Korean model and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards best actress Jung Ho-yeon, whose popularity soared after starring in the hit Netflix series “Squid Game,” met fans in Manila for a memorable one-night event.
She came to the Philippines for her “Jung Ho-yeon Fun Meet in Manila,” organized by IAM Worldwide, held on Nov. 11 at the New Frontier Theater.
IAM Worldwide ambassador
In March, IAM Worldwide announced that it signed up Jung Ho-yeon as its newest brand ambassador.
IAM Worldwide has been operating in the Philippines for five years, helping people achieve financial excellence and optimum health. The key people behind the company are founder and president Allen Marvin Eder Yu, founder and general manager Joanna Mañego, and founder and vice president Aika Lorraine Uy.
“First of all, it has been such a great honor and this is my first time traveling to the Philippines for work besides travels that I have taken for personal leisure. The team of IAM Worldwide has been treating me so well, with delicious food, too. I’m enjoying it so much and I’m going to come back,” she said.
Jung Ho-yeon thanked IAM Worldwide for giving her the opportunity to meet her Filipino fans. Because of ‘Squid Game,’ the number of her Instagram followers exploded. She now has 22.5 million Instagram followers and Filipinos ranked second among them.
“Since ‘Squid Game’ and the success of the show, things kind of took off for my career, my followers also skyrocketed, I noticed that of my followers, her Filipino fans are ranked at No. 2. I always thought I would really like to go to the Philippines and meet my Filipino fans,” she said.
Jung Ho-yeon added, “I am so grateful for all the support and now, because of IAM Worldwide, I am able to do that. I am very thankful and I’m so happy to finally be here. Because of IAM Worldwide, I will be having a fan meeting as well. Mahal ko kayo .”
Career
“Squid Game,” released in September 2021, was Jung Ho-yeon’s first acting project and it brought her fame and awards.
In the series, which is Netflix’s biggest show with 1.65 billion hours viewed in the first 28 days on the streaming platform, she played the role of Kang Sae-byeok, a North Korean defector who is among 456 players in deep financial troubles who enter deadly children’s games.
For her role, Jung Ho-yeon got nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series at the Emmy Awards and won best actress in an action series at the Critics’ Choice Super Awards and outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series at the SAG Awards.
She said the similarity between Sae-byeok and herself was living in a different country.
“More than anything, more than my character Sae-byeok’s actions and the things that I did on the show, it was really more of this quality of Sae-byeok being in a different country, a different place where she did not grow up. And I had to go to this foreign place with a different culture, earn money there and live there, which is something I had to do myself. This was the experience that I relate to the most with my character Sae-byeok on the show ‘Squid Game,’” she said.
She revealed that she currently has three acting projects.
“I have three total projects. One is the Apple TV+ series ‘Disclaimer.’ The other one is the film ‘The Governesses.’ And the third one is a Netflix Korea Original Series called ‘Dak Gang Jeong’ ,” she said.
“Disclaimer” is an American series that stars Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, and directed by Alfonso Cuaron.
“The Governesses” will star Lily-Rose Depp (daughter of Johnny Depp), Jung Ho-yeon and Renate Reinsve.
“Chicken Nugget” stars Ryu Seung-ryong, Ahn Jae-hong and Kim Yoo-jung.
Jung Ho-yeon said one of the important things that happened to her in 2022 was she was with her mom at the Emmy Awards held in September in Los Angeles.
“I brought my mom to the Emmy Awards. That was one of the biggest things that happened to my life. Also, I remember the SAG Awards. So the feeling was that day was very like...a roller coaster in just two hours,” she said.
She added, “I also had the chance to work with Alfonso Cuarón and Cate Blanchett .”
Jung Ho-yeon is a rookie when it comes to acting and said she does not have any preference for roles or genres.
“I don’t have one. It could be because I’m adventurous and maybe because I’m greedy as well but I want to try different kinds of genres, I want to play all kinds of characters,” she said.
In accepting roles in projects, she said she studies the character.
“When I am offered a new role, I like to take my time to get to know the character because in my experience, the first time I meet this character, the second time, the third time, the experience is different. And I would like to take some time to just not deal with the character at all. I like to take that time and something that I ask my management, the people who are involved in the project if I could have time with the character before I take on the role,” she explained.
Self
Jung Ho-yeon is busy with different projects and said she badly needs to take a break.
“I heard that there are a lot of islands in the Philippines, a lot of them have no people. I would like to go to one of them, do nothing, lie on the sand, look at the sky, get on a boat, get into the water and still look at the site and just do nothing because I really, really need a break right now,” she said.
For her, one of the ways to unwind is to arrange her stuff.
“As I what I said earlier, I need a break right now. In Korea, I had to move houses. In that process, I had to arrange a lot of my stuff and I realized it was a very good meditative activity, like this is very therapeutic. If I have a friend who is going through an emotionally difficult time right now and she asks my advice of what she should do, I would probably tell her that she should arrange her stuff,” she said.
Global success came to her immediately through “Squid Game” and she takes time off for herself to keep herself grounded.
“It is something that I put a lot of thought into. It’s a lot of effort to keep myself grounded. It’s really about taking time for herself, getting a lone time for myself. I need to understand what is happening to me. What experience that I’m having. What are the feelings that I’m feeling. So I need to take some time out by myself to process all of that and kind of arrange my thoughts,” she said.
One of her personal goals is to have empathy.
“Something that I would like to talk a lot with my friends and share with my fans is the feeling of empathizing with each other. Because I feel like everyone is getting busier by the day, we are not very interested in each other’s lives, we are losing the ability to empathize with each other. I would like to be more interested in things that are going on around the world, around me and in the lives of people that I care about,” she said.
The “Jung Ho-yeon Fun Meet in Manila” was presented by IAM Worldwide and Wilbros Live.