Actress Jung Ae-ri (66) has calmly shared the reason why she stepped away from the stage for nearly a decade.
On the 22nd, a video titled “Actress Jung Ae-ri Episode 1 (Jung Ae-ri’s acting life of 50 years)” was posted on the YouTube channel ‘Song Seung-hwan’s Wonderful Life’.
During the episode, Song Seung-hwan asked, “Isn’t it your 50th debut anniversary the year after next?” to which Jung Ae-ri laughed, replying, “I thought it had been about 40 years, but it’s already been that long.”
While chatting, Jung Ae-ri carefully opened up about why her activities slowed down after the musical ‘Chin-jeong Eomma’, stating, “I was sick back then.”
Recalling that time, she said, “At first, I thought it was peritonitis. I was suffering from peritonitis, but during the tests, ovarian cancer was eventually discovered.” She calmly added, “By the time I finished all the treatments, more than 10 years had passed.”
Having recently returned to the stage with the play ‘The Mother’, Jung Ae-ri expressed a special affection for the work.
She explained, “In this piece, almost 100% of the play is focused on the character Anne. There are slight cracks that form even within repetitive lines and emotions, and as an actress, I thought expressing that wouldn’t be easy.”
She further revealed, “Still, I really wanted to create this work while I was even one year younger. I thought if I made it well the first time, it would get better later on.”
Showing her love for the project, she added, “‘The Mother’ has a short performance period, but starting with this, I want to keep upgrading it and continue the work for a long time.”
Jung Ae-ri also mentioned the final line of the play. She noted, “There is a final line that says, ‘What was it all for?’ I believe this work is a story about a person who eventually takes their own steps again after passing through a whirlwind of time,” leaving a deep impression.
