Lee Jun-hyuk: 'No job changes rank regardless of age quite like acting'

At a large fashion company where every day is a battle for sales, five team leaders run five separate sales divisions — but not all team leaders are equal. Promotions, revenue targets and staff are funneled toward the most senior among them, leaving Gong Eun-tae as the junior team leader at the bottom of the pecking order. He swallows his anger and bites his tongue, proving himself through work alone. Then everything changes. A lottery ticket he was strong-armed into buying at a convenience store that had no change turns out to be a first-prize winner. The payout: 1.3 billion won ($971,000) — not enough to buy a single apartment in Seoul's Gangnam district these days, but the number printed on his bank statement is the trigger that reshapes one ordinary office worker's entire outlook on life.

"The drama seems to compress that process," Lee said. "In real life, finding happiness takes much longer."

Actor Lee Jun-hyuk, 42, sat down with reporters in Jongno, Seoul, recently and reflected on Gong Eun-tae's journey in those terms. The "process" he described is Gong's path toward finding happiness right where he stands. The drama uses a lottery jackpot to accelerate that journey, but Lee believes Gong would have found his own way regardless. "Eun-tae would have figured out a path, one way or another," he said.

Tving's "The Ordinary Jackpot," adapted from a web novel of the same name, wrapped its run while holding the No. 1 spot on Tving's weekly and weekend subscription charts. It also topped the drama rankings on Disney+ in Japan and aired simultaneously on tvN as a Monday-Tuesday drama series, recording a series-high rating of 5.9 percent on Oct. 5.

For Lee, the series carries special weight. It marks his first drama as a solo lead in 20 years since he began his career in a KBS single-episode play in 2007. He had previously taken a title role in Tving's "Good or Bad Donjae," but that was a spin-off set within the universe of "Stranger."

Even this project did not come together easily. "I heard the script was rejected multiple times before production of 'The Ordinary Jackpot' was finally confirmed," Lee recalled matter-of-factly. "I don't have a long list of hit projects, so I figured it must have been a tough sell."

After years in supporting roles, Lee had a clear picture of the kind of lead he wanted to play. "If I ever got to be the lead, I really wanted it to be a project where many actors got to shine like leads," he said. The drama delivered on that wish. Every member of the Sales Team 5 cast stood out. "I wanted a lot of actors to get noticed through this project, and when it actually happened, I thought, 'I wasn't wrong,'" he said with a laugh.

In the drama, Gong Eun-tae uses his newfound authority as team leader to share opportunities with his team members. Lee put that same philosophy into practice off screen. "At the press conference for 'Good or Bad Donjae,' the rookie actors couldn't attend. This time, I had a little more pull, so we were all able to go together," he said.

The character Lee plays is a quiet man — the polar opposite of Seo Dong-jae from "Stranger," one of his best-known roles. Gong Eun-tae moves in small gestures, calibrating to his scene partner's energy and the rhythm of each moment. Lee compared the character to the bass line in an ensemble: not out front, but holding everything together, with the occasional well-timed note that makes the whole sound come alive. Raising his voice would have been an easy way to fill a scene, but playing small meant pouring full concentration into every single line of dialogue. It kept him on edge throughout the shoot, and it was the chemistry on set that helped him unwind.

"There was a real thrill when my rhythm clicked with the actor across from me, and the camera movement, the lighting and the director's guidance all fell into place at the same time," he said.

He likened those moments to jazz — music where players listen to each other and respond freely, unbound by the score, building sound together rather than racing ahead as soloists. That, he said, is what "The Ordinary Jackpot" was for him.

His steadiest partner on set was Seo Hyun-woo, who played Yang Jun-ho — an associate older than Gong Eun-tae but working under him. "By the end it felt like we had telepathy, our rhythms matched so well," Lee recalled. "I trusted that no matter which direction I went, he would follow. On this project, I was actually happier when the response to him was better than to me."

Lee has never held an office job, yet Gong Eun-tae's daily grind felt anything but foreign to him. Stories from friends in the corporate world, he said, mirror the entertainment industry almost exactly. "Sometimes the team clicks and everything flows, sometimes you have to push yourself out there, sometimes you have to push back — it was all so similar."

The setup of a junior team leader becoming the boss of a more senior colleague also hit close to home. "There is no other profession where rank changes regardless of age quite like ours," Lee said. "I felt so strongly that 'this is exactly like our work' that I was completely absorbed in it."

Throughout the shoot, he bought a lottery ticket every week to get inside Gong Eun-tae's head. He had never bothered before, believing that any luck he had should come through his work — but this time was different. His biggest win was 5,000 won, yet the luck he is really waiting for remains the same: finding a "good project" that resonates with a wide audience. High ratings, widespread popularity, even a lottery jackpot — none of it, Lee said, would change the way he lives. "Ultimately, you go back to work," he said. "The fact that good things don't change me all that much is something I share with Eun-tae." The drama, he reflected, was a story about "how remarkable ordinary working life really is."

His next project is already set. He will star in "Gakseong," an SBS occult drama series set to air early next year, trading his character's business suit for a priest's vestments. "There was no reference point for a project like this, so we have been working to become that reference ourselves," Lee said. "I am pouring everything I have into it with a spirit of devotion — I hope people look forward to it."