TV Actress Quit 3 Shows Due to Pregnancies

South Korean actress Cha Chung Hwa is opening up about the struggles of balancing her acting career and motherhood.

The actress, known for her roles Crash Landing on You and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, among others, welcomed her first child with her husband last year, and revealed in a recent interview that she made the difficult decision to step away from three separate TV series she starred in so that she could focus on her family.

“After I got pregnant, I had to drop out of three projects where I was supposed to play major roles,” Cha said during an appearance on the YouTube channel Eminae Welcome – Luxury Actress Gathering with Kim Jung Nan on Tuesday, June 16. “I thought I could still handle the roles while pregnant, but when it came time for water scenes and action sequences, it became a serious issue on set. I didn’t want my blessing to become a burden for the production, so I ultimately decided stepping down was the right thing to do.”

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Cha didn’t reveal which projects she backed out of. The actress began her career in 2005 in the theater before eventually transitioning to the screen, in 2010 with small roles in titles including Harmony and Train to Busan, her IMDb profile. Following her breakout role as Yang OK-geum in Crash Landing on You, the south Korean series on which she starred for 15 episodes, she went on to land roles in Mr. Queen, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, and My Demon, among numerous others.

Cha said her decision to step away from the three series “was really upsetting,” but said it was some encouraging words from her mother that helped put things into perspective.

“My mom told me, ‘Chung Hwa, you’re carrying the most precious role of your life right now. Dramas will come again,” she recalled. “That really comforted me.”

Cha has continued to act, most recently appearing in the series Spring of Youth and Return to the Palace, but her views on her career have changed. The actress explained that “before getting married, I would devote the entire day before filming to preparing for my role.” However, now she finds herself “making baby food and rushing out to set after a call from my manager. At first, it was disorienting because acting had always been my whole life.”

Cha married a younger businessman in October 2023, her agency, IOK Company, announcing at the time, per Soompi, “Please give lots of blessings to Cha Chung Hwa who is preparing for a new start. Cha Chung Hwa, who always acts with sincerity, plans to repay [viewers] with great acting as an actress in the future, so please give her lots of support and interest.” The couple announced the following year that they were expecting their first child together.