Why “Doctor Cha” Actress Uhm Jung Hwa Stepped Away From The Cameras To Cry After The First Episode Aired

Veteran singer and actress Uhm Jung Hwa recently expressed her gratitude for the popularity of the recent JTBC K-Drama Doctor Cha. 

Uhm Jung Hwa appeared on the tvN‘s You Quiz on the Block, which aired on June 7—a program that she claimed she “really wanted to be on.”

While discussing the popularity of Doctor Cha, she shared that she was ecstatic to hear that the show was doing so well. She would often ask herself, “What’s happening?” as she never thought this day would come again after her success over 20 years ago as a singer.

Before Uhm Jung Hwa was Doctor Cha Jeong Suk, she was an iconic dance singer who took over the music charts. She debuted in 1993, and throughout the 1990s and 2000s, she had numerous hit songs such as “I Don’t Know,” “Festival,” “Poison,” etc.

In her interview on You Quiz on the Block, Uhm Jung Hwa stated that she could relate to Cha Jeong Suk, whom she portrayed in Doctor Cha.

Like me, Cha Jeong Suk embarks on a journey from being a housewife to becoming a doctor after twenty years. And I feel like I’m experiencing the same enthusiastic response I felt when I did ‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Poison’ twenty years ago.

— Uhm Jung Hwa

The talented singer and actress then shared how she responded after the first episode of Doctor Cha aired.

I received a message from the production team, and the news were all positive. It was amazing… At the time of the first broadcast, I was filming Dancing Queens on the Road, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t film. I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I had to say, ‘Excuse me for a moment,’ and went into a room with no cameras and cried for 30 minutes. They were tears of joy.

— Uhm Jung Hwa

Meanwhile, Doctor Cha is about a housewife named Cha Jeong Suk who returns to her medical career while juggling her first-year residency, health, family, and cheating husband. The JTBC K-Drama proved its popularity by sweeping the top spot not only in viewership but in the number of news articles, video views, and the number of community posts and comments. Surpassing “Beyond” and “Itaewon Class,” Doctor Cha is ranked fourth in JTBC’s all-time ratings.