On December 3, actor Lee Jeong-ho appeared on the “Recent Updates Olympics” YouTube channel.
A former child actor who appeared in over 200 works, Lee Jeong-ho revealed that he stopped working eight years ago after his last role in a daily drama.
He mentioned, “The roles I played often involved letting the protagonist shine by sacrificing myself. I guess people felt sorry for me, but also found me relatable. He also shared, “I have been rejected many times. Also from the best actors of the time, Song Hye-kyo, Lee Yo-won and Sung Yu-ri.”
When asked if he earned a lot as a child, he replied: “You had to be in the right era. There was a set limit on how much child actors could earn. I couldn’t earn more.”
He also explained the reason for his break from acting, “I was having a health check and they said something was wrong, so I had to have further tests.” He then confessed “They told me there was a large tumor near the pancreas, and it was serious. I was speechless when I heard it.
He recalled, “At that time our youngest daughter had just been born. My wife was at the postpartum care center and I got the call about cancer. It was such a shock.
After a week of testing, he was told: “The survival rate is 20-30%.” He said, “They wouldn’t even look me in the eye.” He added, “But since I had my youngest daughter, I begged them to try if there was any possibility. They decided to do surgery.
He underwent surgery and had some organs removed. “Just in case, I also had chemotherapy. I vomited, lost my hair, but luckily I completed chemotherapy. Afterwards, I had to keep working to survive, so I filmed. After we finished filming, I had another check-up before the company dinner and they told me it had spread to my liver.” He recalled that it sounded like lightning.
Luckily, after four months, the chemotherapy was successful. He shared, “I was declared cancer-free two years ago and now I teach acting and living life to the fullest.”
