'Suspicious Partner' actress made a surprising admission about her career decisions that offer insight into the minds of actors who begin performing from a very young age.
As noted by website Soompi, Nam Ji-hyun appeared as a guest on the July 24 broadcast of KBS Cool FM's 'Kim Ye Won's Raise the Volume.' She spoke about how young actors are naive and not very confident of the path they take when they start out.
"When I first started acting, I was a bit confused. It wasn't something that I tried because I really wanted to, and my parents didn't force it on me, either. I started it because I thought it would be a special experience that would be helpful in the future, but it connected to dramas and even movies," Nam Ji-hyun said.
Nam Ji-hyun's career began in 2002 with MBC's television series 'Radio Waves' (literal translation). She then followed it with MBC's 'Say You Love Me' in 2004. However, Ji-hyun is best known for her roles in 'East of Eden' (2008), 'Queen Seondeok' (2009), 'Will It Snow for Christmas?' (2009) among others.
Nam Ji-hyun also said, "I think most child actors go through this. As they become adults, they feel the need to show that they've grown up. I think that's when they start finding their own colour. It really changes a lot based on what path you take."
Her words make sense considering children are still growing up; taking in a lot of new experiences which inform their future identities. So, they aren't likely to be as confident about one particular career as much as wanting to explore a lot of options. Childhood is mostly a period of learning after all. Taking responsibilities comes with experience and age.
Nam Ji-hyun's childhood was no different. "Because my work wasn't something that I chose because I wanted to, I had a lot of second thoughts in middle school and high school about the career itself. I wasn't confident about it, so I thought about it a lot. But when I became an adult, I stopped thinking about it," she revealed.
Nam Ji-hyun then added, "When I turned 20 years old, the work environment changed a lot. When I went on to university, my personal life changed too, and the environment around me also changed. My thoughts changed, and I accepted new things, and my problems resolved on their own. Time fixed everything."
SBS's 'Suspicious Partner' concluded on July 13.
