Some popular k-drama actresses might have debuted in a k-pop group. Would they have made the same impression as singers?
For example, both Gu Hye Sun and Lee Honey at one time were considered potential members of 2NE1.
On a recent episode of "Night of TV Entrainment" Big Bang's T.O.P. spoke about his "Tazza 2" co-star Lee Honey and her almost k-pop debut.
"Honey Lee was a YG Entertainment trainee, like me," he said. "For a while, it looked like she was going to debut with 2NE1. I remember thinking, 'Why does she want to get into the world of music if she looks as beautiful as she does?' The next thing I knew, she had become Miss Korea!"
Gu Hye Sun was also originally set to debut in 2NE1 with Park Bom and Sandara Park, but YG's Yang Hyun Suk suggested she try acting instead. Gu Hye Sun only found out about YG's 2NE1 plans years later. She heard it from Park Bom when they both attended a 2009 exhibit with fellow YG artists. By that time she had already established her acting career with a role opposite Lee Min Ho in "Boys Over Flowers"
"Really?" Gu said in a 2NE1 TV recording of the exhibit. "How come I didn't get to know this. It's a good thing he didn't. I'm not good at singing."
That's of course not true as she has since successfully released music.
Viewers who have only been fans of actress Yoon Eun Hye for the last six years might not know that she was once in a girl group. She debuted with the band "Baby V.O.X." when she was only 15. It was not an overwhelming success. She had anti fans, one of them violent enough to physically attack her.
But things improved when she switched to acting. She quickly earned a loyal fan base after appearing in the fantasy drama "Princess Hours" with Joo Ji Hoon. In that drama she played a commoner who marries the prince in an imaginary Korea that still had royalty.
Although Yoon Eun Hye has been critical of her own acting ability, she has no fond memories of her life as a singer.
"I was ugly, couldn't sing well and couldn't dance well but I went up on stage," she said. "I am really embarrassed sometimes at the videos of my past. The worst thing is a singer who can't sing."
Fellow V.O.X. band member Shim Eun Jin also left singing for acting. She currently appears as Ok Mae in "The Night Watchmen" and was recently seen in "Her Legend" and "I Summon You Gold."
