After being caught in a scandal that could have ended his career, Kim Seonho, a South Korean actor is ready to return to the spotlight eight months later.
His comeback project? The Korean adaptation of Touching the Void. This will also be Seon-ho’s first acting gig this year.
And seeing as he made his debut in theatre in 2009, this makes the 36-year-old’s comeback through theatre rather poetic.
On Wednesday (June 22), Seon-ho’s agency Salt Entertainment announced the news with a promotional poster featuring Seon-ho.
The play is set in 1985 and follows Joe Simpson, played by Seonho, and Simon Yates who are British mountaineers on their grand quest to become the first person to summit the Siula Grande, Peruvian Andes. They are faced with near-death situations during their descent and must fight for survival.
Based on Joe Simpson’s book of the same title and its 2003 film adaptation, the story is set. The play will run from July 9 to Sept 18 at Seoul’s Art One Theater.
Seon-ho was a rising star in the past after his appearances on Start-Up and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.
This was until October 2021 when an anonymous woman, who is believed to be his ex-girlfriend accused him of mental abuse. She claimed that he forced his ex to have an abortion to save her career. She claimed that he was obsessed by money and changed his views towards her after the procedure.
Following news of the scandal, brands that Seon-ho endorsed — including Domino’s Pizza Korea, Canon Korea, Miima and Nau Korea — dropped him and removed his commercials and photos from their official channels.
The 36-year old also withdrew from season four of Korean variety show 2 Days and 1 Night.
The tide started to turn when Dispatch published a report by Korean paparazzi media Dispatch revealing that his ex-girlfriend wasn’t entirely innocent.
She was allegedly seeing other men and had kept videos and s of Seon-ho on personal devices.
Dispatch obtained a series conversations between the couple and their friends. It was revealed that Seonho had been a loving and loyal boyfriend. The pair’s relationship had also fallen apart due to questionable circumstances and not because of Seon-ho’s rise to fame.
The former couple’s friends said that Seon-ho had been supportive throughout the abortion process — and even after — and that it was his ex-girlfriend who had been difficult.
It’s not clear whether he had forced her to get the abortion, but nevertheless, public perception of Seon-ho quickly changed from villain to victim.
Seon-ho was again supported by the netizens, and advertisements featuring him were also reinstated by brands.
His Instagram followers grew exponentially, now reaching a staggering 8.1million. And, it seems he has one more project on the horizon after Touching the Void — the South Korean noir film Sad Tropics.
Seon-ho was cast in November 2021. Filming finished earlier this year.
This article was published for the first time in Asiaone.
Source: Her World