From her role as the neurosurgeon Dr. Jin Seo Woo in "Doctors" to the competitive Cha Eun Jae in "Dr. Romantic 2," Lee Sung Kyung captivated millions of hearts through her adorable character in "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo."
Released in 2016, the smash hit Kdrama is not your typical rom-com as the MBC series has a strong female lead, through Kim Bok Joo, played by the model-turned-actress.
The coming-of-age Kdrama follows the story of a college weightlifter who dreams of winning a gold medal but unexpectedly meets romance for the first time.
Bok Joo crossed paths with swimmer Jung Joon Hyung and experienced struggling to keep their relationship and attain her dream at the same time.
Prior to the enormous success of "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo," did you know that the 31-year-old beauty endured a grueling preparation for her role.
READ MORE: 'Doctors' Cast Update 2021: See How Park Shin Hye, Kim Rae Won, Lee Sung Kyung, and More Have Been Doing 5 Years Later
Exciting Facts About Lee Sung Kyung's Workout in 'Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo'
In her previous interview, the actress spoke about undergoing intense training as part of her character in the MBC Kdrama.
She spent two months training under the supervision of pro weightlifting coach Kim Cheol Yu.
Moreover, the coach said that she was impressed with the South Korean star's dedication, showing that she is fully committed to her role.
In addition, Kim Cheol Yu says that Lee Sung Kyung's features, such as her height and flexibility, helped her become physically fit to play a weightlifting trainee.
Another fun fact about Lee Sung Kyung's workout for "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo" is eating and gaining more weight to look like a genuine athlete.
She purposely gained five kilograms to play the character Bok Joo has to eat more to achieve her target weight.
"I kept gaining more and more weight. It was a matter of eating more and getting bloated in order to match with Bok Joo," she said.
Interestingly, she mentioned that her weight was at its peak during the middle of the drama and it even came across her mind to retain her weight since she became more muscular because of training.
How Did the Actress Recover to Her Normal Figure After Gaining 5kg?
In her interview with JTBC's "Seri Money Club," the runway model admitted that because of lack of time, she could not gain weight in the healthiest way possible, so achieving the target weight was a bit challenging for her.
Because of this, she had stretch marks for her abrupt transformation, but it totally paid off since she had fun portraying the character.
"I got stretch marks because I gained weight so rapidly. It was hard seeing stretch marks on me, especially when you can't get rid of them. But playing Kim Bok Joo was precious to me," said the actress.
Now, Lee Sung Kyung is set to appear in the upcoming Kdrama "Shooting Star" opposite Kim Young Dae and will have a new movie "Broker" with Kim Young Kwang.
