Ji Sung Shed 15 Kg in 2 Months for His Role in "Connection"

Actor Ji Sung dishes on his efforts in portraying Jang Jae Kyung in Connection. 

On May 24, the press conference for the SBS drama Connection ' was held at the SBS Hall in Seoul. Director Kim Moon Kyo, Ji Sung, Jeon Mi Do, Kwon Yool, Kim Kyung Nam, Jung Soon Won, Jung Yoo Min, Cha Yeob, and Lee Kang Wook attended. 

Connection follows Jang Jae Kyung (Ji Sung), an ace detective in the narcotics team of the Anhyeon Police Station, who is addicted to drugs against his will by someone.  

When asked how he prepared for the character, Ji Sung jokingly said, "So many things go into preparing for the character. If I tell you everything, you won't be able to go home." 

Talking about his weight loss, he said, "I gained a lot of weight while raising children, so much so that I weighed 85kg. I thought it was better to lose weight to portray the character. So I lost about 15kg in two months and dropped to 70kg. I initially wanted to go down to 69kg, but I couldn't do it fearing further weight loss might affect my health. I settled at 70kg and I'm still maintaining it." Because Ji Sung lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time, he suffered severe aftereffects.

He also shared how he nearly collapsed due to hyperventilation while acting: "Also, when I was acting, instead of spitting out breaths when speaking, I tried to take in breaths, in efforts to depict a person who is suffering from the pain of being addicted to drugs. It wasn't very noticeable, but as I was subtly expressing the pain of being an addict, sometimes it felt like I might collapse due to hyperventilation. However, no one, including the director, seemed to notice," he said, explaining that his symptoms of hyperventilation were taken as acting.

Ji Sung continued, "At the same time, I felt a sense of crisis because of my age. I thought if I continued acting like this while putting strain on my body, my life would be in jeopardy. And I have my family [to take care of], so I decided to proceed in moderation and set a reasonable limit." 

He added, "I never had a hard time. That much is nothing. The director and others created various setups and were very considerate so that I could concentrate on acting." 

Connection is premiering today (May 24). The K-drama will be available to stream on Viki and Kocowa. 

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