Veteran Actress Fought Cancer while Filming "The Moon that Embraces the Sun"

It’s been belatedly revealed that veteran actress Kim Young Ae was battling cancer while she was shooting the highly popular MBC series “The Moon that Embraces the Sun,” starring Kim Soo Hyun, Han Ga In, and Jung Il Woo. In the series, she played Kim Soo Hyun’s grandmother, the Dowager Queen. 

During a recent recording of SBS’s “Good Morning,” the actress opened up on her fight with cancer. Kim Young Ae shared, “I didn’t want t cause any inconvenience to the production team, so I hid the fact that I was in the early stages of pancreatic cancer. For two months, I’ve been secretly getting treatment.” She stated, “I was screaming because I was in pain, and when I couldn’t act and express the emotions [during filming], I would tie a strap around my waist and continue shooting. When I was sent to the hospital after fainting and jaundice, I told people that I was simply hospitalized because I was overworked.”

She continued, “Once the drama was over, I underwent a nine-hour surgery and was at the brink of death. I didn’t tell anyone about it because I was worried that my son who was studying in New York and his wife might come to Korea. Just in case something did happen, the only people I did tell was my daughter-in-law’s parents.”