Lim Ji-yeon on You Quiz: Heo Nam-jun was her 'vitamin' through *Wonderful New World*
Lim Ji-yeon opened up about her first comedy role, the rough years after debut, and how co-star Heo Nam-jun became essential to getting through it.
Lim Ji-yeon sat down with You Quiz on the Block on June 17, 2026, to talk about making Wonderful New World — her first-ever comedy project — and the co-star who got her through it.
She was candid about why it took so long to try the genre. "I'm quite a fun person, why didn't I challenge comedy?" she said. She'd been wanting to make people laugh for a while before finally going for it.
The person who made the experience work was co-star Heo Nam-jun. "Meeting an actor named Heo Nam-jun, finding a partner I could communicate with without hesitation — it felt like a miracle," she said. The workload and the weight of responsibility left her physically and mentally drained on multiple occasions. Heo kept her going each time. Even as his senior on set, she leaned on him heavily.
She also looked back at her debut years. The start was glamorous. What followed was hard. Expectations were high and opportunities were scarce. (That gap between early buzz and actual work is something a lot of actors don't talk about this plainly.)
For years, she carried an inferiority complex about historical dramas. She was convinced the genre demanded perfect vocal training, diction, and a refined look she didn't think she had. That changed after The Glory performed well. The first script that landed in her inbox afterward was the historical drama Lady Ok's Biography (옥씨부인전).
Cheer the story
