Im Si Wan Remains Humble About His Success

Im Si Wan has received more than 50 scripts since the end of his cable hit drama "Misaeng," but he remains humble about his success.

According to the JoongAng Daily, Misaeng" was the most profitable low-budget office drama without a star cast in nearly 20 years of cable history. The drama sold out its advertising spots during every episode and is expected to earn almost $3 million from video-on-demand sales.

Im Si Wan played the leading role in the surprise cable hit about the hard life of office workers. His character Jang Geu Rae was a young man who wanted to be a professional Go player and skipped going to college. When his dream failed, he became a temp at a trading company. He could work there temporarily but unlike workers with degrees could not expect to be hired permanently.

Much of the drama's success can be attributed to Im's performance as the determined and often looked-down-upon worker Jang Geu Rae. The drama's producers said that viewers strongly identified with the actor and his struggles at the workplace. But the actor, who also appeared this year in the drama "Triangle" and the award-winning film "The Attorney," did not see his contribution to "Misaeng" as "acting."

"Rather, I felt I used up all the things I had inside as I was shooting," he said at a recent press event. "In the latter half of the drama, I felt like I reached my limit with acting."

The title of the drama means "An Incomplete Life" and it's a term from the game Go. When he started the drama, he felt it would be fun. But later he realized that it was not going to be easy.

"Eventually, I knew I was 'misaeng' in terms of acting."

He said that viewers did not really relate to his character because of his acting but rather because they had similar lives.
"I would say I'm about 80 percent similar to him," he said.

But then the actor is very modest. He also felt as if he did not belong in the group ZE:A, which he joined in 2010.
"I felt like I was an unnecessary stone in the game Go when I debuted as a member of ZE:A," said Im.

Despite his modesty, 2014 was a breakout year for the actor, who is now highly sought after. Im, who won Blue Dragon, Grand Bell and MBC Drama awards in 2014, has signed endorsement deals for 10 different products and has more film and drama offers than he can realistically consider.