Actress Kang Min Ah shared the behind story of how she became known as “Little Kim Tae Hee”.
On June 10, Kang Min Ah appeared on the YouTube channel “Yoo In Radio” and talked about her past audition experience for the drama “Jang Ok Jung, Living by Love”.
Kang Min Ah, who debuted as an advertising model at the age of 4 and began acting in 2009, once played the younger version of Kim Tae Hee in the drama. The role later gave her the nickname “Little Kim Tae Hee.”
During the interview, Kang Min Ah revealed that she did not know the audition had a 30 to 1 competition rate at the time.
She said she was still a middle school student when her manager suddenly called her at 8 PM and told her, “You have to go to Tanhyeon right now”.
She recalled arriving at an SBS meeting room where around 10 people were waiting. The staff then asked her, “How many seconds does it take you to cry?” Kang Min Ah said she answered, “I cry really fast,” because she felt she had to say she could do it.
She continued, “Then they said, ‘Then try crying’. I did not know they would actually make me do it like that.” After doing the audition, she was told on her way home that she had passed.
Kang Min Ah also shared that she only found out later that the role was for the younger version of Kim Tae Hee. She admitted, “I did not even know what drama it was”.
The actress then talked about the pressure of being called “Little Kim Tae Hee”. She said, “As soon as I saw the article, I shouted, ‘No way’”.
She explained that it was too much pressure for a middle school student to suddenly be compared to Kim Tae Hee overnight.
She added that her school friends teased her by saying, “You are Little Kim Tae Hee?” showing how overwhelming the attention felt at the time.