Shocking and deeply moving—Park Shin-hye delivered a rare, candid tell-all, opening up about her debut, raw family stories, and the pressures she faces today as an actress.
Appearing on the January 21 broadcast of tvN's You Quiz on the Block, Park admitted, "I never dreamed of becoming a celebrity when I was young." Quiet and low-profile as a student, she said she only applied to an open audition for singer Lee Seung-hwan's music video after a church teacher encouraged her by chance. Her mother submitted a studio photo "just to keep as a souvenir," and sixth-grader Park immediately passed the first screening.
Park recalled racing five hours from Gwangju to Seoul for the audition. "Senior Lee Seung-hwan offered me a trainee spot as a singer," she said. Although her parents strongly opposed it due to financial hardship, her one plea—"Mom, I don't think I'll ever get another chance like this"—led the family to pack up everything and move to Seoul.
But life in unfamiliar Seoul was brutal. "Our first home was a semi-basement. I still remember the layout," Park said. Thinking of her father, who drove a taxi to make ends meet, and her mother, who juggled insurance sales, school meal service, and cleaning, she added, "My mom was never ashamed of her work. She actually said it was fun." She also shared that her mother rose to become a "top insurance seller" at the time.
Carrying the weight of needing to succeed quickly for her family, Park chose acting on the advice of a coach. She landed her very first audition for the drama Stairway to Heaven and kicked off her career in earnest—but high school brought an unexpected crisis.
"I started as a child actor and never learned anything else. If I quit acting, how would my family survive?" she confessed. "That anxiety followed me for years." As she transitioned to adult roles, responsibility and fear held her back—but she said it only made her cling to acting even more.
Recently, she took on a fresh challenge: through the drama Undercover Miss Hong, she plays a character who goes undercover as a 20-year-old new hire. Park laughed, "A lot of people still remember me as 20, so I'm worried comparison photos will go viral," adding that the show even includes a line joking, "You're 20—why do you look so mature?" Her self-deprecating humor reportedly kept the set bursting with laughter.
Toward the end of the program, Park grew emotional while discussing her family. She revealed her father was recently diagnosed with a cerebral aneurysm and heart disease, saying through tears, "I always thought my dad was like Superman. As time passes, you realize just how precious family time is."
From a semi-basement start to becoming a beloved star—and still growing through responsibility and fear—Park Shin-hye's honest confession left viewers deeply moved.