Jo In-sung Won a Silver Lion, But His Luggage Never Made It to Venice

Actor Jo In-sung sat down with host Baek Eun-ha for her YouTube interview series Baek Eun-ha's Give and Take on the 23rd, walking the canals of Venice for a conversation that turned out to be one of his most candid on record. The admission that anchors it: for a long stretch of his career, acting simply wasn't enjoyable.

"In the past, acting wasn't fun for me," he said. "I heard a lot of people say I couldn't act. I had to push through it, overcome it. I wanted to do it well, and I suppose that's what kept me going."

He was clear that the early motivation wasn't love for the craft, it was defiance. The criticism stung, and rather than stepping back, he threw himself at the work harder. "There was a point where I thought, I can't go back now, so I have to get better," he said. "That pressure was always there."

What changed after years in the industry

What's striking is how far that headspace feels from where he is today. Jo In-sung described a shift that crept up on him gradually, settling into something he can only explain one way. "These days, I think I love film more," he said. "That's the only way I can describe it."

He put it even more plainly when talking about the physical toll of the work. Despite pushing his body hard through demanding productions, he finds himself back on set again and again. "When I look at myself acting through the pain, I can only call it love. It's not a transaction. It's unconditional."

There's something quietly earnest in how he frames the relationship between his effort and the audience's experience. "The harder it is for me, the more the audience enjoys it," he said, laughing. "So I'll keep suffering, please give me your love in return." It landed as a joke, but the sincerity underneath it was hard to miss.

He was equally direct about what he doesn't expect from audiences. "There's no reason whatsoever that you have to watch something just because it's mine. What I can offer is unlimited physical labor."

The Venice trip, and the suitcase that didn't make it

The interview took place against a very specific backdrop: Jo In-sung had just arrived in Venice for the premiere of his film Possible Love, which was invited to compete in the main competition section of the Venice International Film Festival. The trip did not begin smoothly.

Baek Eun-ha mentioned she'd heard his luggage had gone missing, and he confirmed it with the patience of someone who had clearly come to terms with the situation. "My bags haven't arrived in Venice, so the outfit I'm wearing right now is actually the one I was supposed to save for an interview," he said. "I had to pull it out early."

Fortunately, he'd been warned this kind of thing can happen at major festivals. "A lot of people advised me there would be unexpected variables, so thankfully I hand-carried my tuxedo onto the plane." That one decision saved the red carpet.

During the Venice walk-and-talk, an international fan recognized him on the street, and the two stopped for a photo. Baek Eun-ha, watching the interaction, noted that his popularity would become even clearer once he stepped onto the red carpet in a couple of days. She turned out to be right: Possible Love took home the Silver Lion Jury Grand Prize, a result that confirmed what the Venice invitation had already suggested about where Jo In-sung stands in the industry right now.