Nam Gyu Ri 2018: 'Deja Vu' Actress Reveals She Worked As A Waitress To Be Noticed By Lee Soo Man and Yang Hyun Suk

by Colt Nava / May 11, 2018 03:35 AM EDT

Nam Gyu Ri revealed the humble beginning of her career and the things she did to achieve her dream. Photo by Nam Gyu Ri/Facebook

Nam Gyu Ri has been in the Korean entertainment world for a decade, so it is quite clear that she has found success in her career. However, the former member and leader of the Korean female trio, SeeYa, revealed her humble beginning and the things she did to achieve her dream.

The 33-year-old South Korean singer and actress recently starred on tvN's Life Bar and shared some things that shocked a lot of fans. Nam Gyu Ri revealed that it had been her ultimate dream to become a solo artist like BoA, Lee Hyori, and Ivy. Since she didn’t know anyone from the industry to help her reach this specific goal, she had to think of ways to make it possible.

Nam Gyu Ri revealed that she worked part-time at a cafe near the SM Entertainment building, which is a company connected to two of the female artists whom she looked up to. The History Of Jealousy actress then recalled that SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man and YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun Suk were both at the cafe that she was working at, and she tried to get their attention but failed.

"One day, each of the label CEOs had a meeting at the cafe I was working at. I tried to make myself noticeable but nobody saw me,” Nam Gyu Ri said. “After some thought, I wrote down my talent, name, and contact on a note."

Being young and persistent of being an idol at the time, Nam Gyu Ri went to Yang Hyun Suk, and Lee Soo Man before they headed out the door and said, "I really want to attend auditions." Although SM Entertainment was the first one who contacted the Lovers of Haeundae actress, she chose to audition with YG Entertainment because she loved hip hop.

Nam Gyu Ri went on to say that Yang Hyun Suk sees her more as an actress than a K-pop idol, but that didn’t stop her from pushing through with her original goal. The star still pursued her love for singing and dancing and became a YG trainee.

Now, Nam Gyu Ri is a very successful actress and singer. With 12 years of experience under her belt, it is quite clear that the perseverance and hard work of the Deja Vu actress have definitely paid off.