Lee Joo-bin Bought Luxury Clothes For The First Time In Her Life To Play Cheon Da-hye In “Queen Of Tears”

Actress Lee Joo-bin looked back on her acting career of 16 years since her debut after rising to stardom with tvN’s drama “Queen of Tears”. Entering the entertainment industry in 2008 as the actress in SS501’s “A Song Calling For You” music video. She was selected as a member of the girl group Rainbow but then withdrew from the team just before her debut.

Lee Joo-bin confessed, “I challenged being an idol because I heard I could also act. However, I left the company after entering university because I knew I didn’t have any talents to be an idol”, adding “I have a belief. ‘Let’s debut and then quit later’. I tried auditions for 10 years because it was unfair to think ‘I won’t be able to do it’ without starting. I didn’t expect to gain recognition but I held on with faith in myself”.

Lee Joo-bin completed her studies while working part-time as a model. She made her acting debut late at the age of 27. Starting with “Whisper” (2017), she has appeared in various works such as “Be Melodramatic” (2019), “She Would Never Know” (2021), “Money Heist Korea” (2022), etc. Then, tvN’s “Queen of Tears” came like a gift to Lee Joo-bin. Playing the role of Cheon Da-hye, the daughter-in-law of the Queens who lied to the family, Lee Joo-bin changed the image of a “villain”.

The actress shared, “It’s my first time doing a character that deceives others. I never thought Da-hye would be hated too much. She made a wrong choice but I didn’t think she was a bad person because I could sympathize with her and understand her point of view. Later when I watched the drama, I realized that she was just bad (laughs)”.

Through “Queen of Tears”, Lee Joo-bin challenged acting as a mother for the first time. Lee Joo-bin said, “Regarding Kwak Dong-yeon, who played my husband, I felt guilty and confused because I had to keep cheating on him. The baby (Geonwoo) grew very fast. As I kept holding him and comforted him, he fell asleep”. 

The actress then confessed that she bought luxury clothes with her own money for the first time after starring in this drama. Lee Joo-bin said, “At the beginning of the drama, the viewers should not suspect that Dahye would cheat so I decided to focus on her styling. I bought luxury clothes imagining myself to be a chaebol daughter-in-law. I did get sponsored clothes but I also bought some myself”.

In addition to “Queen of Tears”, Lee Joo-bin is also active on the big screen as her new movie “The Roundup: Punishment” premiered earlier on April 24th. She said, “I had a hard time working with actor Ma Dong-seok but he encouraged me to act comfortably. That’s how I could finish the shoots more smoothly than expected. He even complimented me after watching the edited version”.

Lee Joo-bin is actually the opposite of Cheon Da-hye in the drama. After using public transportation for a long time, she finally got a car last year. She has also received many invitations to entertainment programs. The actress shared, “If you allow me to do everything with my whole body, I believe that I can do well”, adding “I’ve played many roles focusing on my appearance, so now I want to try characters like an ordinary citizen or an office worker”.