. Photo: MBC

Before pursuing an acting career with roles in Fight for My Way and Taxi Driver, Pyo Ye-jin was named the youngest flight attendant, working at one of Korea's largest airlines Korean Air. . According to Koreaboo, at the age of 19 she got this job in the middle of her college years.

Pyo Ye-jin in a still photo from Taxi Driver. Photo: SBS

Despite this, with her dream of becoming an actress, she quit her job after a year and a half to take on a new challenge. On the show I Live Alone, she looked back on that time and said, "When I think about being a hostess for 10 years, I feel suffocated. It made me realize that's not the future I was hoping for. want."

Kim Min-seok: cooking at a Japanese restaurant

Kim Min-seok, who continues to gain recognition for her supporting roles in the dramas Descendants of the Sun and Doctor Love Story, started working at a Japanese restaurant at the age of 17 to help support her growing family. his difficulties, according to HanCinema.

Kim Min-seok in the drama Lovestruck in the City. Photo: KakaoTV

On Please Take Care of My Refrigerator, he said, "I started delivering sashimi, and then started working in the kitchen. I even chose culinary arts as my college major and got a certificate. permission for Korean, Western and Japanese dishes."

Leveraging his six-year history of cooking for a living, the actor has showcased his sashimi knife skills on a variety of shows like Radiostar and Long Live Independence.

So Ji-sub: professional swimmer

So Ji-sub has been a professional swimmer for nine years. Photo: @ SoJiSubWorld / Twitter

Some of the actors have sports backgrounds, such as Song Joong-ki who is a short track speed skater and Song Hye-kyo who is a past figure skater. So Ji-sub is one such star, he has been a professional swimmer for nine years and even received a scholarship to Korea National Sports University, as reported on Rumor Has It program.

So Ji-sub is the star of the new K-drama Dr. Lawyer. Photo: @nixkorea.official / Instagram

In a previous MBC radio show, So mentioned that he started out as a model to earn money and with it the opportunity to act. Now, he becomes one of the richest actors in Korea, with a net worth of $41 million.

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