In the latest chapter of the TV show "Rumor Has It," the MCs disclosed that the average salary of the female lead of the phenomenal drama "The World of The Married," Kim Hee Ae, is USD 57,000 to USD 65,000 per episode!
An entertainment media associate stated the actress agreed and signed to play the character of Dr. Ji Sun Woo with a salary of KRW 70,000,000 - KRW 80,000,000 for each episode. Given the 16 episodes of the drama, plus the episodes' re-runs, the expected amount that Kim Hee Ae would receive in total would be more than a million dollars.
The associate added that this salary is actually more than the average pay many actresses get. Among the actresses who are paid higher than Kim Hee Ae are Jun Ji Hyun, Son Ye Jin, Go Hyun Jung, and Song Hye Kyo.
However, Korean netizens were surprised upon learning this information and claimed that "The World of The Married" actress is considered underpaid.
Here are some reactions from the netizens.
"That's actually not enough... Like, really, pay her more!"
"She's expected to be paid a lot more... To say that she's a million-dollar earning actress, her pay per episode isn't that great. It's relative, or whatever... But I think she deserves more."
"She deserves to be paid more... This show promoted using her name from the get-go, so seriously. She needs to be paid more."
"It doesn't make sense. Kim Hee Ae's acting is what makes the show amazing. The plot is a whole mess, but she's the one giving it life."
"I would have thought she gets paid a lot more than that... I recently heard how much other actors make, so I thought someone as seasoned as Kim Hee Ae would be making good money."
"57K for Kim Hee Ae, though??? She needs to be paid a lot more."
"Actually, that's not a lot. Even her hoobaes who are younger get paid even more."
Meanwhile, Kim Hee Ae is nominated for the "Best Actress" award for the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards for her amazing performance in "The World of The Married." The ceremony is set to transpire on June 5, 2020, at Kintex in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, and will be live-streamed via JTBC.
Kim Hee Ae was born in Jeju City in 1966. Eventually, her family moved to Seoul. When she was a freshman at Hyehwa Girls' High School, she was discovered by the younger brother of one of her teachers who was then working for an advertising agency who was visiting the school by chance.
Through this, she landed on her first job in the entertainment industry as a model of a commercial for a school uniform brand in 1982. This was considered as her debut.
Fast forward to the year 1996, Kim Hee Ae married Lee Chan Jin, CEO of the web portal DreamWiz. They are blessed with two sons.
