Actor Sa Mi-ja opened up about a painful memory of facing discrimination regarding her appearance fees due to her educational background.
On the May 9th episode of JTBC’s variety show ‘Knowing Bros’, actors Kim Young-ok, Sa Mi-ja, and Nam Neung-mi appeared to share some honest stories.
During the show, Seo Jang-hoon asked if winning awards leads to higher appearance fees or a higher grade. In response, Sa Mi-ja recalled a time when she personally visited a production company to request a pay raise. She remembered saying, “Please increase my fee. I heard that Lee Soon-jae receives the most.”
However, the response she received was completely unexpected. She recalled, “They told me, ‘How can we pay you the same as someone who graduated from Seoul National University?'” She shared that she burst into tears upon hearing this, feeling that it was hopeless, and simply said goodbye and left. She confessed that the incident still lingers in her heart.
To overcome her feelings of inferiority regarding her education, Sa Mi-ja studied relentlessly. She confessed, “I studied so much that people told me I was being excessive. I learned Chinese for three years and continued studying English.”
In fact, the broadcast showed her naturally conversing in English with Kim Young-chul. Sa Mi-ja impressed everyone by revealing that she is capable of free-talking with foreigners.
Fellow guest Kim Young-ok noted, “For our generation, winning an award didn’t necessarily mean our appearance fees increased.” Nam Neung-mi also shared her own jinx, saying, “Strangely, things didn’t go well the following year after I won an award.”
After graduating from Ewha Girls’ High School, Sa Mi-ja debuted in 1963 as part of the first class of voice actors at Dong-a Broadcasting. Since then, she has been loved for a long time through various works, including the dramas ‘You Are My Destiny’, ‘I Love You Ten Million Times’, and ‘Birth of a Rich Man’.
