Im Chang Jung Opens Up About Why He's Taking A 5-Year Break From Acting

Oct 11, 2020

On the latest episode of “Master in the House,” Im Chang Jung spoke candidly about his reasons for taking a break from acting.

The veteran singer and actor appeared on the October 11 episode of the SBS variety show as the cast’s latest master. While sharing a meal together, ASTRO‘s Cha Eun Woo asked him why he hasn’t been taking on any acting projects recently.

Explaining his decision to take a break from acting, Im Chang Jung replied, “It sort of has to do with humiliation.”

“In the past, when I did a certain kind of acting, audiences would laugh a lot while watching it in movie theaters,” he shared. “But I think that over time, they ended up seeing a lot of [that same acting]. So I was confident that if I did this kind of acting, audiences would definitely respond to it in theaters. I was certain of it, but at the film’s premiere, when I was watching the movie together with an audience in the theater, people didn’t laugh at that scene. They didn’t react to it all.”

Im Chang Jung went on, “I found myself wondering, ‘What happened?’ In my opinion, [the scene] was funny, and I thought they should be laughing in response to it. But there was no reaction.”

“It wasn’t just comedic acting,” he continued. “It was the same for things like sad acting as well. I thought that I had done enough, but I didn’t get much of an emotional response from the audience. Honestly, it was embarrassing. It was kind of humiliating.”

Im Chang Jung explained that the lack of response from audiences made him worried that he had become too predictable as an actor. “After that,” he recalled, “when I received scripts and casting offers, I just couldn’t forgive myself. The audiences already know exactly what you’re going to do next [in terms of acting]. I felt like I had already shown everything that I could possibly show.”

“I love this work, so I wanted to keep doing it,” he continued. “So in order to keep acting, I decided that I needed to study more. I needed to study life, as well as other things. So I’m taking time off to study and learn. I decided not to act for five years, and it’s been three years so far. I just couldn’t bring myself to continue [without taking a break].”