Yeom Hye-ran Opens Up About 27 Years of Quiet Resilience on You Quiz

For 27 years, Yeom Hye-ran has been one of Korean entertainment's most quietly powerful forces — a character actress whose face audiences recognize from The Glory, Goblin, and Poongseok Sok Asseuda, even if her name didn't always come to mind first. On the March 18 episode of tvN's You Quiz on the Block, she finally stepped into the spotlight on her own terms, and the result was an hour that left viewers reaching for tissues.

Appearing as part of the show's special "Mother" episode alongside Bridgerton 4 star Ha Ye-rin and short track legend Choi Min-jung, Yeom surprised everyone by arriving visibly nervous. "I can't breathe properly. The woohwangcheongsimwon hasn't kicked in yet," she admitted, referencing the traditional Korean herbal remedy she had taken to calm her nerves before taping.

From Korean Teacher Dreams to Midnight Auditions

Yeom Hye-ran's path to acting was anything but straightforward. After graduating from Seoul Women's University with a degree in Korean literature, she initially set her sights on becoming a Korean language teacher. She completed her student teaching practicum and even attempted the national teacher certification exam at the competitive Noryangjin study district in Seoul.

"I prepared for the exam briefly at Noryangjin, but it was so difficult. It was already clear I was going to fail," she recalled. Rather than persist in a career that didn't feel right, she took a position at a publishing company — not out of passion, but necessity. "I didn't go there with any particular purpose. Someone told me there was an opening, so I went."

But even behind a desk, her heart was elsewhere. "I would tell my supervisor I was going to the bank, and then sneak off to auditions instead," she confessed with a laugh. "My mind was always in the bean field," she said, using a Korean expression meaning her thoughts were constantly elsewhere — specifically, on the stage.

She eventually followed that pull, joining the prestigious Yeonwoo Theater Company and committing fully to life as a stage actress. What followed was 16 years of theatrical work that earned her critical respect but very little financial security.

Sixteen Years on Stage, Earning Less Than a Living

"I worked nonstop for an entire year doing theater. My annual income at the time didn't even reach ten million won," Yeom revealed — a figure that amounts to roughly $7,500 USD. To make ends meet, she took on a series of part-time jobs: rolling gimbap for delivery to PC cafes, working early morning shifts at bakeries, and performing various manual labor jobs between rehearsals and performances.

The financial struggle weighed heavily, especially when her mother's health began to decline. "When my mother was ill, I seriously considered quitting acting entirely. I felt selfish," she said, her voice growing quiet. It was during this period that legendary director Bong Joon-ho, who had seen her work on stage, offered her a small role in the 2003 film Memories of Murder — her first taste of screen acting, though it would be years before the bigger opportunities arrived.

The Glory and Song Hye-kyo's Quiet Kindness

Yeom Hye-ran's connection with writer Kim Eun-sook began with Goblin in 2016, the same year she made her drama debut in Dear My Friends after playwright Noh Hee-kyung saw her perform alongside veteran actress Na Moon-hee. But it was The Glory that truly changed everything.

She recalled first reading the script with barely contained excitement: "When I read The Glory script, it was so compelling. I wanted to do this well. I didn't want to miss a single syllable of dialogue." In the series, she played a crucial ally to Song Hye-kyo's revenge-driven character Moon Dong-eun.

The most touching moment of the You Quiz interview came when Yeom shared a previously untold story about Song Hye-kyo's generosity on set. During their final scene together, Yeom muttered to herself that she wished they could do one more take — not realizing her microphone was still live. The director heard and offered another attempt. The catch: Song Hye-kyo had already changed into her costume for the next scene.

"She had already changed clothes, but without any hesitation she said, 'Let's do one more,'" Yeom recounted, her eyes glistening. "She changed back into the previous costume just so I could have that take. I was so grateful." The anecdote painted a picture of the quiet professionalism and mutual respect that defines the best of Korean drama production.

Interestingly, Yeom also revealed a bittersweet moment from her relationship with Kim Eun-sook. After Goblin, the writer's next project was The King: Eternal Monarch, and seemingly every actor from Goblin was cast — except Yeom. "I thought, 'I guess the writer didn't think much of me,'" she admitted. The eventual call for The Glory proved that patience, too, is a form of resilience.

Poongseok and the Meaning of Motherhood

In the hit drama Poongseok Sok Asseuda, Yeom played Gwang-rye, the devoted mother of IU's character Ae-soon. The role resonated so deeply with audiences that many viewers now associate her face with maternal warmth. But Yeom wanted to set the record straight on You Quiz.

"Many people see me and start crying, so I wanted to come here and tell everyone — I'm not that kind of person," she said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I'm not a Gwang-rye kind of mother. I'm more of a Geum-myeong-i kind of daughter" — referring to IU's character, the imperfect child rather than the saintly parent.

She then spoke about her own mother — a woman who ran a rice shop to support her children, whose cheerful personality Yeom credits as the source of her own humor. In one memorable anecdote, her mother once gave Yeom's phone number to a random neighborhood child while proudly boasting that her daughter was an actress. When the child called to ask "Is it true?" and Yeom confronted her mother, the response was characteristically unfazed: "I told them very clearly."

A Letter to Mom

The emotional climax of the episode came when Yeom addressed her aging, ailing mother directly. Fighting back tears, she said: "Mom, you're a pretty good woman. You raised us well. You got through the hard times. I'm sorry I only say harsh things. I love you."

She reflected on the generational gap in recognition: "My mother has accomplished so much, but she was born in an era when women weren't recognized for what they had. I get praised for small things. Compared to what my mother endured, it doesn't seem fair."

Now the mother of a 15-year-old daughter herself, Yeom said that parenting has finally given her insight into her own mother's sacrifices — a realization that arrived not through grand epiphanies but through the daily friction of raising a teenager.

With two new films on the horizon — Mad Dance Office and My Name Is — Yeom Hye-ran acknowledged the weight of her current status as one of Korea's most in-demand actresses. "The pressure is enormous. My shoulders feel so heavy they might sink into the ground," she said. But if 27 years of gimbap rolling, failed exams, and midnight auditions have taught her anything, it's that the best performances come from those who understand what it means to wait.