Kim Jung Hyun Drops Out as Leading Man of MBC Drama Time Due to Health Reasons

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• He had a bad attitude scandal, which he explained that he was supposedly too immersed into his character (à la Jared Leto). Now he can't continue due to doctor's orders because he has developed eating disorder and insomnia. I'm not sure if something else has happened behind the scenes between him and some producers but I think the entertainment world is way too hard for him to handle and he couldn't take the pressure and critique.

  • I highly doubt the drama production would try to cover up for a up and coming actor in his first lead role if he left because there was extreme discord with him?

    This is part of the drama production official statement about the matter:

    “The production team also commented, “He is doing his best with the filming that he has remaining. We have had lots of conversations about the drama, and he has played the character well with passionate acting in every scene and amazing analysis of the drama. We hope he will recover quickly and that we can meet him again in good condition.”

    Your last sentence is a bit much but what’s new...it’s quite something to assume for someone and a situation you know very little about. Besides that, he’s been getting nothing but praise from netizens who are watching the drama and also got praise for his performance on the netizen article about him dropping out of the drama.

  • he has been working non stop since school 2017? He's still rookie actor too, must be hard for him. I still think he's unprofessional for his doing during press conference, he has apologised for it. When people said it's due to his mental health issues, I think this is why people left such stigma to people dealing with mental illness, because of people like him.

  • If he is in any way at fault for having to drop out of the drama, it's very unlikely that the production company would bother covering for him. Instead we'd have a situation like Go Hyun Jung with Return last year.

    And anyway he's a newbie actor who isn't even from a powerful agency, why would they cover it up if he deserved blame?

• Sad to know that he has to leave the show. I was really enjoying this drama and his acting was amazing. Hope he has a speedy recovery!

  • I was watching it too and his acting not that amazing. There's still many actors who can act better than him.

    • But every actor has to start somewhere. His acting is decent enough compared to others whose given a major role despite the lack of acting abilities.

• Goodness, this must be devastating for him especially for his first official lead role and i imagine he had or was close to a complete mental and physical breakdown for this to happen. I appreciate him and his agency being open about what’s going on with him and I really wish him a speedy recovery. We’re rooting for you Jung Hyun.

  • It's not his first official lead role, it's second, even we can tell the third one, because in Waikiki he was considered as a lead.

    It's sad to hear, but he's lost so much weight from his first roles, so he must've struggled from eating disorder while under extreme stress for a long time and at the press conference he looked really really tired even with strong make-up. He's a brilliant actor with strong responsibility so it's better to leave as to be on IV's every now and then just to finish a drama. Good job! I'm looking forward to his full recovery and his next projects.

  • It's his third lead role to be precise. He is the lead in School 2017 with Gugudan Kim Sejung

    • Y’all are right (I mostly consider him part of an ensemble cast in Waikiki and forgot about School 2017) thanks for the correction! I still don’t think he’s well known by the korean public so every drama does count and unfortunately this is his biggest headline to date.

      Thankfully Korean netizens are generally understanding and his acting in this drama has impressed a lot of people who weren’t aware of him before. I hope he gets the help he needs, makes a full recovery and bounces back better than ever.

• It's wed-thur drama, no? Cuz i watch it also, but not really sure about the airing time.

  Well, i still couldn't understand his attitude in the press conference. I mean, his character was a lil arrogant in the drama but he changed so fast on ep 2 or probably nearly ending of ep 1.

  But well, past is the past. Please be healthy. And comeback with another good drama.

• sad to hear about the news!! he's really a talented actor and really loved him playing So Ho's character!! Hope for his soon and full recovery!!

• We love the series because KJH played so well in his role. All of us was saddened to hear such news. Honestly speaking this major role of HIM, may lead him to a greater success in the future. Hope HE is doing well. It will be a loss for KOREAN entertainment to let go of this kind of Actor. We will surely pray for his immediate recovery & rest assure to watch for him in the near future. KEEP it UP!

  • nah there's still many better actors than him, who still couldn't get lead roles but stuck in supporting roles

    • you sound so bitter lmao

    • Every actor has to start somewhere. His acting is decent enough compared to others whose given a lead role despite not being good.

    • Why are you so hard on him babe? Even if you dont consider him a good actor but why you keep commenting that in every reply??

• Very sad news indeed. Thought he did an amazing job on Thief who stole the people.

  Was waiting for Time to finish airing so i can marathon through. KJH is the sole reason i was interested in this drama.

  It is best for him to take time out, have treatment and come back in a better mental, emotional and physical state.

  It would have been tragic, if he persevered with the filming at the expense of his mental and physical health and he became another sad celebrity who had taken their own lives.

• He went from the school drama to Waikiki which got extended to Time all of which I believe were live shoot dramas. That's a lot of pressure. I wish the best for him and the rest of the drama team as well.

  • There was Rebel before that too. He's really been working hard, too hard it feels like.

  • True he needs a good rest.

• He is not going to be replaced. i've read that The scriptwriters already have everything planned and ready to make it happen before the announcement of his departure. Besides this, his character was suffering of a terminal illness so his character was going to die anyway.
  I hope he recovers well and not stop being an actor. He is very good actor and deserves more work.
  I hope he stops with the "method acting" it destroys lives of actors and he clearly was not prepared for the consequences as a rookie actor.
  People saying he is not that good of an actor are just trolling.
  This is not his first drama playing as the main male character.
  Because of his unprofessional and wrong attitude during the press con for this drama he created haters for himself.
  Seohyun's fans are having parties with hate towards him if you search out there.

  • it's untrue, seohyun's fans mostly empathise with him

• This is my first time of watching him as an actor. I haven't seen Rebel , School 2017 and Wakiki yet.
  I even don't like him that much ,thinking he is not a handsome actor. ( though I am not shallow)

  I only decided to watch cause this drama is written by Secrets and Mask writer.
  But after watching this, his character ' Su Ho ' really warms up to me because of his good acting and great performance, making me want to watch his other characters. I am saying he is good at his job.
  Now, it can be said I am watching Time because of him. So I am really worried how the story line will go without him.
  That being said , I really wish him to become well.