Actor Jo Jung Suk, who has been the talk of Korea lately, has been receiving praise for his decision to voluntarily take a pay cut for his Hospital Playlist appearance fee.
According to an exclusive report from TV Daily, Jo Jung Suk agreed to a roughly 25% pay cut for his appearance as Lee Ikjoon in the widely popular tvN drama Hospital Playlist. He was originally slated to receive between ₩90-100 million KRW ($73,782-81,980 USD) per episode, but ended up voluntarily reducing his pay to around ₩70 million KRW ($57,386 USD) per episode.
Jo Jung Suk relayed his intentions to the production team about how he would accept an appearance fee lower than his original desired amount, putting more of an emphasis on his participation in the drama itself, receiving praise from those around him.
Jo Jung Suk is a highly valued actor in the industry because he is one of the top actors for casting purposes. He is an actor who usually receives around ₩90-100 million KRW per episode., but he voluntarily cut his appearance fee due to his trust in Shin Won Ho PD and writer Lee Woo Jung.
It is very rare to see this kind of actor. He is setting a good example for the industry.
— Insider
Shin Won Ho PD is known as a producer who does not value the name brand of actors or actresses he casts, instead promising to discover new faces in the the acting industry. Knowing how Shin Won Ho producers his dramas factored into Jo Jung Suk’s decision, and he also received high praise from the production team of Hospital Playlist.
Jo Jung Suk, who knows about Shin Won Ho’s philosophy behind casting, agreed to receive less than his usual appearance fee. In fact, it was a voluntary reduction.
I have rarely seen actors with as much brand recognition as Jo Jung Suk lower their appearance fees on their own will. He is such a wonderful and loyal actor.
— Hospital Playlist production team
Jo Jung Suk recently finished up filming for Hospital Playlist, which has 4 more episodes to air. He is also taking care of his wife, Gummy, who is expected to give birth in June.
