Park Bo-kyung on ‘Even Lotto Winners Go to Work’: Working Mom’s Sincerity Breaks Through After 10-Year Hiatus; Her ‘Lotto Comeback’ Surprises Husband Jin Seon-kyu

After breaking a 10-year hiatus brought on by raising her children, actor Park Bo-kyung has made a triumphant return—and found a true stroke of luck in life with the TVING original series ‘Even Lotto Winners Go to Work’. The struggles of Park Hyun-sook, head of Sales Team 1, are vividly familiar: on her way to deliver her daughter’s birthday cake, she gets a call from work and has to turn the car around. Her story closely mirrors Park Bo-kyung’s own life, as she raises two children while holding down a job. The scene has drawn praise from her husband, actor Jin Seon-kyu, and moved countless viewers.

The struggles of a working mom, brought to life with sincerity

While filming the scene, Park Bo-kyung made it clear to the director that she didn’t want working moms to be portrayed merely as struggling and exhausted. She wanted the greatness and value behind their hardships to be brought into focus. Drawing on her own personal experience—when her eldest daughter was little and would clutch her clothes and cry herself to sleep when Park came home in the early hours—she infused the performance with life.

‘Even Lotto Winners Go to Work’ depicts the realistic office lives of Gong Eun-tae (Lee Jun-hyuk), head of Sales Team 5, who carries on with his ordinary life even after winning the lottery, and his colleagues. Park Bo-kyung made a strong impression as Park, the department head, a stickler for rules who stands as a dependable shield for her staff whenever trouble arises. She said that playing a character who puts people first also gave her a deeper understanding of what it means to be an adult.

Seamless chemistry and steadfast support help her shine after a 10-year hiatus

Her effortless rapport with her fellow actors and unwavering support from her family helped bring her performance to life. With Lee Jun-hyuk, who plays Gong Eun-tae, she created visual synergy; with Lee Hyun-kyun, who plays Deputy General Manager Jang Gyeong-cheol, she built a compelling dramatic arc that strengthened the series. Her husband, Jin Seon-kyu, was especially supportive, volunteering to watch her scenes and praising the leadership she conveyed through stillness.

The roughly 10-year break she took for childbirth and childcare could have been a career-threatening crisis. Park Bo-kyung, too, once experienced such deep discouragement that she gave up on returning to the stage. She recalled it as a long period of endurance, during which she suppressed even her longing to work, worried that her desire to return to the stage might make her children sad.

From supporting roles to Best Supporting Actress: a brilliant second act

While focused on raising her children, she cautiously tested the waters for a comeback with a supporting role in ‘Hospital Playlist’. Since then, her career has grown by leaps and bounds. After winning Best Supporting Actress at the Blue Dragon Series Awards for her previous work, she has followed it up with another widely praised performance in ‘Even Lotto Winners Go to Work’, showing the rewards of a late-blooming career. She has said she never acted with awards in mind—a remark that underscores how her current success stems entirely from her genuine passion for acting.

Park Bo-kyung offered words of encouragement to the many office workers and working moms across the country, emphasizing the greatness of showing up to work at the same time every day. Her heartfelt hope that the many Park Hyun-sooks in real life, who put people’s worth ahead of rules, will continue to hold their ground has lingered with viewers even after the series ended.