K-Drama Actors Who Wanted To Quit Acting But We're Glad They Didn't

Acting is not easy. Besides the long hours and hard work, actors must face criticism from the press and drama fans.

It requires a certain amount of self-confidence just to succeed, even when you are gifted with good looks and charm. So it's not surprising that some successful k-drama actors have considered quitting

Choi Jin Hyuk has been outspoken about how dramatically his career has turned around in the last year. He went through a period of depression and anxiety that made him consider whether he ought to quit acting.

"I felt like I was being pushed off the cliff," he said.  But things began to change after I took the role "Gu Family Book."

His remarkable portrayal of the mountain spirit Wol Ryung led to his getting another role in the hit "The Heirs" with Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye. That led to yet another role in "Emergency Couple" with Song Ji Hyo.

But you could not have convinced him things would turn around so dramatically in a year.

 "The expectation I set for myself was so high, but my acting skills didn't meet that expectation," he said. "That's what I struggled the most with."

He's not the only one that worried if he had what it took.

Yoon Eun Hye quit singing because she did not feel she had enough talent. But when she started acting, she faced a lot of criticism. Things got especially rough during the filming of "Coffee Prince."

"If I didn't have to film, I might have cried all day in my room," she said in a Chosun.com interview. "But I couldn't do that. I thought of how upset my parents would feel to read all those articles slamming my acting, and I felt like going crazy. There were a lot of times when I endured through it and smiled as I filmed, only to end up with tears trickling out."

For two years after her "Coffee Prince" role she focused on painting and drawing. She tried to decide whether she should be an entertainer or a painter.  And although she recently fulfilled a life goal of exhibiting paintings, she also decided to return to acting.

Twenty-one-year-old Yoo Seung Ho wanted to quit acting when he was only nine years old. When the child actor was cast for the 2002 film "the Way Home," director Lee Jung Hyang scolded him and that made him want to quit acting. But the film was a success so he kept trying, took some acting lessons, and now looks back at that film with fond memories. At 21, he is already a veteran actor.

Fortunately none of these actors quit acting or there would be so many less entertaining dramas to watch.