Actor Song Jong-ho. [Newsis]
Actor Song Jong-ho. [Newsis]

Actor Song Jong-ho has drawn attention after his current situation came to light — that following a hiatus of more than three years without any acting work, he has been running a barbecue restaurant.

On Sunday's episode of SBS variety show My Little Old Boy, Song and fellow actor Kim Seung-su were shown taking part in a group blind date alongside their respective mothers.

During the segment, Song's mother, Lee Gyeong-sun, read from a personal introduction she had written herself. "My son was born in 1976," she said, adding that his most notable work was "Reply 1997, which he filmed with Seo In-guk and Jung Eun-ji."

She went on to say, "My son hasn't been able to work for more than three years. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry — it broke my heart. He must have been going through financial difficulties, but he never let it show. Whenever I asked how he was doing, he just said he was fine. He's such a good son."

She then drew laughter from the audience by adding, "Right now he has opened a barbecue restaurant in Samseong-dong and is working hard to get back on his feet financially. If you become family, my son will give you beef for free whenever you like."

Song is currently running a barbecue restaurant in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The episode also showed him working as a self-employed business owner — taking orders, serving tables and even handling valet parking.

Earlier, on a July episode of My Little Old Boy, Song said, "It has been about three and a half years since I last did any acting work. As jobs gradually dried up and the roles got smaller, I started worrying a lot about how I would make a living if I could no longer work as an actor."

He ultimately opened the barbecue restaurant about five years ago after a sunbae proposed going into business together. "I want to keep acting, but I also have to make a living," he said, expressing his determination to return to the screen.

Song made his debut as a model in 1995 and began his acting career through the MBC sitcom "Jump" in 1999. He went on to appear in numerous productions, including "New Nonstop," "Surgeon Bong Dal-hee," "The Princess' Man," "The Girl Who Sees Smells," "Reply 1997," "We Loved" and "Arthdal Chronicles."


betterj@heraldcorp.com