On February 10, Jo Jun-young sat down for an interview at Newsen’s office in Gangnam, Seoul, after the conclusion of tvN’s Monday-Tuesday drama Spring fever. During the interview, he spoke openly about his career path, past experiences and future aspirations.
Jo Jun-young made his debut in 2020 through JTBC Continue to live and has since built a solid filmography with works such as IDOL: The coup d’état, Everything we loved, Heesu in class 2, Crusology 101, Dear.M, Spiritual fingers!AND Spring fever.
Signed to SM Entertainment, Jo Jun-young revealed that he once seriously dreamed of becoming an idol. “I majored in acting at Seoul Performing Arts High School and joined the company with the goal of becoming an actor,” he explained. “But I also trained as an idol trainee. As I practiced, I really developed the dream of becoming an idol myself. However, there were areas where I felt lacking, and after discussing with the company, I decided to focus on acting. Since my senior year of high school, I have focused solely on acting.”
Jo Jun-young trained alongside RIIZE members Wonbin, Sungchan and Eunseok, and his days as a trainee also attracted attention when photos emerged of him attending shows while wearing a mask. When asked if he ever felt envious when seeing his former students successfully debut as idols, he answered honestly: “I feel remorse. I was firm in wanting to act, but during my apprentice days, I was really serious about becoming an idol. When I stopped, I felt a lot of remorse and even some remorse.”
However, he emphasized that the experience became a strength rather than a loss. “What I learned then has become a weapon for me. When I play idol roles in dramas, memories of my apprentice days naturally return. When I meet or contact friends with whom I trained, we support each other in our respective fields. Watching them on stage sometimes makes me think, “I want to try that too”, but as an actor, I believe I will have my opportunities such as meetings with fans or other forms of expression.”
Often described as a promising visual and acting talent within SM Entertainment, Jo Jun-young expressed gratitude for his agency’s support. “So many people encourage me. Staff members from different departments tell me, ‘We talked about you several times today.’ Rather than pressure, I feel grateful. It makes me want to do better and show good results. Knowing that I have strong support and people by my side gives me confidence.”
Looking to the future, Jo Jun-young shared his desire to challenge himself with different roles. “I want to try characters with completely different personalities and environments than I’ve done before. I’d like to try fantasy roles or more raw characters, projects like Houndsor similar roles to Park Seo-joon Fight my way. I also want to try action acting with senior actor Ji Chang-wook.
As he prepares for an active 2026, Jo Jun-young concluded, “I am usually calm and not easily shaken emotionally, so I have often been afraid of new challenges. This year I want to face new things and discover different sides of myself not only as an actor, but as Jo Jun-young as a person. Since it is the year of the horse, I want to run forward like a horse, always staying healthy.”
Sources: Daum
