Kim Soo Hyun, the king of commercials, is also known as the highest-paid Korean actor in terms of Kdramas. His role as a kind caretaker with fierce emotions in It's Okay To Not Be Okay is being appreciated not only by Koreans but also by the international audience. Here are details about the payment Soo Hyun is receiving for his current drama.
Reports claim that Soo Hyun gets paid $165,000 per episode of It's Okay To Not Be Okay. With 16 episodes, Soo Hyun has earned 2.6 million from this drama alone. Kim Soo Hyun is also known as the commercial films (advertisements) king and has acted in at least 30 commercials so far.
Recently in April, Hana Bank selected Kim Soo Hyun as its new model for TV commercials. The bank had said that the actor embodies the bank's global image. With a number of commercials in his kitty, the actor will be earning millions of dollars from commercials too.
Among Soo Hyun's possessions are a flat worth $3.5 million [brought in 2013]. Reports also claim that he owns an apartment in Galleria Forest, the most expensive homes in South Korea. His priciest possession is said to be BMW i8 worth US$186,000 that he brought in 2015.
From Rejection to King of commercials and Dramas
Kim Soo Hyun had auditioned and attended the script reading session of one of the most popular dramas Boys Over Flowers starring Lee Min Ho. Soo Hyun was supposed to play the dual role of Lee Min Ha and Lee Jae Ha. But he did not succeed in getting the role instead Jung Eui Chul was selected for the role in 2009.
But come 2020, after 11 years, Kim Soo Hyun beat Lee Min Ho, Lee Byung Hyun, Ji Chang Wook, Hyun Bin and others to become the highest paid actor in Korean entertainment industry. He is currently also the highly paid and much in demand star for the commercials too.
In 2014 Soo Hyun is said to have starred in 17 commercials earning $6.6 million. In 2015 after his drama My Love From the Star was released, the actor is said to have received an offer from 35 commercials and is said to have appeared in 30 commercials that also include 10 from China.
Awards, CF, Accolades and No Looking Back
In terms of dramas Soo Hyun was receiving $500,000 per episode in 2012. The actor is said to have been receiving $550,000 when he acted in the drama Moon Embracing The Sun that got a massive response along with 42.2 percent ratings. But his performance in My Love From The Star opposite Jun Ji Hyun got both Best Actors award in the Baeksang Award Ceremony in 2015. This brought in a big change in the actor's fee demand and Soo Hyun started charging between $720,000 and $ 900,000 per advertisement.
Soo Hyun earned $7.5 million from his drama Producers in 2017. Then the actor left for mandatory military service. After coming back from the military service in 2019 the actor started charging $165,000 per episode of drama.
Before starring in It's Okay To Not Be Okay, Soo Hyun was seen in cameo roles in successful dramas Crash Landing On You starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin and Hotel Del Luna starring IU and Yeo Jin Goo.
In 2019 when the actor decided to quit his agency KeyEast, there were rumors that he is all set to start his own agency along with his cousin. But the actor joined Gold Medalist agency that also houses actors including Kim Sae Ron and So Hyun's co-actor in It's Okay To Not Be Okay, Seo Ye Ji.
